State aid: Commission approves €3 billion scheme under the Spanish Recovery and Resilience Plan to support research, development, innovation, environmental protection and energy efficiency in automotive value chain

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €3 billion Spanish scheme to support research, development and innovation (RD&I), as well as environmental protection and energy efficiency measures of companies in the value chain for electric and connected vehicles. The measure […]

€1.4 million from European Globalisation Adjustment Fund to support dismissed workers in automotive sector in Spain

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the European Commission proposes to support 320 dismissed workers in the automotive sector in the Aragón region in Spain, who lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed €1.4 million from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) will […]

The new North America trade deal USMCA punishes German cars

The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is dead. Long live the new United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement (USMCA). The three North American nations will continue trading goods of a value of at least $ 1.2 trillion yearly between them. The US President Donald Trump had termed NAFTA as the worse trade deal his country […]

Trump aims trade offensive solely to China, renews truce with EU

US President Donald Trump’s thundering trade salvos now seem to be concentrating exclusively against China. This week’s cannonade though didn’t remain unanswered. On Monday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, said “China will inevitably take countermeasures to resolutely protect our legitimate rights”. On Friday 7 September, the ‘America first’ ex TV celebrity aboard ‘Air […]

Trump rejects Europe’s offer for zero car tariffs; he had personally tabled that idea in July

The US-Mexico trade agreement, with or without Canada on board, targets Europe aggressively. For one thing, it will make life difficult for the German car companies which produce in Mexican assembly lines and sell in the US. Last Thursday, the European Sting reported the hidden sides of the US-Mexico trade deal in an article entitled, […]

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 […]

The missiles fired against Damascus, Syria divided Europe deeply

Last Friday night till the early hours of Saturday morning the US-France-Britain alliance attacked the Assad/Putin regime of Damascus, with a precipitation of missiles. Seemingly though, the hits have had a greater political impact on Europe than in Syria itself. Germany and Italy, the other two major European Union countries with strong interests in the […]

Trump’s trade wars: Aiming at long term gains for America

Last Friday, President Donald Trump again surprised  the world by imposing new import tariffs on Chinese products of a value of $60 billion and deferring the imposition of import super levies on European Union steel and aluminum for 1st May. In the latter case he also postponed the new tariffs for another six exporting countries […]

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. […]

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 […]

FIAT Chrysler: from Geneva Motor show to the World, and back

With a $ 4.35 billion deal, FIAT Group took full control of Chrysler in January 2014 and announced the soon-to-be created FCA, the FIAT Chrysler Automobiles holding company. Thanks to a huge PR campaign, the news shook the markets and generated a shy optimism all around. In such a weak economic situation, the birth of […]

EU signs with Canada historic trade agreement, others to follow

The announcement of the conclusion of the EU-Canada free trade agreement yesterday not only opens a new chapter in the history of EU-Canada relations, but the solutions agreed in sensitive chapters, like agriculture and animal products and public procurement will serve as a base for the under negotiation similar pact with the US. The Prime […]

EU threatens Japan to suspend FTA negotiations if…

The two Presidents of the EU, José Manuel Barroso of the Commission and Herman Van Rompuy of the Council couldn’t fly yesterday to Tokyo for the EU-Japan Summit, due to the ongoing developments around the Cyprus issue. This was not enough however to impede the beginning of negotiations for the conclusion of a Free Trade […]

The vehicles of our future

Out of the fourteen altogether topics that the European Union policies and rules cover, the huge automotive sector is affected directly or indirectly by nine of them. Let’s count: Business, Economy-finance-competition, Employment, Energy and natural resources, Environment-consumers-health, External relations and foreign affairs, Regions and local development, Sciences and technology, Transport and travel. The car industry and markets […]