European Union

Left-wing feud erupts over responsibility for blackout

The co-chair of the left-populist BSW party argues that von der Leyen only partially and belatedly answered his formal request for information

REPORT on the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directives 2009/43/EC and 2009/81/EC, as regards the simplification of intra-EU transfers of defence-related products and the simplification of security and defence procurement
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
Committee on Security and Defence
Anna-Maja Henriksson, Pekka Toveri

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

As geopolitical tensions intensify and the far right advances, Europe must act. In this article, industriAll Europe calls for organising around democratic values, internationalism, and a bold industrial renewal - mobilising investment, solidarity, and workers’ power to secure peace, resilience, and shared prosperity.

Plus Greenland looms large on the European stage

In today's edition: Pfizer taxes, biotech financing, and sick leave in Germany.

In today's edition: Mercosur, CAP budget, CBAM

In today's edition: Child protection panel delay, digital tax deal, US chips plans

In today's edition: Steel imports, drinking water pollutants, plastic recycling

Written by Györgyi Mácsai and Nadejda Kresnichka-Nikolchova, Members’ Research Service (EPRS) with Raffaele Ventura, GlobalStat, EUI.

This infographic provides insight into the economic performance of China compared with the European Union (EU) and examines the trade dynamics between them. In 2024, China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate was recorded at 5%, while the EU experienced a growth rate of 1.1%. Chinese inflation rates remain stable at 0.2%. The exchange rate of the renminbi-yuan continues to rise, reaching 7.8 units per euro in 2024. Trade in goods and services between the EU and China has remained relatively stable, with a slight increase from the previous year. The EU is China’s largest trade partner in goods, accounting for 12.7% of China’s total imports and exports. Conversely, China is the EU’s second-largest trade partner, representing 14.6% of the EU’s trade, while the United States ranks first at 17.3%.

Read this ‘infographic’ on ‘China: Economic indicators and trade with EU‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

EU imports of services from China (2024)

In Wednesday's edition: Green(back)land, Mercosur momentum, farm safeguards

The pace of German greenhouse gas emissions cuts slowed further in 2025, putting in jeopardy climate goals in Europe’s biggest economy, a think tank warned Wednesday. Emissions fell by 1.5% in 2025 from the previous year, according to a study by Agora Energiewende, compared to a 3% drop in 2024 and 10% the year before […]

European leaders say Washington already has broad military access to Greenland under a long-standing agreement

General Sir Rupert Smith reflects on Washington’s attack on Venezuela, past Western interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia – and why soldiers sometimes have to disobey orders

Conservative religious groups, US-linked think tanks and faith-based organisations are increasingly using the EU capital to push hardline anti-abortion views – blurring the line between belief, lobbying and politics

Trump’s Greenland gambit has exposed Europe’s deepest vulnerability: its dependence on an ally that now poses the most explicit threat to its security

On 6 January 2026, the members of the Coalition of the Willing convened in Paris. Declaration on ‘Robust Security Guarantees for a Solid and Lasting Peace in Ukraine’ was issued by France.

Zelenskyy hailed the deal as 'substantial documents, not just words'