Spain's aerospace schools aim to power Europe's industrial future
The CPIFP Javier Imbroda institute offers practical, hands-on learning—giving young people and mid-career workers the tools to join the global aviation industry. It's the largest vocational education project in Andalusia, backed by €99.4 million from the European Social Fund Plus.
As part of the EU's Pact for Skills, the centre aligns education with labour market needs while expanding access across age groups. With a focus on mobility, women, and STEM careers, it embodies the Union of Skills initiative—training students for careers that may start in Spain but reach far beyond.
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Euronews
14 minutes ago
- Euronews
EU Commission shrinks agriculture share in record budget
The European Commission unveiled a record €2 trillion budget—its largest ever—signalling significant changes and reductions to EU agricultural funding compared to the current 2021–2027 period. The proposal confirmed earlier reports that agricultural subsidies and regional development funds would be merged into a single mega-fund worth €865 billion. Within this new single fund, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is ringfenced—meaning a fixed amount is protected from reallocation—for income support totalling €300 billion. The term income support no longer refers exclusively to direct payments, which have traditionally made up the bulk of the CAP, but it also includes co-funded initiatives that were previously part of rural development, now phased out under the new structure. This sum also includes a €6.3 billion safety net, doubling the agricultural reserve created in 2021 to address market fluctuations, now increased from €450 million to €900 million over the seven years. According to the Commission, the €300 billion ringfenced amount represents a minimum and is expected to account for 80% of total agricultural spending. Additional agricultural investments, although not certain, could be drawn from other policy areas under the single fund, such as regional funds, as well as from the other European competitiveness fund (for instance, under the research programme Horizon Europe). Does this mean more or less money for farmers? Making a direct comparison with the previous budget is tricky due to the different overall structure, a fact that the Commission has used to fend off criticism. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen even claimed that 'agriculture will be strengthened', while EU agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen pointed out that 'the money that gets directly to the farmers is not cut at all.' However, a closer look at the numbers paints a different picture. In the 2021–2027 budget, the CAP was allocated €386.6 billion (with €270 billion specifically for direct payments to farmers). This general figure is remarkably less than the €300 'ring-fenced' for agriculture in the single fund. Different agricultural policy experts contacted by Euronews all estimate that, when adjusted for inflation, the new proposal represents a 20% to 30% cut in real terms to the EU's agricultural spending. 'In nominal terms, there's less money, but we hope that due to synergies with other policy areas, the overall support remains similar,' an EU official admitted on the sidelines of the presentation. Agriculture's shrinking share Symbolically, the proposed changes underscore agriculture's declining importance in the EU budget. While the total EU long-term budget grows from €1.21 trillion to €1.816 trillion (excluding COVID-19 borrowing repayments), the CAP's share drops from 32.2% to just 16.5%. It now makes up only 35% of the new single fund, which amounts to less than half of the overall budget. This trend aligns with a long-term shift: in the 1980s, CAP accounted for more than 70% of the EU budget. The proposed changes reflect the Commission's shift in priorities, with von der Leyen choosing to reduce spending in areas such as agriculture and cohesion in favour of new initiatives such as defence and competitiveness. Reactions and protests The budget plan sparked immediate backlash. Almost all the MEPs intervening in a heated exchange in the European Parliament with Commissioner Hansen criticised the proposal. 'You're doubling the MFF, but we're getting a 25% cut to the CAP. Don't try and sell that to us as a success story,' quipped MEP Herbert Dorfmann, who hails from Hansen and von der Leyen's own European People's Party (EPP). Outside the halls of the EU institutions, farmers staged a symbolic protest dubbed 'European Agriculture's Black Wednesday'. In a strongly worded statement, the farmers' lobby Copa-Cogeca accused the Commission of dismantling the 'common' aspect of the CAP through 'concealed budget cuts' and 'complete renationalisation,' masked as 'administrative simplification'. In a bid to appease future concerns of European lawmakers and avoid further unrest of farmers, the Commission introduced several new measures previously demanded by the sector. A new inflation adjustment mechanism will allow subsidy amounts to be revised if inflation falls below 1% or rises above 3%, aiming to protect farmers from price volatility. Transition payments of up to €200,000 will be available to farms adopting ambitious transformation plans, helping to de-risk innovation in the sector. While the Commission hopes these adjustments will mitigate discontent, the debate over the future of European agriculture, as well as its place in the EU's evolving priorities, is set to intensify in the talks that will take several months before the formal go-ahead to the long-term budget.
Euronews
5 hours ago
- Euronews
Tech giants can easily check age of child users, says Danish minister
The largest online platforms should not have any issues implementing looming age verification solutions, Denmark's digital minister told Euronews in response to heavy lobbying around online child protection measures by the tech industry. 'They are the biggest companies in the world, with a bigger economy than most of our countries could ever dream of. I think they will manage to find a solution,' Caroline Stage Olsen said. On Monday, Stage Olsen together with the EU Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen, said five EU countries – Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Spain – plan work on a customised national age verification application in a bid to shield children from harmful content online. This app should allow users to easily prove they are over 18 when accessing restricted adult content online. In the long term, the Commission hopes to integrate age verification functionalities within digital identification tools, European Digital Identity Wallets (eID), which will be rolled-out next year. Big tech companies face increasing pressure to implement age verification tools to combat the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The CSAM regulation, proposed in 2022 and currently under debate in the Council of the EU, also relies heavily on identifying minors online to shield them from predators. Some companies have now implemented AI powered solutions to tackle the problem, but Stage Olsen said that she is confident online platforms will find the money to work on the tools. 'I'm sure that they will manage to have hired some of the brightest heads in the world concerning technology,' she said. US tech giant Meta last year proposed a harmonised age verification and safety standard system for apps and online services to the Commission. If an underaged child wants to download an app, app stores would be required to notify their parents under Meta's proposal. The 27 EU member states are currently free to set their own rules for age verification and there are no EU standards, although some of the EU rules foresee improved age verification to protect minors including the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). Denmark, which started chairing meetings of EU ministers this month, said it has put several child protection measures on top of the agenda during the country's chairmanship. 'I will use the presidency to put this on top of the agenda and set a clear, political ambition that can shape EU policy in the years to come,' Stage Olsen said. One way of making the tools mandatory would be introducing these measures in a planned Digital Fairness Act, rules the Commission will put forward early next year to protect consumers online.
Euronews
5 hours ago
- Euronews
Retaliatory tariffs: Which EU countries could be impacted the most?
The EU is gearing up for retaliation in case trade negotiations with Washington fail by 1 August. Should there be no agreement, the US will start charging 30% tariffs on almost all goods imported from the bloc. After having been caught off guard by a letter threatening the 30% duty on EU goods last weekend, the European Commission has quickly tabled a plan to put countertariffs on US exports worth €72 billion, inevitably hitting the European Union's own economy. This is a follow-up on the European Commission's previously proposed list of US products, worth €95bn, that could be hit with EU countertariffs. The potential EU retaliatory tariffs target imports of industrial goods from the US, including aircraft and aircraft parts, machinery, automotives, chemicals and plastics, and medical devices and equipment. These types of imports are worth €65.7bn out of the €72bn total. It also lists agricultural products, including bourbon, but there are minor though surprising items, such as amusement park rides, toothbrushes, hairbrushes and natural rubber latex. If imposed, the tariffs mean that European consumers or businesses would buy these products at a higher price, pushing up inflation. However, according to Sylvain Broyer, chief European economist, S&P Global Ratings, the inflationary effect of countermeasures could be minimal. He told Euronews Business that 'EU tariffs on US goods would have only a modest impact on European inflation — likely just a couple of tenths of a percentage point — and are unlikely to significantly affect overall economic activity.' The bigger risk may come from supply chain disruptions. Where Europe could really feel the pinch is in services: 'the EU is highly reliant on US services, particularly in sectors like technology, payments and consulting,' Broyer said. Which EU countries are hit the most by these countermeasures? Certain industries, propping up various countries' economies, could face serious supply chain disruptions if the EU and the US go into a trade war. Aviation is one of them, as aeroplanes and aircraft parts are some of the products set to be the most dramatically impacted by EU countermeasures. Potential EU import restrictions on these goods, worth nearly €11bn, according to a document from the European Commission. Within the member states, the country with the biggest US aircraft imports in 2024 was Ireland, followed by France, the Netherlands and Germany. Aviation between the US and EU is a highly interconnected sector. French multinational aerospace and defence company Thales supplies US-based Boeing and European competitor Airbus with flight management systems and cockpit displays. In exchange, US aerospace giant Honeywell provides flight management systems for Airbus. Apart from threatening serious breakdowns in the supply chain, the EU's potential retaliatory tariffs on US-made aircraft is a direct blow to Boeing. The firm sourced 13% or more than $8.7bn (€7.5bn) of its revenues from Europe in 2024. Any such step from the EU may risk higher US tariffs on European aircraft. For the European firm Airbus, its North America revenue was double that of Boeing's last year, at more than $16bn (€13.8bn). Ireland left vulnerable Potential EU countermeasures on aircraft imports, coupled with retaliation from the US administration, could risk Ireland's position as a world-leading hub in aviation. Ireland is home to more than 50 aircraft leasing companies managing 10,000 aircraft. According to a recent report by aviation investment group Irelandia, this is equivalent to 37% of the global commercial fleet and makes the country a central player in the world's air transport infrastructure. Ireland is already facing a serious hit to its economy due to potentially high US tariffs on its exports to the US after the 1 August deadline. The country is deemed to be one of the most affected economies in the EU, besides Germany. Brussels-based think tank Bruegel has estimated that Ireland's cumulative real GDP loss, due to the total impact of US tariffs, could be 3% by 2028. That's if, as President Trump has promised, pharmaceutical goods face heavy duties. 'In Ireland's case, the aircraft imports amount to over 1% of GDP, in the Netherlands, the large machinery and medicinal equipment imports are equivalent to 6% of GDP,' Rory Fennessy, senior economist at Oxford Economics, told Euronews Business. Belgium's overall imports from the US are equivalent to 5% of GDP. Machinery is the second most concerned product group on the Commission's list, imports worth €9.43bn would be hit by countertariffs. That would come as a shock to supply chains in Germany, the Netherlands, France and Ireland. 'Even if countries have a limited direct import exposure to the United States, there can be significant spillovers to other countries simply down to the close supply chain integration and the impact on adjacent support industries due to tariffs,' said Fennessy. One of the key examples is the close relationship between Germany and the Central and Eastern European countries, including Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, especially with regards to the automotive sector. Countries in Central and Eastern Europe have been attracting a lot of foreign investment, much of which came from Germany. This plays an important role in driving the region's development. And vehicles are the third-largest product group exposed to potential retaliatory tariffs. The country with the highest imports of vehicles or parts from the US is Germany, worth nearly €7.5bn in 2024, followed by Belgium (€1.8bn). These countries would feel the most pressure from higher prices in this sector. 'But of course, the exact spillover varies and some countries are more directly exposed in certain sectors, so would likely feel a quicker price impact in such cases,' Fennessy added. If prices go up, even temporarily, while companies try to find new sources to contribute to their supply chains, that would be another blow to Germany's ailing automotive sector and could lead to more cost-cutting measures from the major brands, including Volkswagen and Mercedes. These firms have production plants in Hungary and elsewhere in central and eastern Europe. What other products are concerned? The European Commission's product hit list includes chemicals and plastics, as well as medical devices, with each category amounting to more than €7.5bn worth of imports from the US to the EU in 2024. The most affected countries are Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. As for chemicals, the EU nation that buys the most from the US is Belgium, with €13.7bn worth of imports in 2024. That's followed by the Netherlands with €12.5bn and Germany with €12.3bn. When it comes to plastics, Belgium tops the list with more than €3bn of US imports, followed by Germany (€2bn) and the Netherlands with €1.5bn. Imports of US medical devices in the EU was the highest in the Netherlands, where these products were worth €4.63bn. That's followed by Germany, with €2.65bn in imports, and Belgium with more than €1bn. The EU is also considering putting retaliatory tariffs on €6.4bn worth of agricultural products, including bourbon whiskey. The country that imports the most bourbon from the US is the Netherlands, buying goods worth more than €60 million a year. This, on its own, may not hurt the economy. But if the European spirits and drinks sector is exposed to Washington's countermeasures, French wine and Irish whiskey would also be targeted. If there is no agreement between the US and the EU before Trump's deadline, the European agricultural sector, among many others, will face a 30% tariff on its exports to the US, a consequence labelled catastrophic by French lobbying groups. Brussels says it is still seeking a deal to avoid a tit-for-tat escalation in the trade war but is poised to retaliate if needed.
