Just last Friday Stefan Szejurny, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, came out to openly say that the EU should stop being “naive” and enforce strict protectionism against cars from China and the US. It seems that Mr. Szejurny, old pal of President Macron, in this anachronistic statement that looks […]Step on it like Buick: Why the EU needs to open its eyes and look outside the Chinese electric car window
November 11, 2025 by 1 Comment
Just last Friday Stefan Szejurny, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, came out to openly say that the EU should stop being “naive” and enforce strict protectionism against cars from China and the US. It seems that Mr. Szejurny, old pal of President Macron, in this anachronistic statement that looks […]Electric car sales have surged in Europe – so why is adoption still slow?
November 14, 2023 by 1 Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Andrea Willige, Senior Writer, Forum Agenda Imagine electric cars making up a third of all vehicles on US roads and fleets of battery-powered taxis whizzing around the streets of London and New York City. A vision of the […]The EU just released a new declaration on cycling: Here’s what it means for net-zero
October 25, 2023 by 2 Comments
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Johnny Wood, Writer, Forum Agenda The EU has announced its ‘European Declaration on Cycling’, including dedicated new funding and policy support to promote bike use and the bloc’s cycling industry.As well as formally recognizing the vital role cycling […]Germany’s €9 transit ticket cuts 1.8 million tonnes of CO2
September 1, 2022 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Spencer Feingold, Digital Editor, Public Engagement, World Economic Forum For three months, Germany has been offering ultracheap monthly tickets for all local trains, metros, trams and buses. The scheme was introduced in an effort to encourage the use […]Next time you fly, could you be boarding a train instead of a plane?
February 8, 2020 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Douglas Broom, Senior Writer, Formative Content Qatar Airways has signed a codeshare agreement with German rail firm Deutsche Bahn. Under the deal, passengers can travel from Frankfurt airport to eight German cities by train. Such schemes could help […]More Germans are swapping planes for trains because of climate worries
January 9, 2020 by 1 Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Katharine Rooney, Senior Writer, Formative Content Domestic flights in Germany have dropped by 12% compared to last year. Train companies in the country are seeing record passenger numbers. Analysts say consumer awareness of the climate crisis is a […]The EU Commission approves UTC’s acquisition of Rockwell Collins under conditions
May 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last week, the European Commission approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of Rockwell Collins by United Technologies Corporation (UTC) in the aerospace sector. The EU watchdog clarified that the decision is conditional to the divestment by UTC of businesses in actuators, pilot controls, ice protection and oxygen systems, which is something that UTC has […]Mainland Europe adopts Germanic cartel business patterns
April 2, 2018 by Leave a Comment
As in VW’s diesel engines emissions scandal, in the case of Estonia’s half banking system working as mafia’s financiers, it was the Americans to unveil the wrongdoings. Is it by chance or the Europeans are looking the other way, when it comes to their own dirty laundry? Those calculated frame ups are not only meant […]China is the first non-EU country to invest in Europe’s €315 billion Plan
October 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
China is the first non-EU country to contribute to the Juncker Commission’s €315 billion Investment Plan. Until today only nine out of the 28 EU countries have announced their participation in this major project aimed at reviving the sluggish European economy. Beijing has not yet specified the amount to be invested in the Plan but […]How and why Mercedes fakes the EU fuel consumption tests
November 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Remember the time you bought a new car. You normally visited it at the showroom, took it for a test drive, read the fuel consumption. Those three factors, together of course with the price of the vehicle, formed your purchase decision and selection between competition. Well, it seems that you can count on the showroom visit […]European Commission: Does Apple, Starbucks and Fiat really pay their taxes?
June 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The European Commission (EC) decided two days ago to conduct an investigation which will focus on the tax affairs of Apple, Starbucks and Fiat Finance and Trade in Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg respectively. Basically, EC’s purpose is to examine if the tax authorities of the aforementioned countries are in line with the rules of […]Public opinion misled by the Commission on air transport safety
October 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Transport committee of the European Parliament (TRAN) blocked yesterday with 21 votes to 13 an EU Commission’s proposal to rearrange flight times for pilots and cabin crews. If the uninformed reader had only the chance to read just the Press release issued afterwards by the responsible, or rather irresponsible, Commissioner and Commission Vice President […]Merkel, Mercedes and Volkswagen to abolish European democracy
July 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
That the German automotive industry is one of the strongest in the world is not news. Most Europeans are rather content in the idea that Europe is well represented in the fierce global automotive arena, not because we are or will ever be shareholders of Mercedes or Volkswagen, but rather because when we see an […]European Commission: the LED lights of your Audi A6 shall save our planet
April 15, 2013 by 3 Comments
How many of you took your stunning black Audi A6 3.0 liter for a ride on the evening of the 11th of April? Do you remember the moment you switched on the LED driving lights and you felt an unprecedented bliss thinking that you are not only rich but you are also protecting the environment? […]Commissioner sings “Volar-e” but the European driver no “Cantar-e”
March 7, 2013 by 2 Comments
It was the last day of February when the European Commission decided to organize a pompous event to test the “amazing” performance of a new electric race car in the Formula 1 Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. Its name is Volar-e and I am sure Antonio Tajani, the Commissioner responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship that […]German banks suffer of nausea amidst rough seas
February 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Earlier this week, Dr Andreas Dombret, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, responsible for financial stability and risk controlling, delivered an open lecture in Hamburg, entitled “In the year 2013 – Challenges from a financial stability perspective” . Apart from the burning questions he posed for a number of Eurozone countries’ sovereign debt, […]Ship Recycling is the Commission’s Titanic
February 20, 2013 by 1 Comment
It was the symbolic date of 12/12/12 that the international NGO, Center for International Environmental Law, decided to publish a legal opinion denouncing as 100% illegal the European Commission’s proposal for a new regulation on ship recycling. This coincided with the legal analysis by the former chief counsel of the European Commission , Dr. Ludwig […]“Private” sea freight indexes hide Libor like skeletons?
December 22, 2012 by 1 Comment
The almost three centuries old Baltic Exchange is a private and closed platform, where around 60 shipping brokers based mainly in London are contributing voluntarily their cargo prices. On the base of those contributions the Exchange publishes benchmark freight price indexes for a round number of 70 sea routes and vessel categories. The indexes are […]European car industry: The Germans want it all
December 21, 2012 by 1 Comment
That the German cars are gas guzzlers is a fact beyond reasonable doubt, not because they are badly engineered, that they are not, but simply because they are usually powered by engines of many thousands of cm2 cylinders. Those powerful Mercedes, BMWs, Porsches, Audis and even Volkswagens produce hundreds of PSIs, but at the same time they […]Cheap sea transport with low cost seafarers
October 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The last Transport, Telecommunications and Energy (TTE) Council of the European Union dedicated to transport issues, took place in Luxemburg, towards the end of October 2012. The main item on the agenda came under the title, “Improving working and living conditions for seafarers”. Nothing is more misleading than this. Progressively it seems that the EU […]
