The EU sides with China against the US; but has Germany capitulated to America?

If billions of EU penalties on American icon companies and U.S. super tariffs on European cars are strong and aggressive trade weapons, then yes the EU and the U.S. are at all out economic war. As in all wars, the difficult or even impossible thing is to predict its end. Unavoidably, there will be victims […]

EU-China trade: closer ties as US-China trade battle brews

The U.S. Commerce Department announced last Monday that it prohibited American companies from selling components to ZTE, one of the biggest tech companies in China, for seven years. The Chinese side responded to this action by introducing a huge import charge on US shipments of sorghum mentioning that it will defend multilateralism and free trade […]

EU and U.S. castigate Facebook on Cambridge Analytica scandal as citizens’ data privacy goes down the drain again

Last Monday, the European Commission sent a letter to Facebook asking whether EU citizens were involved in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The EU is taking the turn from U.S. which has already opened an investigation to find out how Facebook permitted data breach of 50 million users. Facebook has been experiencing fierceful attacks both by […]

Permanent structured cooperation (PESCO) on the table of NATO Defense Ministers amid US concerns

NATO Defense Ministers are gathered today in Brussels to discuss the modernization of the NATO Command Structure, NATO-EU cooperation, NATO’s defense posture and its role in providing stability and fighting terrorism. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg held a press conference yesterday as a forerunner of the meeting mentioning the issues to be adressed. However, NATO-EU […]

Will Qualcomm avoid Broadcom’s hostile takeover post the 1 bn euro EU antitrust fine?

The EU antitrust fine to Qualcomm comes as the latter attempts to avoid the 105 billion dollar hostile takeover by competitor Broadcom which keeps on biding higher and higher. Qualcomm seems to be in serious pressure as several fines have been imposed on the company for market dominance abuse and there are plenty of cases […]

VW diesel scandal and climate change: can increased independent car checks lead to cleaner mobility?

It was last Thursday when the European Parliament together with the Council and the Commission agreed to enhance the car testing system by providing extra checks to the cars that are or will be placed in the market based on the proposal of the European Commission made on January 2016. Despite the fact that this […]

Climate change update: will the UN member states regain momentum despite the little progress at COP23?

The 23rd conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23) concluded last Saturday in Bonn but little progress was achieved and everyone is now awaiting next year’s negotiations in Poland where a rule book for the Paris agreement has to be finalised. All member states should reconsider their emission cuts upwards via […]

China and UK relations post Brexit as EU addresses Chinese takeovers

Chinese acquisitions of European companies have attracted the attention of the EU’s largest economies, who requested from the Commission to play a more active role on deciding whether these takeovers are ‘politically driven’ or not. The president of the EC, Jean-Claude Juncker, in turn, is expected to announce plans on how to manage foreign investments […]

Brussels Vs. Google: The €1 bn EU fine and the US response

The European Commission is about to impose more than one billion euros fine to Google as a result of online shopping service search abuse according to the Financial Times. If the above is implemented, it would be the highest penalty in the history of anti-competitive behavior after Intel’s case in 2009. The repercussions for Google, […]

Can China deal with climate change without the U.S.?

Last Tuesday U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order which rejects most of the climate initiatives of Obama’s administration. The U.S. President seems to keep his pre-election promises on boosting the coal industry and does not support the fight against global warming. However, China, the second largest economy in the world, has revealed that […]

“China will strive to enhance the performance of economic growth”, President Xi highlights from the World Economic Forum 2017 in Davos

The first day of the World Economic Forum (WEF) began with the opening plenary with Xi Jinping yesterday, President of the People’s Republic of China, monopolizing the interest of the global economic status quo convening these days at the Swiss Alps. This was the first time ever a Chinese President accepts the Davos invite and naturally all the […]

COP22 addresses a strong global pledge to effectively implement the Paris Agreement

Last Friday, more than 190 countries gathered at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP22) and jointly pledged through an Action Proclamation to implement the Paris Agreement showing a sense of global unity on climate change. The Proclamation was a clear call for more political commitment in order to fight climate change and prevent its […]

The COP22 is under full deployment while Donald Trump threatens openly to withdraw the US from the Paris agreement

The 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) which is taking place at the Moroccan city of Marrakech is already at its second week with the final meetings to be held under the fear that the newly elected U.S. government will step back from the Paris Agreement. It is […]

Trump’s blasting win causes uncertainty and turbulence to the global financial markets

So Donald Trump against all odds won the US elections and will become the 45th President of the United States of America. The latter had as a result to cause severe and immediate turbulences to the world’s financial markets which experienced serious losses in the first few hours of the elections. However, Trump’s victory speech that came right after […]

Will CETA be implemented after eight long years or it will be vetoed by the EU citizen?

It was last Sunday when the EU and Canada signed the free trade agreement CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement), despite the protest taking place just outside the European Council’s building. This deal is meant to create more jobs and growth through stronger economic relations. However, the approval of the national parliaments in Europe and […]

VW emissions scandal: EU unable to protect its consumers against large multinationals

  European governments and officials seem incompetent to protect on the one hand their car consumers and on the other the environment, despite the crucial role Europe played in the climate change agreement that was signed last December in Paris. VW’s diesel emissions scandal has revealed so far that the multinational framework in Europe is much more beneficial for […]

Turkey to let EU alone struggle with the migrant crisis while enhancing its economic ties with Russia instead?

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met the Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday in St. Petersburg to improve their relationships after the sanctions that Russia imposed on tourism and Turkish exports due to the deadly air fighter incident that took place last November, when Turkey took down a Russian fighter. Turkey’s approach towards a revival of a […]

2016 crisis update: the year of the Red Fire Monkey burns the world’s markets down

The Chinese New Year began two days ago and has brought already significant turbulences and volatilities to the global financial markets and economies. Luckily for the world’s second largest economy, Chinese stock markets are closed due to New Year’s festivities and haven’t experienced, at least yet, the losses of the European, U.S. and Japanese markets. This […]

COP21 Paris agreement: a non legally-binding climate pact won’t stop effectively global warming while EU’s Cañete throws hardest part to next Commission

Last Saturday the COP21 Paris agreement was unanimously signed by 195 countries in Le Bourget, France. Everyone voted in favor of the new attempt to reverse the downhill of our planet regarding temperature rise and agreed to take all the necessary actions to cut all fossil fuels subsidies by the end of this century. This is seen by […]

Is continuous sanctioning the way to resolve the Ukrainian crisis?

The E.U. together with the U.S. decided to impose harsher economic sanctions against Russia last Wednesday. This action was expected since Russia continued to further scale its violent military intervention in eastern Ukraine despite the warnings that were given by the U.S. and E.U. U.S. sanctions focus on financial and energy sectors The U.S. are taking advantage of what is […]

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