This, then, is the way to lift Von der Leyen’s curse. Allow coalitions of states to combine in respective self-interest and in strategic partnership with their industries, taking state aid to a co-ordinated multinational level.

A group of 18 former European heads of state have called on the European Commission to break up Google’s highly lucrative advertising-technology business, claiming it erodes Europe’s media landscape.

Schengen is now a symbol of the migration crisis driving the backlash against globalization and the ascendance of illiberalism.

The push comes amid increasing militarization of European research, which began after Russia’s incursions into Ukraine in 2014 and ramped up following the full-scale invasion in 2022. Boosting dual-use research is part of the European Union’s response to a “more threatening geopolitical context”, commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said.

The EU General Court has ruled against the European Commission for failing to comply with its own GDPR data protection regulations.

There is an ongoing debate in Europe about how best to handle the incoming Trump administration. Some argue that Trump should be, in effect, bought off. Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank,

The expanded probe by the European Commission, announced on Friday, requires X to hand over internal documents regarding its recommendation algorithm. The Commission also issued a “retention order” for all relevant documents relating to how the algorithm could be amended in future.

In 2025, Europe is expected to experience weak economic growth due to tighter fiscal policies and trade barriers. We expect significant political volatility in key economies like France and Germany, impacting economic reforms and infrastructure investments.

E urope’s divisions were once simple. Fiscal policy and sunshine? That was a north-south carve-up: grey, abstemious north; sparkling, spendthrift south. Migration and wealth? Newcomers were mostly tolerated in the rich west and despised in the poor east.

It was just past 11 on a freezing December morning on the outskirts of Brussels, but already workers at the city's Audi factory were cracking open frosty cans of beer. They had just finished a long night shift - not on one of the production lines at a plant that has produced 8 million cars since 1949,

Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk accuse the EU of protectionism and censorship, urging Donald Trump's administration to intervene. The European Commission defends its right to enforce EU regulations concerning digital giants.