Author: Press Room

Reparations loan under ‘pressure from different sides’, Kallas says as more countries voice doubts

The European Union’s proposal to issue a reparations loan to Ukraine is facing “different pressures from different sides”, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has warned as more countries add their voices to the chorus of scepticism. “The most credible option is the reparations loan, and this is what we are working on. We are not there yet, and it is increasingly difficult, but we are doing the work,” EU High Representative Kallas said on Monday morning before heading into a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels. “We still have some days,” she added, referring to the crucial summit that…

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Europe ‘needs to stand up to Trump and stop buying US energy’, Tubiana tells Euronews

Published on 15/12/2025 – 10:28 GMT+1 The European Union should stand up to President Donald Trump and reject further purchases of US energy products, as foreseen in the $750bn trade deal between the transatlantic partners, climate czar Laurence Tubiana told Euronews’ flagship morning programme Europe Today on Monday. Tubiana, who played a key role in the negotiations around the Paris Agreement, said that pressure from the Trump administration shouldn’t prevent the European Union from pursuing its climate goals of reaching climate neutrality by 2050. Her appeal comes as the US pushes back against some key EU climate laws – such…

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Europe Today: Ukraine peace talks, terror in Australia, and climate change

Published on 15/12/2025 – 7:46 GMT+1 •Updated 8:02 After spending his Friday on the frontline of the war, Ukraine’s President Zelenksyy moved on to Berlin for face to face talks with American officials: US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner. The Ukrainian president has hinted Kyiv could drop its long-held ambition of joining NATO in return for Western security guarantees. Maria Tadeo, our EU news editor, will join us to fill us in on the the talks and the latest attempts to end the ongoing war. Then, we will be joined by CEO of…

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How the European Parliament could still derail the EU-Mercosur deal

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…

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By locking in Russian assets for good, the EU is finally playing hardball

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…

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EU countries agree temporary €3 flat customs fee for small imported parcels

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…

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EU dismisses Russia’s lawsuit against Euroclear as ‘speculative’ and groundless

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…

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Three years on, former MEP Kaili still awaits trial in case slammed as ‘Belgiangate’

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…

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Analysis: Trump’s trade and tax policies set to widen EU-US innovation gap in 2026

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…

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Building Green: Rethinking construction for a low-energy Europe

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…

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