Good morning from Brussels. I white maredGo back to the EU editor Maria Taddeo I’m in New Delhi to start this morning’s newsletter.
Speaking to Mr Maria last night after the landmark free trade agreement was signed between the EU and India, European Council President Antonio Costa hailed the deal as a huge economic opportunity and a strategic victory in an “uncertain world”.
“This agreement shows that when trusted partners agree on trade, security, defense and people-to-people contact, it is possible to provide predictability in this highly uncertain world,” Costa told Maria.
“There is great value from an economic point of view,” Costa added. “But perhaps more important is the message that the world’s two largest democracies are sending to the international community.”
“It is important to provide predictability for cooperation rather than conflict, and for trusted partners to work for our benefit in the world.”
The deal aims to reduce tariffs on EU goods ranging from wine to cars and avoid escalating global trade tensions. Asked whether President Trump’s recent threat of an all-out trade war over Greenland was the final impetus for a deal, Costa said: “We started these negotiations many years ago, but of course now that we live in an unpredictable world, we need to provide predictability for businesses and hope and security for our people.”
The European Council President also said that former Italian Prime Ministers Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta, who recently advised on the EU’s lagging competitiveness,Participate in an informal summitIt will be announced at next month’s EU summit.
The gathering, scheduled to take place on February 12 at Alden-Biesen Castle in Belgium, will discuss how to restore the region’s competitiveness and economic resilience amid deepening global instability.
President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies and unpredictable foreign policy have reinforced some of the key demands laid out in Letta and Draghi’s 2024 report (the latter called on the EU to get serious about improving its competitiveness or face “slow suffering”).
Costa said the withdrawal would help start a cross-organizational discussion on how to strengthen Europe’s economy and restore momentum around the recommendations made by Draghi and Letta in their 2024 blueprint.
In other news this morning, correspondent Sasha Vaklina speaks to Josef Aschbacher, head of the European Space Agency, about how the US still invests six times as much public space money as Europe as a whole and how China spends about 50% more than Europe, leading to a decline in the region’s global share.
“This is very worrying because while Europe has great capabilities, our industry is one of the best in the world,” Aschbacher said. But the US is “spending so much more” that “we see a real risk here that European companies could be forced out of the market.” clock.
Meanwhile, the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland are touring European capitals to drum up support ahead of pending negotiations with the Trump administration over Greenland’s future.
Mette Frederiksen and Jens Frederik Nielsen met with Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin last night and will travel to Paris later today to meet with President Emmanuel Macron as the nature of the deal sought by President Trump remains unclear.
The newsletter also includes how Paris is resisting growing calls for the EU to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization, and how Mark Rutte has come under fire for his recent smooth comments about Trump.
France emerges as key resistance force in EU talks over blacklisting Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
Momentum is growing within the EU to follow Italy and designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. shifted It announced its position on Monday and would push ahead with the move, an EU correspondent said. Maia de la Baume report.
Diplomats said Rome had previously been reluctant to support the designation, but reversed course after new data highlighted the scale of Iran’s recent violent crackdown on protesters. Some reports put the death toll in the crackdown at more than 30,000.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday’s X broadcast that he would propose adding the Revolutionary Guards to the EU’s terrorist list “in coordination with other partners” because “the sudden casualties of civilians during protests require a clear response.” Iran responded by summoning the Italian ambassador.
A majority of foreign ministers from the EU’s 27 countries meeting in Brussels on Thursday are expected to support the designation, but diplomatic officials say France remains the main obstacle. The decision will require unanimous support from all EU member states. French officials have argued that completely severing diplomatic relations with the Iranian regime carries grave risks and that the Revolutionary Guards’ listing would be largely symbolic, as many of the group’s member states are already subject to EU sanctions in three categories: human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation and military support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Maia tells the whole story.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sets 2027 target for Ukraine to join the EU
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has announced that the country aims to join the European Union in 2027. In a post on X after a telephone conversation with Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, President Zelenskiy said EU membership is part of his country’s security in a future agreement to end the war in Russia.
EU officials have long insisted that the bloc’s enlargement policy is “results-based” and that candidate countries need to achieve various reform goals before becoming full-fledged members.
But the possibility that a future peace deal includes a target date for Ukraine’s accession would undermine that policy and force officials to consider an overhaul of how new members are integrated.
An EU official told an EU correspondent. Thunder Giros As part of this reform, it is reported that a “gradual accession” model is being considered, in which Kyiv initially joins the EU without receiving the full benefits of membership.
Sandor has the details.
Rutte faces backlash for telling Europeans to ‘keep dreaming’ about independence from US security
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has come under fire for saying the EU should “keep dreaming” about independence from the United States on security and defense, my colleague says. Jorge Riboreiro I will report.
Rutte, who called Trump “Daddy” and was instrumental in persuading him to end recent threats against Greenland, told the European Parliament on Monday: “If anyone here again thinks the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can protect itself without the United States, keep dreaming.”
“You can’t do it. Neither can we. We need each other.”
Paris fired back, with Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrault saying of X: “No, dear Mark Rutte. Europeans can and must protect themselves. Even the United States agrees. This is the European pillar of NATO.”
Asked by Jorge about Rutte’s intervention, European Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said the political focus should remain on making the EU “increasingly resilient” and “increasing its independence” in “various areas” such as security and defence.
“We have a positive story to tell in terms of how we have been able to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel imports from Russia,” Pinho said Tuesday afternoon. “Such dependencies are also seen in other sectors, such as defense and critical raw materials.”
“We are doing everything necessary to reduce that dependence and reduce exposure to that risk.”
Jorge tells the whole story.
More from the newsroom
Kubilius said the EU now has its own “secure and encrypted” satellite communications system. The EU’s defense chief said on Tuesday that countries now have access to European-made “secure and encrypted” satellite communications as part of Mr Musk’s plan to reduce dependence on foreign space services such as Starlink. Alice Tidy isstory.
The role of ICE agents in the Milan-Cortina Olympics has sparked criticism in Italy. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will take on a security role during the upcoming Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, angering some Italian officials, Gavin Blackburn said on Tuesday. I will report.
It has been reported that the death toll from Iranian protests could exceed 30,000. The number of casualties in Iran’s ongoing crackdown on protests is estimated at around 3,100, according to state media, and more than 30,000, cited by independent sources and medical experts. Masoud Sarali There’s more.
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter supports calls for a boycott of the World Cup in the United States. Blatter supports a proposal for fans to boycott World Cup matches in the United States because of the actions of President Donald Trump and his administration at home and abroad. gavin blackburnI have a story.
we are also paying attention
- The European Defense Agency’s annual conference will be held in Brussels. European Space Agency meetings will also continue to be held.
- US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder speaks with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs)
- European Parliament’s employment committee to question Amazon representative over warehouse employment conditions
That’s all for today. Maria Tadeo, Jorge Liboreiro, Maïa de la Baume and Sandor Zsiros contributed to this newsletter. Don’t forget sign up You can receive Europe Today in your inbox every weekday morning at 08:30.
