The European Union has formally endorsed a new permanent safeguard regime for steel imports that will establish tariff-free quotas totalling 18.3 million tonnes annually, whilst imposing a 50 per cent duty on volumes exceeding that threshold. The framework, which takes effect from 1 July 2026, represents a landmark shift from temporary protection measures to a…
Industrial production across the eurozone fell by 0.8 per cent in March compared with the previous month, according to figures published by Eurostat on 22 May, marking a deepening contraction in the bloc’s manufacturing sector as energy-intensive industries grapple with surging costs triggered by geopolitical instability in the Middle East. The European statistics office confirmed…
The European Parliament has placed the question of joint EU medicines procurement at the centre of its May plenary, as pressure from Washington and Beijing on pharmaceutical supply chains reaches what liberals describe as a decisive moment for the Union’s negotiating leverage.
The European Parliament has begun a critical debate over whether Brussels should consolidate its purchasing power for essential medicines or allow Member States to continue negotiating independently with major pharmaceutical suppliers, a decision that could reshape how 450 million Europeans access vital treatments. Karin Karlsbro, the lead negotiator for the centrist Renew Europe group, opened…
European Union gas storage levels stood at 36% on 13 May 2026, the lowest mid-injection-season reading since 2018, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz tightens LNG supply. The Commission has formally relaxed the mandatory November filling target from 90% to 80% for the 2026 winter season.
EU trade ministers meet in the Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) configuration this week to review economic security, the impact of the Middle East conflict on trade flows, and the follow-up to the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference held in Yaoundé from 26 to 30 March 2026.
The European Commission presents its Fertilisers Action Plan during the May plenary in Strasbourg, addressing the dependency of EU agriculture on imported nitrogen, persistently elevated prices since the 2022 energy crisis, and the need to anchor strategic production capacity in the Union.
A new round of Trump-Putin phone diplomacy revived speculation on Monday 18 May 2026 of a possible bilateral meeting before the June G7 cut-off, against the backdrop of stalled Ukraine ceasefire talks, the Iran war, and Putin’s imminent state visit to Beijing.
European equity markets traded firmer on Monday 18 May 2026 as the CAC 40 reclaimed lost ground and the FTSE 100 reasserted technical control, while oil prices kept swinging on Strait of Hormuz tension. The ECB countdown to the 4-5 June decision is now fully on.
The European Central Bank held its deposit rate at 2% for a third consecutive meeting on 30 April, but a Bloomberg survey of economists now sees two summer rate hikes as the Iran war drives eurozone headline inflation toward a projected 2.6% in 2026.
