Customs duties: The EU further abandons its Green Deal with pledge to buy US energy
The official pledge is to bring the total value of European purchases to $750 billion (€650 billion) over three years by sourcing American oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) or nuclear fuel – an average of $250 billion per year.
Pending further details, this figure raises questions. According to the online news outlet Contexte, it could represent the sum of investments already planned by European companies. Legally, "the EU cannot compel companies" to make this or that purchase, emphasized Phuc-Vinh Nguyen, head of the energy center at Institut Jacques-Delors, a French think tank. In 2019, China had already promised Trump to increase its energy purchases, but ultimately did not reach the pledged levels.
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Euronews
18 minutes ago
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19 minutes ago
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LeMonde
2 hours ago
- LeMonde
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'Disturbing' The UN human rights office said last week that some 1,400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid since May, mostly near GHF sites but also along UN convoy routes where trucks have been overwhelmed by crowds. It says nearly all were killed by Israeli fire. This week, a group of UN special rapporteurs and independent human rights experts called for the GHF to be disbanded, saying it is "an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law." The experts work with the UN but do not represent the world body. The GHF called their statement "disgraceful," and urged the UN and other aid groups to work with it "to maximize the amount of aid being securely delivered to the Palestinian people in Gaza." The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots when crowds threatened its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray and fired into the air on some occasions to prevent deadly crowding at its sites. Gaza's food production mostly destroyed Israel's air and ground war has destroyed nearly all of Gaza's food production capabilities, leaving its people reliant on international aid. A new report by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN satellite center found that just 8.6% of Gaza's cropland is still accessible following sweeping Israeli evacuation orders in recent months. Just 1.5% is accessible and undamaged, it said. The military offensive and a breakdown in security have made it nearly impossible for anyone to safely deliver aid, and aid groups say recent Israeli measures to facilitate more assistance are far from sufficient. Hospitals recorded four more malnutrition-related deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 193 people, including 96 children, since the war began in October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Jordan said Israeli settlers blocked roads and hurled stones at a convoy of four trucks carrying aid bound for Gaza after they drove across the border into the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli far-right activists have repeatedly sought to halt aid from entering Gaza. The Israeli military said security forces went to the scene to disperse the gathering and accompanied the trucks to their destination. Le Monde with AP Reuse this content
