World News by Wild Rose

The European Union would embrace the UK if it ever decided to rejoin the bloc, the leaders of Spain and France said shortly after new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham floated the possibility. “Welcome back,” French President Emmanuel Macron quipped in English, speaking Wednesday in Madrid alongside Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is hosting the leader on a two-day visit. “This prime minister is moving in that direction,” Macron added. “I think it’s very good news both for his country and for the...

Brussels and Berlin are steeling themselves for a make-or-break October with China, as the mood towards Beijing hardens in both capitals. The month ahead could help set the course of the increasingly thorny EU-China relationship for years to come, as Europe gears up to present a slew of new tools for countering Beijing’s trade practices, likely to come in December. Before then, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic travels to Beijing on October 8 and 9 for crucial meetings with Chinese Commerce Minister...

China vowed to retaliate if the European Union adopts broad tariffs on Chinese goods modeled on previous US measures, warning that such action could undermine trade negotiations with the bloc.

If you want to understand how Washington exercises power in the world, watch what it does when its closest allies try to deepen ties with each other. When EU chief Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada the European Union’s first-ever “associate member”, US President Donald Trump’s response was swift and blunt: “If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe, on many things.” He called the idea “laughable” and Canada –...

Gilts extended gains across the curve, with benchmark UK 10-year yields almost 7bps lower as oil and natural gas prices fell to new lows on the day. The moves followed reports that EU officials do not expect the US to ban diesel exports and that Qatar is holding meetings with the US and Iran over the conflict in the Middle East.

Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg are calling on the European Union to set a 2040 renewable-energy target, as the bloc seeks to reduce its dependence on imported fuel.

After a decade of start-stop negotiations, the European Union and the Philippines have found their way to a “substantial agreement” on free trade – one that analysts say could pave the way for Brussels to lock in an Asean-wide pact. The breakthrough, announced on Tuesday, capped talks that began in 2016 and stalled a year later, only to resume again in 2024. “I am proud to say we have delivered a substantial agreement that reflects the ambition both sides brought to the table,” EU trade chief...

European Union countries have agreed to release €6.6 billion from a fund meant to reimburse member states that have  provided arms to Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday. At least seven people were killed in Russian strikes on Kyiv earlier in the day, according to local authorities.  

The European Union on Friday said it will pursue a €120 million fine against the X social network after the US Justice Department said it supported the efforts of X owner Elon Musk to have the case annulled. The bloc fined the platform in 2025 for breaching EU online transparency rules, notably with its pay-to-play blue "verification" checkmark. 

The EU has gone through seven waves of enlargement since 1973, but there has not been one since Croatia joined in 2013. Indeed, there are not likely to be any new members in the club before 2028 – some 15 years after Croatia entered. But 2026 undeniably has momentum, and is on track to be a record year in terms of opening and closing new chapters for existing applicants. That is why our guest, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, sees this as "the year of the enlargement."

European Union member countries ⁠have agreed a ⁠deal to release €6.6 billion (US$7.5 billion) in EU funds linked to military aid for Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday. The money will ‌come from the European Peace Facility, a fund used by EU members to finance military aid to countries outside the bloc. It also refunds EU governments for military aid they have provided. Of the released funds, €900 million will ⁠go to the EU’s military assistance mission for Ukraine and...

The EU had said X "deceives users" by selling blue ticks without "meaningfully verifying" accounts.

The European Union should aim to negotiate an agreement that rebalances its trading relationship with China rather than get dragged into a damaging dispute, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

The move comes after the EU lifts sanctions on oligarchs following what diplomats described as pressure from Baku.

The signing will be part of Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming trips in December to Canada, the U.S., and Belgium, where three separate FTAs are currently either being negotiated or in the process of approval

Azerbaijan's President ​Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday pardoned a ​French national imprisoned for espionage a day ​after ‌the ⁠EU lifted sanctions on a Russian billionaire.

The Hong Kong government has rejected an annual European Union report alleging that the administration is undermining the city’s fundamental freedoms, calling its claims “unfounded and biased”. The more than 4,500-word statement, issued early on Wednesday morning, followed the publication on Tuesday of the EU’s 2025 annual report on Hong Kong. The report was jointly issued by the European Commission and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas. It...

NATO and the European Union welcome accord that ends months-long standoff after Trump threatened to seize Greenland.

Fuel prices have hit record highs across Europe in recent days, driven by soaring oil prices amid the war in the Middle East and Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries. However, the scale of the increases, as well as the measures taken to address them, varies significantly from one country to another. Here’s why.

Emmanuel Macron has written to the EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, calling on Brussels to take immediate action to lower energy prices. They have been on the rise as the conflict in the Middle East spreads, and as Ukraine's attacks on Russian diesel refineries continue.

China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao called on the European Union to keep its markets open to Chinese automakers and avoid protectionism to ensure a “fair, open and non-discriminatory” environment.

EU countries failed Monday to finalise a deal that involved lifting sanctions on Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, Multiple diplomats said earlier that member states had reached a provisional agreement to take the pair off the EU's blacklist as part of a compromise to extend sanctions on almost 3,000 other individuals and entities over the Ukraine war. France 24's Dave Keating has more from Brussels.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Germany to help steer the European Union away from protectionist measures against China, saying that Beijing and Brussels should not engage in trade wars just days before President Xi Jinping’s high-stakes US visit. “China and the EU are comprehensive strategic partners, and a trade war should not be fought between them,” Wang told his German counterpart Johann Wadephul in a phone call on Monday. According to a statement from China’s foreign ministry,...

EU countries failed Monday to reach a final deal that would remove Russian billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the bloc's sanctions list, with diplomats set to resume talks Tuesday.

Ireland, on behalf of the European Union, said Monday it had fined Google €403 million for improperly using users' location data between May 2018 and February 2020. However, the eight-year delay drew some criticism, as the European Consumer Organisation said that "can be as harmful as no enforcement at all". 

Leaders of the EU, Brazil, Canada and Kenya launched a forum with a joint call for UN reform, collective action amidst conflicts

Announcement comes as Canada seeks a closer relationship with the EU amid a trade war with the US.

President Emmanuel Macron arrived in the French territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon for talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday, weeks after President Donald Trump posted an image showing the islands ‌covered by the US flag. Macron’s visit to the archipelago off Canada’s Atlantic coast is the first there by a French president since 2014 and comes as Canada seeks closer ties with the European Union amid an increasingly acrimonious trade war with the United States. Saint Pierre...

Calls for a significant increase in international funding to help developing countries adapt to climate change

From work and study to trade, Canadians see new possibilities in closer ties with the European Union.