Πέμπτη 25 Ιουνίου 2026
18 άρθρα
Washington targets ASML’s older chip machines
The Netherlands has joined the US-led Pax Silica alliance to secure AI supply chains, but is simultaneously lobbying against the MATCH Act in Washington. This bipartisan US bill would force the Dutch government to ban the export and servicing of older-generation DUV lithography systems to China. If the Netherlands refuses to comply within 150 days, the US could exert legal authority over Dutch-made products.
Bulgaria’s 5.7% deficit triggers EU discipline
Six months after joining the euro, Sofia has proposed a 2026 budget with a deficit nearly double the European Union’s 3% limit. The gap reveals the exhaustion of one-off accounting measures used to secure currency entry. As the European Commission moves toward a formal corrective procedure, the government is proposing new gambling taxes and road vignettes to help narrow the €7.2 billion fiscal hole.
Rutte sells Trump on 5% defense
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte used a Washington visit to pitch a new 5% GDP spending target as proof that Europe is ending its reliance on U.S. taxpayers. While core military investment grew by $90 billion last year, the pledge’s 1.5% resilience basket allows allies to relabel civil infrastructure and disaster-response costs as defense spending to hit the target.
Five military powers claim European security lead
Leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the UK met in Berlin to coordinate defense policy ahead of July’s NATO summit in Ankara. While the new E5 format signals a push for greater military weight, the group faces internal friction over industrial control following the collapse of the FCAS fighter project. This coordination follows reports that Washington is already lowering some pledged force contributions to NATO planning.
Wallonia ends its 10-year CETA blockade
The Wallonia-Brussels Federation’s vote on 24 June removes a major hurdle for the EU-Canada trade agreement, which has operated provisionally since 2017. While businesses already benefit from lower tariffs and open procurement, the deal’s most contested feature—a dedicated court for foreign investors—still requires full ratification. Despite this Belgian progress, the treaty remains stuck in limbo across Europe, with the French Senate and Irish courts still posing significant legal obstacles.
Spain’s 108 heat deaths expose protection gaps
While meteorological alerts in France and Italy reached record levels, the transition from forecasts to physical protection remains broken. Spain recorded 108 deaths in late June, mostly among the elderly, as local authorities struggled to reach vulnerable residents in uncooled homes. The crisis highlights a massive infrastructure deficit, including a 31 billion euro cooling modernization gap in German hospitals and care facilities.
Greece's Supreme Court rejects Kovesi mandate appeal
The Greek Supreme Court voted 72 to 10 to reject a challenge by EU Chief Prosecutor Laura Kovesi over the length of prosecutor tenures. While Athens unanimously approved adding three new prosecutors to the local branch, the court ruled that Kovesi lacks the legal standing to contest national decisions on service terms. This dual move strengthens the office’s numbers while preserving the government's authority over its personnel.
Greece signs $9 billion US gas deal
Atlantic SEE will import one million tonnes of LNG annually from Venture Global for 20 years, providing a commercial foundation for the Vertical Corridor pipeline network. While the 2030 start date leaves a gap before the EU’s 2027 Russian gas ban, the contract allows Greece to supply Albania and Bosnia as Bulgaria cuts transit tariffs to facilitate the flow.
Digital euro advances to counter Visa and Mastercard
The European Parliament’s economics committee has voted to advance the digital euro, aiming to reduce dependence on U.S. networks that handle two-thirds of euro-area card transactions. While the ECB-backed project promises lower merchant fees and offline privacy, commercial banks warn that a 3,000-euro holding cap could shift 699 billion euros out of private deposits, potentially raising borrowing costs across the bloc.
New EU rules target five industrial carcinogens
European negotiators reached a provisional deal to limit workplace exposure to five substances, including cobalt and welding fumes, aiming to prevent 1,700 lung cancer cases. While the Commission projects 1.16 billion euros in healthcare savings, recent safety failures at Hungarian battery plants highlight the distance between new Brussels standards and the actual enforcement capacity of national inspectors.
Radio failure grounds every German train
A routine technical swap in the aging GSM-R radio system triggered a two-hour nationwide halt, freezing domestic traffic and international sleepers at the border. While Deutsche Bahn restored service using backups, the outage exposes the fragility of Europe’s rail backbone as it begins a decade-long migration to 5G standards. Safety rules prevent any movement without this secured driver-to-dispatcher link.
Romania activates US Merops drone defense
Romania has become the first NATO frontline state to operationalize the Merops system, a US-supplied counter-drone technology designed for low-flying threats. While Defense Minister Radu Miruță says the system is fully integrated, the military must still navigate the peacetime legal constraints that previously prevented soldiers from firing on Russian drones. The deployment highlights a growing gap between Romania's readiness and slower EU-funded procurement efforts across the eastern flank.
Poland signs for three Saab A26 submarines
The June 29 contract ends three decades of failed procurement and prevents the total collapse of Poland's submarine fleet. Beyond the three advanced stealth boats designed for shallow Baltic waters, the deal includes a bridge lease to keep crews trained and investment in local shipyards. While the boats bolster NATO deterrence, Poland remains outside a new EU-funded hub for protecting critical undersea cables.
Kyiv claims 60,000-tonne strike on Baltic arsenal
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukrainian drones destroyed 60,000 tonnes of ammunition at a Russian Baltic Fleet facility near St. Petersburg. While NASA thermal sensors confirmed significant fires at the site, independent verification of the exact tonnage remains missing. The strike signals Kyiv’s deep-strike capabilities, forcing NATO’s frontline states to recalibrate their defenses as Russia moves naval assets away from the exposed coastline.
Hungary tenders 700 MW to unlock EU funds
After a decade of stagnant wind capacity at 330 MW, Budapest is launching a 700 MW tender as part of a broader €10 billion recovery deal with Brussels. The expansion depends on HUF 479.7 billion in grid upgrades and smart meter rollouts. While the funds are approved, payments remain frozen until Hungary implements power market reforms and meets strict rule-of-law milestones.
Valencia relief consumes 81% of EU fund
The European Commission released €846 million this week to support Spain’s recovery from the 2024 Valencia floods. While the payment helps restore public infrastructure and emergency services, it covers only 5% of the estimated €20 billion in total damages. The massive payout highlights a growing budgetary strain, as a single disaster has nearly exhausted the EU’s annual €1.167 billion solidarity reserve.
Germany axes F126 frigate after €2.3bn spend
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius terminated the F126 contract with Damen Naval after the project faced spiraling costs and missed deadlines. While €2.3 billion has already been spent, Berlin is pivoting to a domestic TKMS design for eight smaller anti-submarine frigates. The decision marks a retreat from cross-border European defense projects back to national industrial control as security tensions rise in the Baltic Sea.
Croatia builds migrant screening hubs at Dugi Dol
Construction of two new registration facilities marks the first physical infrastructure for the EU’s recently enacted Migration and Asylum Pact. While the centers will feed biometric data into shared European databases, they expose a persistent policy bottleneck: registering arrivals is functionally simpler than securing the diplomatic cooperation and legal clearance required for actual returns.