Italy misses early exit from EU deficit procedure by a decimal point
Rome remains under Brussels' fiscal supervision after its 2025 budget shortfall was confirmed just above the European Union's ceiling, narrowing Giorgia Meloni's…
Economy
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What the EU-Philippines free trade deal contains
Brussels and Manila settled the core of an agreement on September 22 that reached well beyond customs duties, though lawyers, legislators and an expiring preference…
EU and Philippines close in on free trade deal after decade of stop-start talks
Brussels and Manila have agreed the bulk of a pact that would scrap tariffs on almost all trade, though public procurement remains unresolved and signing is not…
German chemical giant Evonik cuts 3,200 jobs amidst crisis
The figures match a plan first set out in June under the “tailor Made” programme.
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Brussels presses Beijing to cap hybrid car exports after imports rise more than tenfold
Trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is due in Beijing next month with an October deadline for “tangible results”.
Google fined €403 million for EU location-data breaches
Ireland is Google’s lead EU supervisor because the company’s European headquarters are in Dublin.
German Europe minister says Costa has lost touch with reality on EU budget
Berlin's Europe minister has rejected the European Council President's push for new EU taxes as net contributors demand deep cuts to the European Commission's near-€2…
Macron and Trump eye diplomatic fixes for Hormuz without ‘global deal’
The French President has also pressed Washington to speed up interceptor deliveries to Kyiv and has backed an energy truce between Ukraine and Russia.
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What is Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ and how does it work?
A network of ageing tankers grew out of the 2022 oil sanctions and carried more than half of Moscow's seaborne oil in August.
Jet fuel shortfall set to persist in Europe until year-end as Asian imports rise
The third-quarter pattern was similar.
Strasbourg mayor says city finances in ruins after one term of Green rule
City debt is put at about €494 million in 2026, against €241 million in 2020. The Eurométropole's is put at €911 million, against €579 million.
French debt heads for highest level in nearly half a century
The finance ministry has forecast public debt close to 120 per cent of GDP this year as Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu struggles to get an austerity budget through…
Median-priced homes slip further out of reach for typical US households
A buyer in the United States would need an income 44 per cent above the national median to own the typical home without breaching the standard affordability threshold.
Brussels holds firm on Arctic drilling moratorium despite Norwegian pressure
The European Union's opposition to new oil and gas projects in the Arctic is set to survive a revision of its strategy for the region, despite lobbying from Oslo…
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Moody’s downgrades Poland’s credit rating as rearmament-fired debt mounts
Fears of imminent armed conflict are on the rise, while the country is hampered by political gridlock between a government and President engaged in an uneasy cohabitation.
Meloni scraps road tax for one year due to high fuel prices
The exemption covers petrol, diesel and hybrid cars of up to 80 kW (109hp) and all motorbikes and mopeds.
Trump threatens tariffs on the EU over Canada ‘associate member’ plan
The US President said he would hit European exports if he judged closer ties between Brussels and Ottawa to be aimed against Washington.
Trump orders Canadian goods out of US federal purchasing as Brussels courts Ottawa
The memorandum landed as Ursula von der Leyen offered Canada a first-of-its-kind associate membership and Mark Carney prepared to address MEPs in Strasbourg.
Fed raises US rates for first time in three years as Trump demands cuts
Kevin Warsh's first policy decision as chairman puts the US central bank on the same tightening path as the ECB and at odds with the president who appointed him.
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EU digital identity wallet stalls in 24 member states as Brussels reopens its privacy rulebook
Only Italy reached any scale before the December date, privacy groups challenged safeguards the European Commission had redrafted in committee, and the gap between…
EU waste export ban spares Turkey, its biggest plastic dumping ground
Shipments to Ankara hit a record in 2025, the year before Brussels closes the door on poorer countries.
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Poland’s Orlen loses $230 million in Venezuela crypto oil deal
Tusk said that it was a great pity that at a time "when hundreds of articles in the western press have been praising Poland for its economic performance we have…
Morgan Stanley tells clients to short French and Belgian debt
The recommendations come as investors increasingly demand a premium to hold the debt of governments struggling with large deficits and rising debt burdens.
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Bad EU regulation could cost €159 bn per year and 419,000 jobs
According to the study, non-economic priorities can override industrial competitiveness, driving up costs, delaying investment and undermining confidence in EU policymaking.
Trump announces Russia-Ukraine energy truce that neither side confirms
The US president said Kyiv and Moscow had agreed to spare each other's energy sites, though Ukraine set conditions and the Kremlin would not promise reciprocal restraint.
Saudi Arabia turns to stored oil as pipeline shutdown threatens European supplies
Riyadh has set no restart date for the East-West line, leaving deliveries to Europe and Asia dependent on how long the stoppage lasts.
Trump pledges to remove US tariff on Irish whiskey at end of Ireland visit
The US President made the promise at a golf prize-giving on a course he owns, giving no date for carving one member state's flagship export out of an EU-wide duty.
France cuts growth forecast in half and admits deficit will overshoot 5 per cent
The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) had already put the figure at 0.
Europe pays almost 10 times the US price for wholesale gas
The exact gap moves from day to day. Market prices in recent weeks have put it at anywhere between eight and 10 times, depending on the trading session.
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Visegrad Group vows to block EU policies that raise energy prices
The group has no formal institutional structure, relying instead on consultations among prime ministers and government ministries, with cross-border initiatives…