Benjamin Fox
“The reality is that the frequency and intensity of disease outbreaks are increasing”, warned EU international partnerships commissioner Jozef Sikela on Wednesday, as he unveiled a new agenda to boost supply chains and health ‘sovereignty’.
Emmanuel Macron says France is an ‘ethical partner’ for African countries as he seeks to increase Paris’s diplomatic and economic influence on the continent. However, diplomatic immunity for French troops, no-shows from Brussels, and an angry Macron hushing a crowd nearly overshadowed the event.
Tanzania has hired a London PR firm to spin the killing of several thousand pro-democracy protesters last November. But its refusal to allow a European Parliament delegation to enter the country could cost it millions in lost EU funds.
Dozens of political leaders and business bosses will gather in the Kenyan capital this week, hosted by France’s Emmanuel Macron and Kenya’s William Ruto. But will amount to more than hot air?
The EU agreed a self-imposed ban on Russian gas imports effective from the end of 2026. But it continues to be the exclusive buyer of LNG from Russia’s project in Siberia.
MEPs are still to agree their final position on the trade agreement with the US — despite pleas from the bloc’s top trade negotiator for a ‘breakthrough’.
The EU’s embrace of US ‘identity politics’ has helped create a culture war that has polarised politics and debate across the bloc, contends Frank Furedi.
The EU’s deforestation regulation was very popular — until it became law. But after two years of delays and exemptions, the EU Commission appears to have decided to give no more ground.
The EU Commission insists that Donald Trump’s latest threat of 25-percent tariffs on EU car exports ‘changes nothing’. But is a US trade deal viable when the president changes his mind on a daily basis?
The EU Commission has decided against reopening its anti-deforestation law – but has exempted leather imports from the scope of the bill.
The EU Commission also unveiled plans to subsidise up to 70 percent of the extra cost of fuel caused by the Iran war for farmers, fishers and road hauliers.
The European Parliament’s top trade MEP said that, in practice, the new rule allowing the EU Commission to impose tariffs on countries for refusing to take back migrants will be hard to apply. But it still marks a significant political shift.
The latest in a series of sectoral disputes between Beijing and Brussels over the past three years centres on the ‘Made in Europe’ rules tabled by the EU Commission in March.
The EU commission confirmed that it would publish a review of the law this week, but refused to be drawn on what it might recommend. However, officials have indicated that they will use the review to propose targeted tweaks to simplify implementation and adjust the list of products covered by the regulation.
A new €75m contribution from the EU to an anti- Al Shabaab mission in Somalia takes the bloc’s total funding to €2.8bn.
A legal opinion by the European Court of Justice’s top lawyer could spell the end for Malta’s controversial online gambling laws.
The EU Commission wants to use its Global Gateway investment programme to finance healthcare projects across Africa, but sharp drops in aid budgets risk leaving millions to die.
The EU will now provide €140m in budget support for Ethiopia — five years after halting funding because of the country’s civil war. It is facing a strategic rival in China, which just invested $10bn in hydrogen projects there.
A report from Greenpeace found that 48 percent of the pesticides used in food production in South Africa, Ghana and Kenya are highly-hazardous pesticides and are currently banned in the EU.
Lack of clarity about funding and political commitment threatens to cloud the EU Commission’s ambitious Pact for the Mediterranean.
