Monday, 17 August 2026Europe · Analysis
Independent · Brussels & Berlin
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President of France, Élysée Palace
The court ruled the law violated freedom of expression and parental authority, forcing Macron to rewrite legislation while Brussels prepares its own EU-wide rules for autumn.
Centre-left MEP and likely 2027 presidential candidate Raphaël Glucksmann says the Secretariat-General for National Defence and Security attributed a coordinated operation to Russian military intelligence, weeks before he is expected to declare his candidacy.
A French appeals court rules Tuesday on whether the National Rally leader's embezzlement conviction and five-year ban on public office will stand, potentially ending her fourth bid for the Élysée.
ECB president tells Les Echos she may leave before her 2027 term ends to inject a European voice into a French campaign dominated by the far-right National Rally.
Brussels summit will test whether France and Germany can agree on sector-specific tariffs and a European version of the US Section 301 tool as the goods deficit with China reaches €360 billion.
Civil Contract takes 49.81 percent of the vote, securing a parliamentary majority but falling short of the two-thirds threshold needed to ratify a constitutional referendum demanded by Azerbaijan.
Germany unveils first military strategy since 1945 while France extends nuclear talks to seven partners, but capability gaps and US arsenal depletion leave a lengthening window of vulnerability.
The European Parliament has voted to raise the proposed 2028-2035 spending ceiling above the Commission's €1.76 trillion, but Germany and the Netherlands are pushing back while net recipients demand more. Negotiations resume in June with concrete figures.
German growth forecasts halved to 0.6% while French electricity costs a fifth of Germany's, forcing a reckoning over energy strategy that abandoned nuclear after Fukushima.
With Marine Le Pen or Jordan Bardella favoured to win next year's presidential election, Berlin, Brussels and Kyiv are accelerating nuclear, budget and enlargement agreements that a National Rally government could unpick.
European officials confronted open hostility in India as the United States, industry leaders and developing nations dismissed the AI Act as a cautionary tale rather than a template.
French president rejects US criticism of European regulation while Unicef and Interpol reveal 1.2 million children affected by sexualised deepfakes in past year
Sriram Krishnan tells Tony Blair Institute event the EU AI Act discourages founders, while praising India's approach as leaders gather for annual AI summit.
Brussels meeting exposes deep divisions over joint debt and capital markets union while the dollar still dominates 60 percent of global goods invoicing.
European Commission president tells MEPs the bloc's 27 financial systems and 300-plus trading venues are strangling growth, urging savings and investment union legislation this year even if some member states refuse to join.
Joachim Nagel argues Europe needs a permanent joint borrowing instrument to finance defence and technology, putting the Bundesbank at odds with Chancellor Merz and marking a historic shift for Germany's central bank.
European leaders ended emergency talks in Brussels welcoming the US president's retreat from tariff threats while signalling they will not dismantle the anti-coercion instrument until the Arctic dispute is formally settled.
Washington joins coalition of willing for first time as Trump envoys signal support for binding commitments, while Britain and France pledge troops and territorial disputes remain unresolved.
Leaders in Paris agree text committing Washington to ceasefire monitoring, intelligence and backing for a European-led multinational force, though Moscow has not signed on.
Six European powers issued a joint statement defending Danish sovereignty over Greenland after the White House said military options remain on the table, but the response reveals deep divisions and reliance on US security guarantees.
Trust in French institutions has fallen faster than in any other EU country, while Marine Le Pen's legal battle and a fragmented left leave the 2027 contest wide open.
US security commitments are the only credible deterrent, but their durability depends on Russian acceptance and Congressional ratification, neither of which is assured.
More than 150 tractors paralysed central Brussels while heads of government clashed over a 25-year negotiation that Brazil says must be signed this weekend or abandoned.
From Jaywick to Berlin, mainstream leaders are losing ground while a new US strategy explicitly targets European immigration policy and 'political correctness' with diplomatic pressure and endorsements.
France's National Rally leader tells BBC he shares White House warnings of 'civilisational erasure' but insists his party seeks national sovereignty, not subservience to Washington, as Le Pen's legal battle clouds the 2027 presidential race.
Zelensky meets Starmer, Macron and Merz in London before Brussels NATO talks, with territory concessions and security guarantees still unresolved while Trump criticises Kyiv publicly.
The White House document names immigration, birth rates and 'censorship' as threats to civilisation, urging support for patriotic parties across the continent before key votes in Germany, Britain and possibly France.
Washington's 28-point proposal crosses European red lines on territory, force caps and NATO infrastructure. A counter-offer from Berlin, Paris and London has been floated but Europeans remain excluded from direct talks with Kyiv in Miami.
Five prime ministers in 17 months have exposed the structural fragility of a system built for presidential dominance, not parliamentary compromise.
Ukrainian president joins Copenhagen summit as European leaders endorse coordinated air defence network following Russian drone incursions across northern and eastern Europe.
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