Four of the six jobs on the ECB’s executive board will become vacant by the end of 2027, beginning with Vice President Luis de Guindos, whose term ends in May 2026

International News via Reuters:

The Spanish government will seek to keep a Spaniard on the executive board at the European Central Bank where the race for top jobs will kick off next year, Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo told Reuters on Wednesday.

Four of the six jobs on the ECB’s executive board will become vacant by the end of 2027, beginning with Vice President Luis de Guindos, whose term ends in May 2026.

“From the Spanish side, we will, of course, work to keep on having a prominent representation and a seat at the ECB executive board,” Cuerpo said in an interview on the sidelines of an event in Toronto.

Speculation around Spain’s chances to fill future vacant roles at the ECB resurfaced after Cuerpo withdrew from the race to become Eurogroup president last week.

The minister said it was “important that we have a balanced view of the final composition of the ECB council, once all the positions are filled in, because there needs to be a balance in its composition”.

ECB President Christine Lagarde, chief economist Philip Lane and board member Isabel Schnabel will all reach the end of their terms in 2027, sparking a competition between capitals to secure the euro zone’s most powerful monetary policy roles.

Asked if a Spaniard could potentially succeed Lagarde, Cuerpo said: “Well, it’s early to say, but again, we will make sure also that whichever position we will be running for, we will present the best candidate possible.”

Reporting by Caroline Stauffer in Toronto; Writing by Jesús Aguado in Madrid; editing by Andrei Khalip

Brazil’s COP30 presidency pushed through a compromise climate deal after over two weeks of negotiating that would boost finance for poor nations coping with global warming

International News via Reuters:

The final outcome of the COP30 climate summit in Brazil last month was “disappointing,” but showed multilateralism still works in the absence of the United States’ participation and amid growing geopolitical tensions, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Reuters Next conference in New York on Wednesday.

“I have mixed feelings about the COP,” Guterres said about the annual UN climate negotiations that took place on the edge of the Amazon rainforest. 

“On one hand, I think it is remarkable that with the United States out and campaigning against it and the fossil fuel industry clearly determined to make sure that things would not move forward … with all these movements against it, it was possible to have an agreement, and this shows that multilateralism works,” he said.

WORRIED ABOUT MISSING TEMPERATURE GOAL

Brazil’s COP30 presidency pushed through a compromise climate deal after over two weeks of negotiating that would boost finance for poor nations coping with global warming. Still, it omitted any mention of the fossil fuels driving it, which critics say showed the world was backtracking on the previous consensus that the world should phase down their use.

Several countries objected to the summit ending without stronger plans to rein in greenhouse gases or address fossil fuels.

“What worries me more is that we are at the present moment in a situation in which the scientific community is already unanimous in recognizing that we are going to go above 1.5 C,” he said, referring to the temperature threshold world governments set at a landmark 2015 climate agreement in Paris.

“This overshoot means that all these things that we are witnessing will get more frequent, more dramatic,” he said, referring to devastating storms and floods, adding that countries need to strive to cap greenhouse gas emissions now and undertake a drastic reduction over the next few years.

CHINA STEPPING UP

Guterres said the disengagement of the U.S. from climate action has left the door wide open for China, which dominates the global market for renewable energy and electric vehicles.

He said China set a low-ball climate target this year by pledging to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by only up to 10% from an unspecified peak, but he expects the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter to outperform its goal.

“An acceleration of reduction of emissions is essential in China, from the point of view of the world, because they represent 30% of (global) emissions,” he said.

He urged developed countries to step up their investments in the next generation of clean technologies beyond solar and wind, such as green hydrogen, to leapfrog China.

“Green hydrogen is probably an important bet that Western countries should be doing to gain in relation to the next market dispute,” he said.

View the live broadcast of the World Stage here and read full coverage here.

Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Rod Nickel

With the backing of Germany, European carmakers are lobbying Brussels for greater flexibility as they navigate the costly shift to electric

International News via Reuters:

It is likely that the European Commission will delay announcing its updated plan on climate targets for the auto sector, an industry source said on Tuesday, following pressure on Brussels to weaken a 2035 cut-off for combustion engines.

With the backing of Germany, European carmakers are lobbying Brussels for greater flexibility as they navigate the costly shift to electric while facing competition from China and margin-squeezing tariffs.

The Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is scheduled to make an announcement on December 10 on a package to support the automotive sector, including a possible revision of an effective 2035 ban on sales of new combustion engines.

The German car industry source said that date would probably be delayed.

Earlier this week, EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas told Handelsblatt the announcement of the package could be delayed until early January.

A letter to Brussels from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz appealing for plug-in hybrids and “highly efficient” combustion engines to be exempt from the cut-off was well received, the EU official told the German business daily.

Reporting by Rachel MoreEditing by Kirsti Knolle and Madeline Chambers

The outbreak was first detected last week in two wild boars in the Collserola mountain range outside Barcelona

International News via Reuters:

Spain’s Catalonia region has pledged to curb its wild boar population, including by ramping up culls, after African swine was detected in several animals outside Barcelona in the country’s first outbreak since 1994.

That has threatened pork exports from Spain, the European Union’s leading producer of the meat, which accounts for a quarter of the bloc’s output with annual exports worth about 3.5 billion euros ($4.05 billion). 

The outbreak was first detected last week in two wild boars in the Collserola mountain range outside Barcelona, and seven more boars in the same area have since been confirmed to have died from the disease.

Spanish officials have said they expect more positive cases.

Although harmless to humans, the virus spreads rapidly among pigs and wild boar. So far, no farms have been affected.

Catalan regional leader Salvador Illa said local authorities had been working for some time to reduce the wild boar population due to its threat to public health, but that the recent outbreak has shown the need to accelerate the effort.

“There are too many wild boars,” Illa told reporters late on Tuesday from Mexico, where he is on an official visit.

“We have activated and intensified this task, contacting all hunting associations and looking at technically acceptable and proven methods to do so.”

BOAR OVERPOPULATION

Farm association COAG said on Wednesday Spain’s wild boar population has grown by 550% in 30 years due to a lack of effective control measures.

There are about 1,000 wild boars in the Collserola mountain range, with 9.2 boars per square km, down from 17.4 in 2021-22 when the population soared following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data compiled by Catalan public TV.

That reduction was achieved in part through culls, along with other measures.

Officials suspect the virus may have spread after a wild boar ate contaminated food, possibly a sandwich brought from outside Spain by a truck driver who may have stopped at a gas station near the outbreak’s area.

“We have the most biosecure farms in Europe … but we are paying the price for a wild boar that ate a sandwich,” COAG official Jaume Bernis said.

The Spanish government has said it has intensified efforts to maintain international buyers’ confidence, working to secure export certificates following the outbreak.

While China and Britain have agreed to continue allowing pork exports from unaffected regions, Spain is still negotiating similar terms with Canada.

Agriculture Minister Luis Planas told reporters on Tuesday he would fight “certificate by certificate, country by country” to get exports resumed.

Reporting by Joan Faus and Emma Pinedo; Editing by Aislinn Laing and Jan Harvey