Around 865 billion euros of EU funding will be available under these national spending plans

International News via Reuters:

The European Commission wants to open up part of its proposed 2 trillion euro EU budget for 2028-2034 to nuclear energy, a move likely to divide the bloc’s member states, which Germany immediately rejected.

In an annex to its mammoth budget proposal published on Wednesday, the Commission listed nuclear power as an activity countries can fund through their national share of the budget – specifically, “new or additional fission energy capacity installed in GW”.

Around 865 billion euros of EU funding will be available under these national spending plans. 

The move would be a sea change for the EU, whose current budget does not fund conventional nuclear power plants – reflecting a long-running conflict between pro-nuclear EU members like France and Sweden and traditionally anti-nuclear countries like Germany and Austria.

“Germany rejects any subsidization of nuclear power from the EU budget,” its environment minister Carsten Schneider said on Thursday, adding that Berlin respected the choice of other countries to build reactors.

“However, respect for national sovereignty in energy matters also means not claiming EU funds for this expensive path, a quarter of which comes from German taxpayers’ money,” Schneider said.

France’s energy ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Swedish energy minister Ebba Busch declined to comment.

The Commission’s budget proposal marks the start of years of intense negotiations among EU nations, which must all approve the final budget.

EU countries have long been at loggerheads over whether to promote atomic power to reduce CO2 emissions, a dispute which has delayed policymaking on climate change and energy in the bloc.

That dynamic had appeared on the cusp of a shift earlier this year, when German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signalled Berlin would no longer object to treating nuclear power on a par with renewable energy in EU policies. 

Countries including Denmark and Italy had also signalled a shift in their past opposition to nuclear power. 

However, some EU diplomats said that this softening of positions had not extended into support for EU funding. 

“There is no chance EU money goes to new nuclear,” one EU country diplomat said.

The EU’s current budget explicitly bans member states from building nuclear power plants using their share of hundreds of billions of euros in regional development funds – although the budget offers some limited funds for nuclear research and decommissioning of old reactors.   

Reporting by Kate Abnett; additional reporting by Simon Johnson, Holger Hansen, America Hernandez, Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Hugh Lawson

Instone will replace Pavel Hajman, who has been at the garden equipment maker’s helm since May 2023

International News via Reuters:

Sweden’s Husqvarna on Thursday named insider Glen Instone as its new chief executive effective August 11.

Instone will replace Pavel Hajman, who has been at the garden equipment maker’s helm since May 2023. Hajman had expressed his intention in April to step down once a successor was appointed. Instone has been with Husqvarna since 2002, and is currently the president of Husqvarna’s forest and garden division. Prior to that he was the company’s chief financial officer.

The company in April reported first-quarter operating profit below expectations hit by soft demand in North America, currency headwinds and lower prices.

The company had said that its earnings before interest and tax fell 21% to 1.53 billion Swedish crowns ($156.96 million), missing analysts’ average forecast of 1.71 billion crowns.

($1 = 9.7475 Swedish crowns)

Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber

The talks aim to identify specific areas of cooperation between the parties from this summer onwards

International News via Reuters:

Japan and the European Union will consider joint public-private partnerships as they look to reduce their reliance on China in areas such as the procurement of rare earths, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday.

As China, the dominant supplier of rare earths, tightens export controls, global manufacturers are concerned that Beijing’s decision to curb exports of rare-earth alloys, mixtures and magnets could slow production and disrupt supply chains.

Globally, countries have been trying to secure rare earth supply chains to loosen China’s grip on the materials used to build weapons, electric vehicles and many electronics.

Japan and the EU will launch a new “economic two-plus-two” dialogue to bring together their foreign and economy ministers, expected to be announced at the Japan-EU leaders’ summit scheduled for July 23, according to the report.

The talks aim to identify specific areas of cooperation between the parties from this summer onwards, it said.

The countries will jointly develop supply chains for critical minerals such as rare earths, after the two sides agreed to a new dialogue at the working level.

They will focus on simplifying EU regulations and discuss how Japanese companies can take part in EU projects under the new framework, which seeks to deepen Japan-EU ties, Nikkei said.

The framework will also add Stephane Sejourne, the European Commission’s executive vice president for prosperity and industrial strategy, to the talks.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Defense signed a multibillion-dollar deal with MP Materials that will make the Pentagon its largest shareholder, to boost rare earths output.

India is holding talks with Chile and Peru to source critical minerals under ongoing free trade pact negotiations, Reuters reported earlier this week, citing a trade ministry source.

Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai

A spokesperson for Tencent, owner of WeChat, said the company complies with regulations in the markets it operates

International News via Reuters:

Austrian advocacy group noyb filed data privacy complaints against China’s AliExpress, TikTok and WeChat on Thursday, saying they failed to comply with European Union laws on providing users with a full copy of their data.

While most tech companies have a tool to fulfil requests for downloading user information, some Chinese companies have made it difficult to access the information, noyb said.

“TikTok, AliExpress and WeChat love collecting as much data about you as possible but vehemently refuse to give you full access as required by EU law,” said Kleanthi Sardeli, data protection lawyer at noyb.

A spokesperson for Tencent, owner of WeChat, said the company complies with regulations in the markets it operates and is committed to protecting user privacy and data security.

TikTok and AliExpress did not respond to requests for comment.

Noyb is known for filing complaints against American companies such as Apple, Alphabet and Meta, leading to several investigations and billions of dollars in fines.

In January noyb filed complaints against six Chinese companies and sought to suspend data transfers to China and called for fines that can reach up to 4% of a company’s global revenue.

Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in StockholmEditing by Mark Potter and David Goodman

The two countries agreed to complete that process by the end of the year

International News via Reuters:

France handed over control of its last major military facility in Senegal on Thursday, marking the end of its armed forces’ long presence in the West African country and a milestone in a withdrawal from the wider region.

The commander of French forces in Africa, General Pascal Ianni, handed over a key to the military camp in Dakar during a ceremony at which a Senegalese flag was raised while military musicians played the national anthem.

“Today’s transfer of Camp Geille marks a new stage in the evolution of the partnership between our two armed forces,” Ianni told reporters. “It is a response to the Senegalese authorities’ wish to no longer have permanent foreign forces present on their territory.”

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced last year that France’s military bases were incompatible with Senegalese sovereignty and would have to be transferred.

The two countries agreed to complete that process by the end of the year and it began in March when France handed over two other facilities, also in Dakar.

The process has been more amicable than the departure of French soldiers from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, where military juntas have pushed out French troops and turned to Russia for help fighting jihadist insurgencies.

Chad, an important Western ally in the fight against Islamic militants in the region, abruptly ended its defence cooperation pact with France last year, forcing its troops to withdraw.

With a reduced presence in West and Central Africa, France has said it is planning to focus on training, intelligence sharing and responding to requests from countries for assistance.

TRAINING TO CONTINUE

Ianni said French forces’ presence in Senegal dated back more than two centuries, but that a change was needed to reinvent the partnership.

General Mbaye Cisse, head of the Senegalese armed forces general staff, said the new agreement would allow Senegal to continue benefiting from training and information exchanges.

“We wish all our comrades and their families a safe return to France,” he said, adding that he hoped the long history linking the countries would provide a strong base for cooperation.

Former colonial ruler France has faced criticism for stationing soldiers in Senegal long after it gained independence in 1960.

Senegal has long demanded that Paris properly investigate a massacre in 1944 of African soldiers who fought for France in World War Two.

Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian and Ngouda Dione, Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Timothy Heritage

Spain has now two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission

International News via Reuters:

The European Commission officially challenged the Spanish government on Thursday over its attempts to hinder Spanish bank BBVA’s hostile bid for smaller rival Sabadell.

A letter of formal notice, which opens an infringement procedure, was sent to Madrid after the government last month said BBVA would not be allowed to integrate its operations with Sabadell for at least three years as one of the conditions imposed on the more than 13 billion-euro ($15.05 billion) offer.

The letter said that, in the Commission’s view, provisions in Spanish banking and competition laws granting the government unrestricted powers to intervene in mergers and acquisitions “impinge on the exclusive competences of the European Central Bank and national supervisors under the EU banking regulations”.

The Commission’s letter, which comes after a warning in May not to hinder the bid, also said that it considered Madrid’s broad discretionary powers as unjustified restrictions on the freedom of capital movement.

An economy ministry spokesperson said the regulations have been in force for several years and applied on several occasions, and the government intended to explain and clarify any legal or technical differences as part of constructive cooperation with the EU institutions.

Spain has now two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission.

In the absence of a satisfactory response, Brussels may decide to issue a reasoned opinion and urge Spain to comply and could ultimately refer Spain to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Euro zone banking supervisors have called for banking consolidation to strengthen the sector, but deals have been scarce as politicians have sought to preserve jobs and protect home-grown lenders.

The Commission also said consolidation was essential for achieving a bloc-wide banking union.

BBVA decided to proceed with its bid despite the condition imposed by the government and the deal is now waiting for approval from Spain’s stock market supervisor.

BBVA and Sabadell declined to comment on the European Commission’s move.

($1 = 0.8639 euros)

Reporting by Jesús Aguado; additional reporting by Bart Meijer in Brussels and David Latona in Madrid; editing by Andrei Khalip, Kirsten Donovan