Author: Press Room

Good morning. It’s Mared Gwyn, bringing you today’s newsletter from Brussels. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT My colleague Vincenzo Genovese is on the ground in Strasbourg, where Angela Merkel will be among 20 prominent European figures bestowed with an Order of Merit later this morning – despite the conflicting interpretations of her legacy, as Vincenzo and Stefan Grobe break down in this must-read. Later tonight in Strasbourg (at 9pm local time), EU lawmakers and diplomats will convene for crunch negotiations on the EU-US trade deal, as the clock ticks before the Trump-imposed 4 July deadline. Overnight, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen suggested the…

Published on 20/05/2026 – 2:31 GMT+2•Updated 2:36 Diplomats and MEPs reached an agreement late on Tuesday to implement the contentious EU-US agreement, which eliminates duties on most US industrial goods imported into Europe. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The negotiations concluded two weeks after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on EU cars if Europeans did not implement the agreement — clinched by Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry, Scotland, last summer — by 4 July. The so-called “Turnberry Agreement,” criticised by MEPs as unbalanced, raises US tariffs on EU goods to as much as…

Published on 19/05/2026 – 9:00 GMT+2•Updated 9:16 Last July, Trump and Ursula von der Leyen struck a trade deal in Scotland. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The maths looked simple: zero tariffs on US industrial goods against a 15% cap on European exports. It was built to protect a relationship worth almost 1.68 trillion euros. But now, the European Parliament is pushing back. After a US Supreme Court ruling against the tariffs, Washington introduced new duties on steel and aluminium, effectively violating the treaty before signature. And European lawmakers argue Europe cannot be bullied, so they are baking three defensive shields into the…

Spain’s former Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been placed under investigation for alleged influence peddling and related crimes, a court said on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Zapatero, who served as prime minister from 2004 to 2011, has been summoned to testify on 2 June, Spain’s top criminal court said in a statement. The case centres on the bailout of Venezuela-linked airline Plus Ultra during the COVID-19 pandemic, years after Zapatero had left office. The airline received a €53 million public loan in March 2021 from a government fund set up to support strategic companies hit by the crisis.…

Published on 19/05/2026 – 19:07 GMT+2 A palpable sense of embarrassment was noticeable when the Anthem of Europe resounded in the Strasbourg European Parliament on Tuesday, with a clutch of grey heads at the centre of the stage symbolised the Old Continent getting older. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The conferral ceremony of the European Order of Merit was meant to celebrate the European Union with an assortment of heavyweights who helped build it and fresh faces who can shape its future. But of the 20 laureates chosen this year, almost all the 13 laureates who actually attended the ceremony belong to the…

Published on 19/05/2026 – 19:28 GMT+2•Updated 19:35 The European Commission kept its carbon border tax unchanged in a fertiliser plan announced on Tuesday meant to support struggling farmers, despite complaints that carbon pricing is also contributing prices amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Fertiliser producers argue that the bloc’s carbon pricing rules at the border protect the European industry from cheaper imports produced under weaker environmental rules, since the rules oblige EU exporters to pay for the pollution linked to their production. But farmers fear they are indirectly paying the bill through higher fertiliser costs. European Commissioner…

Updated: 19/05/2026 – 19:38 GMT+2 Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was awarded the European Order of Merit on Tuesday. Merkel warned that Europe could no longer take peace and security for granted following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She also said changes in US security policy showed old certainties were fading. … More

The EU is hopeful it can reach a deal on a raft of measures aiming to slash red tape, increase transparency and supercharge domestic production to respond to growing security threats – but significant issues remain regarding autonomy, risking the continent’s security. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT On Tuesday, members of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Cypriot EU Council presidency representing member states met in Brussels to rubber-stamp the so-called “Defence Readiness Omnibus” — a set of measures proposed a year ago and aimed at streamlining processes for the defence industry. But divisions have emerged regarding the details of the…

Published on 19/05/2026 – 11:47 GMT+2 Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said Tuesday he hopes to sign a political agreement with the European Commission “next week” on the release of EU funds that had been frozen during the previous government. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Both sides will do everything they can to ensure that next week, when I travel to Brussels, we can sign the political agreement between the Hungarian government and the European Commission, which will allow us to conclude all issues by August 31, despite the hard work and work throughout the summer,” Magyar told reporters at a press conference…

Published on 19/05/2026 – 11:55 GMT+2•Updated 11:56 Malaysia is seeking more than $251 million (€216 million) in compensation from a Norwegian company over a scrapped deal to supply a missile system for new warships, the defence minister said on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the government had sent a notice to Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace demanding compensation for both “direct and indirect costs” over Norway’s decision to revoke export approvals for the missile system, sparking a diplomatic row. Oslo’s foreign ministry has confirmed “that certain licences related to the export of specific defence technology to Malaysia have been…