Good morning from Brussels.
After nearly two decades of protracted talks, the European Union and India have sealed a historic free trade agreement, which at its full potential creates a market of around 2 billion people accounting for almost a quarter of the world’s GDP.
Under the deal, the EU hopes to slash €4 billion in duties and double its exports to India by 2032. The EU executive says the deal’s terms are the “most ambitious” that India has ever granted to a trade partner, representing a major win as the bloc aims to bolster its resilience amid global trading volatility.
Describing the pact as the “mother of all deals”, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that this is “only the beginning” in a new chapter for EU-India relations. She, along with Council President António Costa and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, is representing the EU at the signing ceremony during the 16th EU-India summit this morning.
Negotiations went down to the wire in recent days, with “sensitive” agri-food exports – such as beef, chicken, rice and sugar – finally excluded from the scope of the deal, in a move designed to assuage the concerns of European farmers.
Some agri-food sectors are nonetheless set to see a major tariff relief, with Indian duties on EU wine and olive oil to be drastically reduced. Other sectors poised to make major gains include Europe’s ailing automotive industry.
A new security and defense partnership has also been clinched, opening up the possibility for India to participate in European defence initiatives and allowing both sides to work closer on a raft of priorities including maritime security, non-proliferation and disarmament, space, countering cyber and hybrid threats, and counterterrorism.
The EU’s powerful Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, speaking to our EU editor Maria Tadeo on the ground in New Delhi after the deal was announced, said the agreement shows the EU’s new approach when it comes to trade: getting more pragmatic on deliverables, rather than getting stuck on political red lines.
The agreement, which comes at the heels of the EU-Mercosur deal, is another strategic win in Europe’s bid to “derisk” from Trump’s America. Meanwhile, the EU-US trade deal – struck last summer between von der Leyen and Trump at his Scottish golf course – is facing further delays.
MEPs decided yesterday to postpone a vote on implementing the deal until next week, our trade reporter Peggy Corlin reports. The European Parliament must implement the deal by adopting legislation proposed by the Commission to lower EU tariffs on US goods, in some cases to 0%.
Lawmakers effectively froze the deal last week after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on EU countries over Greenland. Trump later climbed down, and EU leaders have since called for the deal’s implementation to be swiftly resumed.
MEPs handling the file are now expected to decide next week whether to keep the agreement suspended.
EU tech chief says Commission analysing several risks related to X’s Grok
Speaking to our flagship morning show earlier, Henna Virkkunen, the EU’s tech chief, provided further details around theprobe launched Monday by her executive into X’s AI tool, Grok.
“We see that Grok is included more and more in X’s services, so we need to analyse the risks,” Virkkunen said.
She added that while the feature allowing the recent explosion of nude deepfakes had now been changed by Grok, the Commission is also probing “other risks” related to the AI tool.
“We have very clear obligations for the online service providers, that they always have to mitigate the risks.”
The Commission is probing Grok after it was used to virtually undress pictures of real women and underage girls without their consent. The probe will seek to determine whether X did enough to mitigate the risk of the images being created and disseminated. If found in breach of the EU’s digital rules, X could be fined up to 6% of its global annual turnover.
Watch the full interview.
Greenlandic minister says US interests unclear with ‘no deal’ yet on the table
Greenland’s Minister for Mineral Resources, Naaja Nathanielsen, has told Euronews her government is yet to “gain clarity” about Washington’s demands over Greenland, despite US President Donald Trump claiming that a framework of a potential agreement is already in place.
“We still have to gain clarity about what America’s interests are concretely. We really haven’t heard anything yet,” Minister Nathanielsen, whose portfolio also covers business and energy, told Euronews’ interview programme 12 Minutes With.
The US, Greenland and Denmark are set to enter talks over a deal that would allow the US to gain an even greater foothold in the Arctic island, after President Trump u-turned on his earlier threats to impose tariffs on European countries unless the sale of Greenland to the US was agreed.
Nathanielsen said there should be two different negotiation tracks: the first on bolstering NATO presence, and the second on boosting commercial and economic cooperation with the US. The two-track approach was confirmed yesterday by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte as he addressed EU lawmakers.
However, minister Nathanielsen cautioned that both tracks should be kept separate. “I do not want to combine any form of defence agreement with access to our minerals,” she said, caveating that as a “rules-based” country, Greenland cannot give the US exclusive access to its mineral resources.
Read or watch the full interview.
After bruising Greenland crisis, Europe shifts focus back to Ukraine
After a dramatic week spent fretting over Greenland’s future, Europe is shifting its political focus back to the crisis that risks redefining its security architecture for generations to come: Russia’s war on Ukraine.
My colleague Jorge Liboreiro reports that as peace talks between Ukraine and Russia gather momentum, Europeans are working closely with their American counterparts on two crucial elements that will accompany what is now a 20-point draft peace deal.
The first is a set of detailed security guarantees to be established after the war, which include a high-tech mechanism led by the US to monitor a ceasefire across the contact line, a multinational force led by France and the UK to defend strategic positions across Ukraine, and a legally binding commitment to assist Ukraine in the event of a new Russian attack.
The second is a unified document to boost Ukraine’s post-war recovery, attract foreign investors and mobilise billions in capital, known as the prosperity plan.
Yet officials acknowledge that their progress could be all in vain unless peace talks render a breakthrough. “There is frustration about doing so much work towards peace while the partner in crime, Russia, is simply not engaging,” said a senior EU official.
Read Jorge’s full article.
More from our newsrooms
Bavarian AfD proposes ICE-style police unit for deportations. The Bavarian branch of Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland party is proposing a specialised police unit modelled on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to track asylum seekers and coordinate deportations, according to internal documents. Sonja Issel has more.
France detains two British activists over anti-migrant campaigning, prosecutors say. Two British nationals suspected of coming to France to take part in a banned far-right protest against migrants were arrested and taken into custody, French authorities said on Monday. Gavin Blackburn has more.
We’re also keeping an eye on
- European Space Conference takes place in Brussels
That’s it for today. Maria Tadeo, Peggy Corlin, Jorge Liboreiro and Lauren Walker contributed to this newsletter. Remember to sign up to receive Europe Today in your inbox every weekday morning at 08.30.
