Author: Press Room
With Canada, the European Union has opened the door to a new way for the European project to affiliate with third countries that aren’t even on its own continent. The rest of the world will be watching closely. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spearheaded the idea of an alliance of middle powers in his seminal speech in Davos earlier this year. A few months later, Canada might provide the blueprint for how the EU integrates third countries. On Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen invited Canada to become “the first associate member of the European Union,”…
A new European Security Council, an emergency protocol and a new strategic enabler initiative: in her State of the Union speech on Wednesday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen laid out a new security architecture for Europe. But several question marks still hang over it. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT With the war in Ukraine increasingly spilling over into Europe’s eastern flank and Russia intensifying its campaign of sabotage attacks and drone incursions, security and defence took centre stage in von der Leyen’s annual address. “We already have many tools. And we are strengthening our work with NATO. But our doctrine, our institutions…
Published on 17/09/2026 – 8:01 GMT+2•Updated 8:36 On today’s show: Maria Tadeo reports from Strasbourg as Canadian PM Mark Carney addresses the European Parliament this morning, a day after EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada the EU’s first “associate member”. US President Donald Trump has called this plan “laughable” and threatened with “very serious tariffs.” ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT We speak exclusively to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who reacts to this plan and the State of the Union speech yesterday. We also hear reactions to the State of the Union from European Commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis, Maroš Šefčovič,…
Expectations are high after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday offered to create a tailor-made status of “associate EU membership” for Canada, and pitched closer collaboration on tech, energy and defence (if you missed von der Leyen’s landmark annual speech, here are our five takeaways). ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Trump strikes back: The announcement has already created ripples across the Atlantic, with US President Donald Trump overnight describing the invite as “hostile” and “laughable”, threatening “very serious tariffs” or to even “stop trading with Europe”. It’s a nightmare scenario for Brussels. The bloc has been treading carefully in its…
By the end of 2026, every EU country must legally offer citizens a European Digital Identity Wallet. This smartphone app holds a person’s government ID, driving licence, diploma, and other verified documents in one place and is designed to work across all 27 EU countries. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Digital rights groups warn the technology and the safeguards meant to protect it are not ready and that the wallet could become exactly the kind of surveillance tool it was designed to prevent. “We are at maybe 50-60% of the technical standards that are needed to build this wallet,” says Thomas Lohninger, executive…
Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in a special address to the Sejm, said he was presenting the public and MPs with “the most probable scenario for the coming few months”. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “It is a scenario involving serious events and requiring us to be focused, serious and, above all, mentally ready to pass difficult tests,” Tusk said. He stressed that such tests “certainly lie ahead for all Poles”. The head of government pointed out that his comments refer to the period up to early spring, “because, according to all sources, it is late autumn and winter that will be the most…
By Akis Tatsis with ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ, AFP Published on 17/09/2026 – 22:43 GMT+2 The Greek parliament on Thursday voted to lift the parliamentary immunity of former European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, clearing the way for Belgian authorities to continue their actions in the investigation into the affair known as Qatargate. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Of the 266 MPs present, 264 voted in favour of lifting his immunity, while two declared themselves “present”. The parliament’s Ethics Committee had earlier unanimously recommended the move. The procedure followed the issuing of a European arrest warrant by a Belgian investigating judge in June. The 73-year-old Dimitris Avramopoulos, an MP for the…
Published on 17/09/2026 – 15:12 GMT+2 When Germany’s finance minister chose Volkswagen’s headquarters to deliver a warning about China, the symbolism wasn’t subtle. Standing in the shadow of the carmaker’s flagship plant on Thursday, Lars Klingbeil told Brussels it was time to stop pulling punches with Beijing — a message aimed less at EU trade officials than at the tens of thousands of German autoworkers watching their jobs disappear. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “We cannot, when all is said and done, be naive in our dealings with China,” Klingbeil said, fresh from meetings with VW staff representatives and local politicians. Germany, he…
Once considered a niche, the space economy is now a major, mature industrial force supporting innovation, public policy goals, and services in Europe and beyond. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT EU countries currently invest a bit more than 0.04% of their GDP in space, but some countries are moving faster than others. Regarding civilian space projects, Italy now spends more relative to its GDP than any other European country except Luxembourg, overtaking France after a major spending boost over the past 15 years. The OECD’s latest Space Economy at a Glance report claims that Rome’s space economy “is now a strategic high-value industrial…
Published on 17/09/2026 – 16:26 GMT+2 Sweden’s bloc of centre-left parties has won a parliamentary majority in the tightly contested general election. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The alliance is led by Magdalena Andersson and her party, the Social Democrats. It also includes the Left Party, Greens and the Centre Party. They now hold a three-seat majority in the 349-seat Riksdag (Sweden’s parliament) over outgoing prime minister Ulf Kristersson’s right-wing alliance. After the final count, the result was very close with only around 50,000 votes separating the two opposing blocs nationwide. For Andersson, the hard work starts now. She must form a government…