European Union

Politico Europe reports: Former Trump administration officials are warning the European Union to expect President-elect Donald Trump to take early action to increase tariffs — and to potentially bypass the Brussels bureaucracy in favor of dealing with individual European capitals on trade concerns. Trump is threatening to impose up to a 20 percent across-the-border tariff on all $3 trillion worth …

Politico Europe reports: Meta was fined almost €800 million by the European Commission for pushing its classified ads service on social media users. The European Union executive said Meta wrongly tied Facebook Marketplace to its social network Facebook and imposed unfair terms on rival ad providers, it said in a press release. Meta was ordered to halt these practices. The …

NBC News reports: The Paris prosecutor on Wednesday requested a five-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office against far-right leader Marine Le Pen, at a trial where she and 24 others are accused of embezzling European Union funds. The trial, which comes almost a decade after initial investigations started, threatens to undermine her party’s efforts to polish …

Reuters reports: European diplomats are preparing to underpin sanctions on Russia anticipating that a return of former U.S. president Donald Trump could undermine Western efforts to isolate Moscow, sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. The talks among EU officials and envoys are centred on several initiatives to ensure that European sanctions would remain in place longer term, bolstering …

Politico Europe reports: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is preparing to serve up a major policy gift for his best friend across the Atlantic, former United States President Donald Trump. He’s concocted a way to let Trump, if he successfully makes it to the White House for a second term come November, wriggle out of a $50 billion loan the …

Reuters reports: EU industry chief Thierry Breton told billionaire Elon Musk in a letter on Monday he must comply with EU law ahead of Musk’s interview with U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump on social media platform X. The interview, scheduled for 8PM Eastern Time, will also be accessible to users in the EU, Breton wrote, adding: “In this context, I …

Agence France-Presse reports: Social platform X said Friday it would work European regulators after agreeing to suspended its heavily criticized use of European users’ personal data to train its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok. After Elon Musk’s social platform began using personal data in public posts made by European users Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, the DPC, launched a court case arguing …

EuroNews reports: Bulgaria has passed a law banning LGBTQ+ “propaganda” in schools, in a new blow to human rights that advocacy groups and campaigners have widely condemned. The amendment to Bulgaria’s education law, voted through by parliament on Wednesday, bans the “propaganda, promotion, or incitement in any way, directly or indirectly, in the education system of ideas and views related …

TVP World reports: It is Hungary, not Poland, that is conducting business with Russia, a Polish deputy foreign minister said on Sunday in response to the Hungarian prime minister accusing Warsaw of “hypocritical” policy towards Moscow. “We do not do business with Russia, unlike Prime Minister Orbán, who is on the margins of international society – both in the European …

Politico Europe reports: European Union foreign affairs ministers are set to snub Hungary by organizing their own foreign affairs summit in August instead of traveling to Budapest for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s event. Hungary, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, plans to host a foreign affairs summit in Budapest on August 28-29 — a prime …

Agence France-Presse reports: Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s X platform is misleading users with its blue checkmarks for certified accounts, and is also violating EU content rules, Brussels said Friday, in a finding that could lead to hefty fines. EU regulators are unhappy with the blue badge system under Musk’s ownership since anyone can now obtain it with a premium subscription, …

Bloomberg News reports: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban traveled to Florida to meet Donald Trump in the latest stop on his self-styled “peace mission” to resolve the war in Ukraine, which has angered Western allies. Orban posted a photo with the Republican nominee and former US president at his Mar-a-Lago resort, showing the pair giving a thumbs up, in a …

Politico Europe reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed bilateral security agreement with Poland in Warsaw on Monday — aimed at strengthening ties with one of the country’s closest wartime allies. Poland has already provided 44 military aid packages to Ukraine worth €4 billion and has pledged to provide several more this year and into the next decade. Poland agreed to …

ABC News reports: European Union regulators accused social media company Meta Platforms on Monday of breaching the bloc’s new digital competition rulebook by forcing Facebook and Instagram users to choose between seeing ads or paying to avoid them. Meta began giving European users the option in November of paying for ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram as a way to …

The Associated Press reports: When Hungary takes over the helm of the European Union on July 1, many politicians in Brussels will have the same thing on their minds: whether populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will use the role to further his reputation as the bloc’s main spoiler. Orbán in recent years has seemed to relish opportunities to block, water …

Reuters reports: France’s far-right National Rally (RN) extended its lead in a poll published on the last day of campaigning before Sunday’s first round of parliamentary elections, with another survey showing it in sight of a slim majority. Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigrant, eurosceptic party has led polling since President Emmanuel Macron called a surprise snap election this month that has …

The Associated Press reports: The European Union agreed Friday to start membership negotiations with embattled Ukraine and Moldova, another step in the nations’ long journey to move closer to the West and mute Russia’s influence. Belgium, which currently holds the presidency of the EU, said member states have agreed that talks will start June 25 in Luxembourg. Ukraine applied to …

The New York Times reports: Voters in the 27 European Union member states sent a stern warning to mainstream political powers, wreaking havoc on French and, to a lesser degree, German politics and rewarding hard-line nationalist parties in a number of countries. Even so, the radical right-wing wave dreaded by the European political establishment did not fully materialize; the center …

Politico Europe reports: French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament on Sunday, following his party’s crushing defeat at the hands of the far-right National Rally in the European election. The first round of the election will take place on June 30. The second will be on July 7. “France needs a clear majority in serenity and harmony. To be French, at …

Reuters reports: Voters in 21 EU countries including France and Germany will conclude a four-day election for the European Parliament on Sunday, which is expected to shift the assembly to the right and boost the numbers of eurosceptic nationalists. The election will shape how the European Union, a bloc of 450 million citizens, confronts challenges including a hostile Russia, increased …