The EU Commission has set up a series of ‘work streams’ on trade policy with China, but says that ‘dialogue will not suffice’ and is still planning to take a series of measures to control its trade deficit with Beijing.
![As birthrates decline and the workforce empties out, “in some countries, [people] are obliged to retire,”](https://static.euobserver.com/2005/04/677e4ac7c530bd9e00eb0ac007326e19.jpg)
The EU’s population is set to both shrink, age, and thus be short of workers, according to a new demographics study on Thursday.
Russian oil industry set back 20 years by Ukrainian strikes (Ukraine Battlefield update: Day 1,602)With refinery output crashing to 20-year lows, tens of millions of Russians now face soaring fuel and food prices, rolling shortages and a budget hole the Kremlin can no longer hide.
As the EU finalises its 21st sanctions package, two sanctioned vessels carrying critical oil and gas infrastructure are sailing towards Russia. Europe still has time to act.
Public procurement is quietly becoming one of EU’s industrial policy tools of choice. We are not the first to try this, and the evidence is sobering, warns Judith Arnal.
As EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen pushes to curb what experts call “addictive” online environments for under-13s, EU capitals are already split over how tough to be — and how to police it.
In this edition, we track how officials are burying EU funding audits on Gaza, shielding judges’ financial interests and limiting access to ownership data, while watchdogs and civil society push back against weakened transparency laws and chronic delays that undermine scrutiny and journalists’ work.
![[Interview] The US Democrat trying to convince Brussels to stand up to Trump on methane](https://static.euobserver.com/2026/07/Captura-de-Pantalla-2026-07-13-a-las-18.28.15.png)
US congressman Sean Casten, a longtime champion of methane rules in Washington, recently wrote a letter urging EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen not to cave to US pressure to weaken the regulation. EUobserver asked him why he believes delay is a mistake.
Missing the wood for the trees – the EU’s unloved deforestation law reaches endgameThe EU’s deforestation law may not be as popular as when it was passed with massive majorities in 2023 – but has already spawned imitation from the UK.
“The option that got the most support was banning trade with illegal settlements,” said EU foreign affairs chief Kallas, after talks with the 27 foreign ministers on Monday.
EU foreign ministers have imposed a ban on Sudan’s gold trade in a bid to curb financing of its civil war – but they ignored MEPs’ demands to designate a militia accused of genocide as a terror group.
Kidnapping, murder, and Ukrainian brigade chief on the run, after insults to his wife (Ukraine Battlefield update: Day 1,601)Ukraine’s 155th brigade chief, Luchanov, is on the run after murders of two men over insults to his wife in the village of Kalynivka, near Kyiv, in June.
With the European Parliament’s resistance weakening and the powerful European People’s Party group shifting in favour of tougher controls, this surprise win for message-scanning could clear the way for an even more far‑reaching “Chat Control 2.0” that targets encrypted apps next.
“We do not expect children to design their own seatbelts. We do not expect parents to fit airbags at home. And the very same must be true for Big Tech,” warned Ursula von der Leyen, as momentum is building for an EU-wide social media ban, and the commission is feeling the heat. The EU Commission president hopes to have practical restrictions made into a proposal by autumn.
Extending the EU’s recovery and resilience funds (RRF) would add flexibility to the 2028–2034 EU budget negotiations, raise the chances of agreement before year’s end, and preserve EU leverage over reforms in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania at a sensitive moment.
The alliance avoided disaster in the Turkish capital – but it is becoming increasingly irrelevant, writes Edward Lucas.
A ceasefire in name only, a blocked civilian committee in Cairo, and EU threats of sanctions that may not materialise — this episode unpacks why Gaza’s path to peace keeps slipping away.
THIS WEEK: EU weighs curbs on Israeli-settlement trade, as India tech ties and carbon market review top agendaThis week’s EU agenda stretches from restrictions on trade with Israeli illegal settlements and Gaza aid to a looming electrification push and carbon market review.
Crystal ball: EU will do nothing about Israel on MondayWadephul, Tajani, and other EU friends of Israel will say Lebanon peace talks and Israeli elections mean there should be no sanctions.
According to the Portugal remigration summit’s official website, the meeting was about “shaping the future of Europe and the West through sovereignty, identity, and demographic renewal” – a euphemism of creating imagined racially pure Western societies.