Skeptic France about Trump-Juncker trade deal favoring German cars; EU’s unity in peril

The Trump-Juncker trade truce and pledge for ‘zero tariffs’ seems to have left everybody happy, especially Berlin, but the French said don’t uncork ‘les champagnes’, at least not yet. In detail, last Wednesday, the American President Donald Trump and the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker met in the White House and struck an agreement about […]

Trump doesn’t only target Germany, aims to crack the entire EU

The EU-US trade war is now deeply dividing Europe between those who export cars to America and those who don’t. Germany and France have for quite some time been at odds, regarding the handling of the latest Donald Trump threat to impose import super-tariffs on cars assembled in Europe. Now, however, their differences are becoming […]

At last Germany to negotiate the costs for a really cohesive Eurozone

Finally, Germany blinked. Chancellor Angela Merkel at last decided  to clearly respond and, up to a certain degree, uphold French President Emmanuel Macron’s ideas, about reforming the Eurozone, in order not only to save it from unraveling, but, if  possibe, to make it more cohesive and stronger. In an interview to last Sunday’s issue of […]

US-EU trade war: Berlin fearful of the second round

Finally, Trump did it. He declared war against his country’s closest and more loyal allies Canada, the European Union and Mexico. In the case of the EU though, things may be more complicated than the super tariffs on steel and aluminum products of 25% and 10% respectively, imposed as from 1 June by the US […]

France-Germany: Divided in Europe, USA united in…Iran

Last Tuesday afternoon the President of ‘America first’ Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Nuclear non-Proliferation Agreement with Iran. The deal is known as P5+1 and was co-signed by the US, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China. There is no information regarding when the US is to re-introduce its economic sanctions against Iran, and […]

Elections results: Austerity’s black to prevail in the new multicolored German government

During the past ten years, Germany has become a politically boring country and yesterday’s election is not going to change that, despite the loss of around one million votes for the Chancellor’s party. Angela Merkel’s win came to none’s surprise and the results permit her to embark on a fourth term in the top job. […]

A Sting Exclusive: “One year on from the VW scandal and EU consumers are still in the dark”, BEUC’s Head highlights from Brussels

This article was exclusively written for the Sting by Mrs Monique Goyens, the Director General of The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) At the end of June, Volkswagen car drivers in the US heard that the car company had agreed to provide compensation payments of up to $10,000 to each driver and promised to buy back the […]

Volkswagen scandal update: “We want clarity fast, but it is equally important to have the complete picture”, Commission’s spokesperson underscores from Brussels

More than two months have passed since the Volkswagen emissions scandal broke out and the company is still under thorough investigation revealing that many more vehicles are affected by the cheating software and the firm’s fraudulent techniques. Last Monday, the Volkswagen (VW) chief executive officer Matthias Müller stated in Wolfsburg, Germany that the majority of VW’s […]

How dearly will Germany pay for the Volkswagen emissions rigging scandal

The Volkswagen emissions scam exposed by the US authorities last week has more substance than the vast and varied financial, commercial and legal consequences wherever in the world the company is present. VW has a great weight in the German car universe with its 12 brand names (VW, Audi, Porsche, the Volkswagen trucks Scania and […]

European Commission: the LED lights of your Audi A6 shall save our planet

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”

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 […]

European car industry: The Germans want it all

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 […]