The European Commission is eyeing a possible signature of its long-awaited partnership agreement with the Mercosur bloc of South American countries on Dec. 5 in Brazil, four EU diplomats told @politico.eu w/ @camgijs.bsky.social @koenverhelst.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/brus...

Trump's tariff game can sometimes seem like a highly technical, unpredictable and abstract calculation. But for locals on the Irish coast, power politics determine no less than their personal future. My dispatch www.politico.eu/article/irel...

The EU ombudsman will investigate the commission’s decision to delete a text exchange between Macron and von der Leyen about the Mercosur trade deal. @politico.eu was first to report on the text’s existence back in 2024 👀 www.politico.eu/article/eu-w...

Earlier this month, I cycled around Ringaskiddy in southwestern Ireland with the aim of putting a human face to the impacts of Donald Trump's tariff games. Here's the story. www.politico.eu/article/irel...

Some goodies for our Pros this morning 👀 1) Ahead of today’s round of negotiations on how the EU will go about screening foreign investments, I’ve got my hands on the 4-column document outlining the bloc’s latest thinking. Spoiler? The two big fights remain. pro.politico.eu/news/205173

French President Emmanuel Macron wants to pull off a grand diplomatic coup on Monday by collecting several Western countries together to recognize a Palestinian state, but he’s a long way from delivering a genuine breakthrough in Gaza. www.politico.eu/article/emma...

During the UN General Assembly next week, a growing number of nations are bucking the Trump administration to recognize a Palestinian state. But the move highlights the limited options available to countries that want to break with Washington on Israel.

Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas unveiled plans to downgrade trade ties with Israel over findings of human rights abuses in Gaza. The measures would only target some 37 percent of Israel’s total exports to the EU, but mark a major shift in the bloc's approach. www.politico.eu/article/eu-u...

The EU wants to boost cooperation with India, including on defense — just as U.S. President Donald Trump pressures it to slam New Delhi with massive tariffs over its enablement of Russia’s war in Ukraine. www.politico.eu/article/eu-c...

The EU plans to propose sanctions on more Chinese companies linked to the Kremlin’s war effort this week, as part of its efforts to persuade Trump to finally press Russia to end its war. w/ @camgijs.bsky.social @victorjack.bsky.social @gabrielgavin.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/eu-c...

www.politico.eu/article/quit... If Donald Trump is going to slap sanctions on Russia, there are a few things he’d like NATO allies to do first. But meeting some of these demands will be easier than others. w/ @camgijs.bsky.social @zimmerfrau.bsky.social @gabrielgavin.bsky.social

A coalition of European leaders has convinced US President Donald Trump that Russia is not interested in ending its war in Ukraine and must be forced to the negotiating table. Now they have to persuade an unpredictable White House to agree on how to make that happen.

European lawmakers accused Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of striking a bad, one-sided trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump after she defended the accord in her annual State of the Union address Wednesday. www.politico.eu/article/parl...

President Ursula von der Leyen used her annual State of the Union speech to announce the European Commission will take a tougher approach on Israel ― including by proposing a suspension of the EU's trade accord with the country. www.politico.eu/article/urus...

My favourite kind of workday. Story coming soon!

EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič today made an 11th-hour intervention to stop the EU Commission issuing a penalty on U.S. tech giant Google for its search advertising practices, amid continued trade threats from President Donald Trump.

European Council President António Costa appeared to concede the war in Ukraine was a factor in the EU's accepting its much-criticized trade deal with the United States, in a major break from the official line taken by the EU executive.

Ursula von der Leyen’s dash to Donald Trump’s golf resort in Scotland last month to seal an unbalanced trade deal has raised fears among politicians and analysts that Europe has lost the leverage that it once thought it had as a leading global trade power. My latest www.politico.eu/article/euro...

The ink is still drying on a leaders’ statement formalizing a tariff deal between the EU and the United States, and President Donald Trump is already threatening to tear it up. w/ colleague in crime @camgijs.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/eu-f...

The European Commission defended today the bloc’s right to set and enforce its own tech rules, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on countries with digital policies he considers “discriminatory.”

In the latest edition of Most Favoured Nation, I attempt to work out the US tariff on EU-made golf carts. With some high quality data viz mostfavourednation.substack.com/p/american-p...

The fight for regulatory sovereignty has only just begun.

Europe has lectured Beijing, Washington and New Delhi for years on the importance of rules-based trade. Now, following its not-so-free-trade-friendly trade deal with Trump, the bloc is struggling to reconcile principles and reality. www.politico.eu/article/dona...

An Israeli strike near a hospital in Gaza City killed four Al Jazeera journalists. Anas al-Sharif, a well-known correspondent, was among those killed. Israel said it had targeted al-Sharif, claiming he worked for Hamas. nyti.ms/3USbw2a

This is not over.

The power differential was even on display in how the leaders got to Scotland. Von der Leyen and her team flew in on two small chartered business jets; Trump arrived on Air Force One with an escort of U.S. fighters. www.politico.eu/article/us-t...

Lula: "You can be sure, I will call Trump to invite him to COP30 and hear his views on climate. I will be kind enough to call him…If he doesn't attend, it's because he doesn't want to, but it won't be for lack of courtesy, friendliness, or commitment to democracy." www.bernama.com/en/world/new...

Swiss president is flying to the US with "a more attractive offer" to lower tariffs. Could work, the 39% are clearly mad. www.ft.com/content/a710...

Sharp corrective to the usual takes on how Trump has "won" by imposing tariffs. www.ft.com/content/6791...

"Since April 2, when Trump unveiled his “liberation day” trade war, his approach had been a case study in volatility."

You don't end up discussing EU-US tariff talks on a Slovenian radio broadcast every day. Thanks for having me Zavod Radio Študent! radiostudent.si/politika/off...

Sweden today became the latest EU member country to publicly call for the suspension of the trade component of the bloc’s association agreement with Israel, as humanitarian conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 60,000 people. 18,500 were children. Here are their names. www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...

In her strategy to win over the White House, Ursula von der Leyen, a transatlanticist at heart, has over recent months gradually toughened her stance toward Beijing — which in return has warned it will retaliate against any country that seals a trade deal w/ the US www.politico.eu/article/brus...

🚨 BREAKING: EU countries are moving toward agreeing a plan to punish Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza but stopped short of triggering the penalty at a meeting in Brussels today. 🔗 ow.ly/MVsm50WwSsI

The EU is struggling to sell its trade deal with the US as it becomes clear that many unresolved issues have been kicked down the road.

"In fact, it is entirely possible ... that the entire burden of paying the new taxes will fall on Americans via some combination of higher private indebtedness and a wider-than-expected budget deficit, with foreigners entirely unaffected."

Brussels says it struck the best trade deal it could with Washington — even if Paris and other European capitals aren’t buying it. Important, imo: If EU countries had wanted the EU executive to toughen up, they would've needed to give it the mandate to do so. www.politico.eu/article/eu-t...

🚨BREAKING: The United States and European Union struck a trade agreement locking in a 15 percent tariff, days before Donald Trump’s deadline to do a deal or face tariffs double that level. Full story: ow.ly/UeIZ50WvLJv

🚨BREAKING: US President Donald Trump said he hoped to reach a trade agreement with the European Union but still rated the chances at 50-50. Full story: ow.ly/LPMk50WvLoA

🚨 BREAKING: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet Donald Trump on Sunday to discuss trade, as the US president described the prospect of a deal with the EU as "50-50." Full story: www.politico.eu/article/ursu...

The European Commission received broad support from EU member countries today for a single round of retaliatory tariffs on US goods if no trade deal is reached with the Trump administration, two EU diplomats told POLITICO.

As transatlantic trade tensions ratchet up, calls are growing on Brussels to get tough and ready its most powerful trade tool. www.politico.eu/article/tran...

Governments can be held legally responsible for climate inaction, the world’s highest court said in a landmark decision on Wednesday, opening the door to a cascade of lawsuits. www.politico.eu/article/top-...

The European Union is eyeing a Japan-style deal with the Donald Trump administration that sets a 15 percent U.S. baseline tariff — but is ready to retaliate if no agreement can be reached by an Aug. 1 deadline, EU diplomats briefed on the talks told us. www.politico.eu/article/eu-e...

The EU will merge two packages of retaliation measures against U.S. tariffs into a single one that will be ready to use if trade negotiations with the Trump administration go sour, a European Commission spokesperson said Wednesday. @koenverhelst.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/eu-r...

It was supposed to be a celebration. But ahead of a meeting of European and Chinese leaders in Beijing on Thursday, expectations could hardly be lower. www.politico.eu/article/eu-c... w/ @koenverhelst.bsky.social

It’s been a long while but let’s start up again with this beauty. Welcome to Donald Trump’s trade policy. Nobody knows anything. 105/n

The EU’s trade chief will fly to Washington D.C. this afternoon for talks with his US counterparts, European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill confirmed to POLITICO.

Mega scoop by @camgijs.bsky.social 🔥🔥🔥