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Big news from Brussels: Euractiv has relaunched our free flagship morning newsletter as Rapporteur.
With original reporting from Eddy Wax and Nicoletta Ionta, and backed by 60+ journalists across Europe, Rapporteur delivers sharp, sober, and essential EU political coverage, every weekday at 7am.
Whether you’re in Brussels or beyond, this is your new morning must-read.
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“Sanctions” were the word of the week in Brussels, as the European Commission took a substantial step in pressuring Israel to desist from its brutal tactics in Gaza and, separately, unveiled its 19th round of sanctions against Russia.
Though the trade and diplomatic measures are distinct, in both cases, doubts about the efficacy of the proposals were widespread.
Details of the sanctions were revealed on Tuesday by foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who explained in an interview with Euronews that violent settlers and extremist ministers would be targeted, and that preferential trade access covered by the EU-Israel Association Agreement would be suspended. This is roughly €6 billion worth of Israeli goods.
But although outrage is growing in Europe against the horrendous civilian cost of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza – and a UN commission concluding on Tuesday that Israel has committed genocide – it is a received assumption that the proposals will fail to get approval from EU countries. Most notably, Germany’s staunch support for Israel makes it almost inconceivable they would pass such measures; Italy, Poland, Hungary, and Austria are also unlikely to give the nod.
All the same, the proposals shift the moral impetus onto these members, at a time when Gaza weighs ever more heavily on domestic politics, as on relations between key EU players.
Turning off the Russia tap
The hotly anticipated 19th round of sanctions against Russia was unveiled on Friday, designed to force Ukraine’s aggressor to “leave the battlefield and come to the negotiation table,” Ursula von der Leyen explained.
On the menu are sanctions against 118 more shadow fleet tankers, restrictions on Russian cryptocurrency traders, and a ban on imports of Russian LNG from January 2027.
The likelihood that the measures will cause the Kremlin to reconsider its increasingly ferocious attempts on Ukraine is slim, though energy independence from Russia would be a strategic advance for the bloc – though one that Trump hopes will be to the gain of the US, which has already been promised $750 billion in European fuel purchases.
A birthday present for Modi
At the same time that Indian soldiers joined with Russian and Belarusian forces for a large-scale military exercise near Poland’s border, the Commission announced the EU-India strategy on Wednesday. The plan is part of the move towards an EU-India free trade agreement, but the timing was unfortunate and perhaps only explicable by a desire to give Modi a gift.
But after the birthday celebrations were over, trade chief Maroš Šefčovič soberly told Euractiv that the India trade pact is far from being a done deal, with major differences to reconcile – on issues of agriculture and cars in particular. Hopes of getting the agreement over the line by the end of the year seem wishful.
Farm fund fraud
The EU’s top prosecutors say a spate of subsidy fraud cases from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) exposes “serious deficiencies” in the detection and reporting of cash misuse. The revelation comes as the Commission is preparing to allocate its next wave of CAP payments – worth €300 billion.
The competitiveness oracle comes to town
Italian technocrat Mario Draghi was in Brussels on Tuesday to address a conference about reinvigorating the bloc’s enfeebled economy. His landmark report is central to von der Leyen’s second term as Commission President, virtually taken as scripture when published one year ago.
But it has yet to bring the boom that would put the EU on firm financial ground – largely because many of its central proposals have yet to be rolled out. So it was that intonations of “urgency”, and corresponding criticisms of “complacency”, were bandied around – though whether they will serve as a metaphorical boot up the derrière has yet to be seen.
Draghi himself highlighted high energy costs and excessive rents in power plants as priorities to fix.
Light at the end of the tunnel
What will be one of the world’s longest railway tunnels is inching towards completion, as millions of cubic metres of rock are blasted beneath the Alps, to create the Brenner Base Tunnel that will link Austria and Italy.
Over 200 of the eventual 230 km length has been excavated, with the tunnel due to be completed in 2032. As well as being a huge boost for trade that will slash road freight via the Brenner Pass – one of Europe’s most congested trade routes – the tunnel has been hailed as a critical piece of infrastructure for military logistics.
“For Austria, it means one thing above all else: faster deployment of forces and equipment in the context of national defence and in the event of disaster and relief operations at home and abroad,” the Austrian defence ministry told Euractiv.
