Author: Press Room

The European Union’s member states are entering into a decisive phase in the finalisation of the EU-Mercosur trade deal – but whatever obstacles and setbacks they are able to navigate, there is another area of jeopardy. Three crucial votes to be held in the European Parliament could derail, or significantly change the agreement with the trading bloc of South American countries. More than two decades in the making, the agreement was struck one year ago, but it requires the greenlight from both EU countries and EU lawmakers to enter into force. The first parliamentary vote is set for the December…

In the same week that Donald Trump dismissed European countries as “decaying” and European leaders as “weak”, they came back with all guns blazing. In a bold move, the European Union decided on Thursday to trigger an emergency clause in the treaties to indefinitely immobilise the assets of the Russian Central Bank, worth a whopping €210 billion across the bloc’s territory. As a result, the EU has shored up its mightiest leverage, pushed back against external interference and insulated the money from the Kremlin’s war machine – all at once. “We are sending a strong signal to Russia that as…

Published on 12/12/2025 – 14:43 GMT+1 •Updated 16:40 EU countries agreed on Friday to impose a €3 tax on all parcels under €150 entering the bloc, an attempt to curb the growing dominance of Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Temu and Shein which sell billions of low-cost items on the EU market. “With e-commerce expanding rapidly, the world is changing fast – and we need the right tools to keep pace,” EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said. “That is why the decision on customs duties for small parcels coming into the EU is so important to ensuring fair competition at…

Published on 12/12/2025 – 16:49 GMT+1 The European Commission has dismissed as “speculative” and groundless a lawsuit launched by the Russian Central Bank against Euroclear, the Brussels-based central securities depository that holds €185 billion in immobilised assets. In a short statement published on Friday morning, the Russian Central Bank announced the start of legal proceedings for the “recovery of damages” and blamed Euroclear for preventing the release of the assets, which are subject to EU law. The lawsuit was submitted to the Arbitration Court in Moscow. The development comes with the EU still hammering out a plan to channel Russia’s…

The detention of former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini earlier this month in a fraud investigation in Belgium has raised fresh questions about why suspects in the European Parliament’s corruption scandal still have not faced trial, three years after arrests that shocked Brussels. Mogherini, who led the EU’s diplomatic service from 2014 to 2019 and then served as rector of the prestigious College of Europe, was questioned alongside two others on suspicion of alleged procurement fraud, corruption and conflict of interest related to an EU-funded diplomatic training programme. The Italian top diplomat, who was eventually released pending charges, has…

As the curtain falls on 2025, policymakers in Brussels have yet to decisively counter the negative economic impacts of two major developments: the trade deal struck between the European Union and the United States this summer, and President Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill”, a mammoth piece of domestic legislation with global economic implications. The EU’s slow progress toward improving relative business conditions at such a volatile moment has left investors frustrated and looking elsewhere. According to a report published this week by the European Round Table for Industry, the leaders of the bloc’s industrial giants are “alarmed at the lack…

Published on 12/12/2025 – 15:00 GMT+1 Olla Home Solution is a Tuscan construction company and one of Europe’s fastest-growing businesses in 2025. Its turnover increased by more than 400% between 2020 and 2023. Founded in the midst of the pandemic, the company specialises in green building and energy efficiency. “We wanted to provide an additional service to a growing market that was also full of gaps – explains its founder and President Samuel Olla – “because there weren’t any players offering a truly all-round, 360-degree service.” The company also offering to handle the administrative procedures, was a winning move. It…

A once-promising set of European Union environmental funds for key projects have not clearly delivered on their promises to address climate needs, according to the latest report from the European Court of Auditors (ECA). The funds for “strategic projects” under the LIFE programme, the EU’s flagship environmental protection scheme, are intended to help member states implement climate action laws, such as measures to restore nature and protect natural habitats, water resources and air quality. But after auditing 22 different projects in Finland, Poland and Spain, EU auditors concluded that their impact is “unclear”. The lack of clarity undercuts benefits for…

Published on 12/12/2025 – 10:39 GMT+1 In this crucial week for relations between United States and the European Union, Euronews’ weekly podcast, Brussels, My Love? explores what lies ahead for the transatlantic partnership. Senior adviser at the European Policy Centre Ricardo Borges de Castro, correspondent Teresa Kuchler, and Wilfried Martens Centre researcher Teona Lavrelashvili join the show to discuss US President Donald Trump’s criticism of European leaders, which he voiced on Tuesday in an interview with Politico. The experts agreed that the criticism should not come as a surprise to Brussels, which continues to struggle to take a clear stance…

European Investment Bank President Nadia Calviño called on the EU to stay united after a week of unprecedented criticism from the Trump administration which suggested the 27-member bloc is in decline and must reverse course to avoid a “civilisational demise”. “I have never been prouder to be European,” she told Euronews’ flagship morning show Europe Today when asked about a controversial US government security strategy which described Europe as economically in decline, drowning under illegal migration and suffocating as a result of overregulation. Asked if she fears civilisational collapse, Calviño, who leads the largest public bank in Europe, said the…