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The Brief – 18 July: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Brief – 18 July: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Euractiv

time18-07-2025

  • Business
  • Euractiv

The Brief – 18 July: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Happy Friday and welcome back to GBU, where we look back on what should be (we hope) Brussels' last busy week before everyone in the vicinity of the Schuman roundabout logs off for the summer. Decide for yourself what's good, what's bad, and what's ugly. MFF MADNESS: After weeks of build-up, the European Commission's presentation of its 'most ambitious ever' seven-year EU budget proposal took ( messy ) centre stage on Wednesday. While no one really knows what it all means, and it's still subject to significant change as the real budget talks are only about to begin, it's provocative, and it surely gets people talking . It was my first MFF announcement day and a good chunk of it resembled mass confusion on all fronts, although one would think the Commission had enough time to plan everything surrounding that spectacular €2 trillion proposal drop to a T. The International Press Association seems to think so, too, accusing the Commission of breaching media agreements and deliberately keeping journalists in the dark in a press release sent earlier today. Anyway, we did follow the revolting commissioners, unhappy parliamentarians and more on our live blog and are keeping an eye on the budget aftermath. Spoiler: It is all 'bout the money, contrary to pop culture belief. Thomas Moller-Nielsen has a must-read budget breakdown , Sarantis Michalopoulos tells you why the new budget has a smoking problem and Jeremias Lin spoke to disgruntled farmers who are readying their pitchforks for a September return to Brussels after farm subsidies got slashed big time. TIT, TAT, TARIFFS: S omewhat in the shadows of the budget, the EU-US tariff bonanza kept going, too. Trade chief Šefčovič travelled to Washington again and briefed EU ministers on the outcome this afternoon. So, where do we stand? Some want peace, some want violence, seemingly. At least France wants Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to get the "bazooka" – alias the EU's most powerful trade weapon, the anti-coercion instrument – out in response to Trump's tariff threats. Sun's out, guns out? Would that even be possible? Is that a good idea? I personally wouldn't trust my judgment on this, but Tom beautifully lays it all down here. TOUGH ON RUSSIA, ROUND 18: Today, EU member states agreed on a new wave of economic sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine – after Slovakia's Russia-friendly PM Robert Fico lifted his weeks-long veto. The new measures target Russian banks and lower a price cap on Russian oil exports in a bid to crush the country's war chest. GERMANY'S MIGRATION SUMMIT: Against an alpine backdrop, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt hosted France, Poland, Austria, Denmark, and Czechia as well as EU Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner atop Germany's highest mountain to talk migration on Friday. Berlin is talking the talk as it's getting tough on migration and walking the walk as the first deportation flight to Afghanistan under Merz took off early this morning. Read all about it here. STRANDED USAID CONDOMS IN BELGIUM: A total 26 million condoms, millions of contraceptive pills, thousands of implants, two million injectable doses, and 50,000 bottles of HIV prevention medication from the US development agency USAID are sitting – unused – in a warehouse in the north-east of Belgium and face possible destruction. That's a stockpile worth about €8.6 million, and destroying would cost Washington around €145,000. How did we get here? Thomas Mangin knows . In case you haven't had enough yet, here are a few weekend reads: Laurent Geslin looked at the latest of France's military disengagement from Africa . In Senegal, a remnant of French colonial presence came to an end on Thursday, with the French army officially handing over the keys of the Dakar-based Camp Geille – which has been occupied by French forces since 1960 – to Senegalese authorities. Inés Fernández-Pontes explained how Sanchez's domestic corruption pickle leads to the country pushing for its minority languages – Catalan, Galician, and Basque – to become EU official once again. Do you know what E3, E4, G5 and MED9 stand for? Fear not, this is not a quiz. Just read Nick Alipour's piece spoon-feeding you Europe's alphabet soup. … and in case you missed it, Brussels supermarkets will be allowed to stay open longer. Want to get The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in your inbox? Subscribe to The Brief (jp)

Commission pitches €131bn for defence and space in EU budget
Commission pitches €131bn for defence and space in EU budget

Euractiv

time16-07-2025

  • Business
  • Euractiv

Commission pitches €131bn for defence and space in EU budget

The European Commission has proposed to earmark €131 billion for the EU's various defence and space industry programmes in the next seven-year budget on Wednesday. The proposed defence and space budget lines will fall under a new envelope dubbed the 'Resilience and Security, Defence Industry and Space' package. Until just an hour before the announcement, defence – along with 'Clean transition and decarbonisation' in the text – was the final budget line still under negotiation, sources involved in the talks told Euractiv. The Commission's overall proposal is €2 trillion, or 1.26% of the EU's gross national index. Compared to the current budget, defence and space spending would increase five-fold, Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin said. The previous budget, set in 2018, allocated €10 billion for defence industry policy (or €12.5 billion when adjusted for inflation). However, this sum has changed since then, and notably does not include spending on space. The long-term defence industry programme, EDIP, and the innovation programme, the EDF, would fall under the €451 billion so-called European Competitiveness Fund (ECF), a new umbrella structure unifying up to 14 existing budget lines. This setup is designed to give the Commission greater flexibility in shifting funds between strategic priorities. Politicians and industry have repeatedly floated a €100 billion target for EU defence industry policies. The Commission's proposal surpasses that target. This is a developing story. Sarantis Michalopoulos contributed to reporting (ap, jp, cp)

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