European Union

Champagne decants into India's smaller cities, widening its market base

After a metro-heavy start, demand settles and spreads into new markets like Guwahati, Lucknow

EU unveils plan to curb energy prices, tackle shortages amid Iran conflict

Concerns over the bloc's declining competitiveness with China and the US have helped push energy prices to the top of the EU's political agenda

EU pays tribute to Pahalgam attack victims, reaffirms support to India

The European Union expressed its commitment to standing alongside the 'people of India in remembrance of the innocent victims murdered one year ago'

Are phones designed to age faster? The EU wants to challenge this model

EU rules aim to shift control from manufacturers to users, challenging design choices that have quietly pushed faster upgrades and made repairing smartphones harder

EU rules: What makes the USB-C port the gold standard of charging ports?

Even Apple will be forced to comply with EU rules mandating USB-C ports for all phones and tablets etc. Here we try to explain what makes this port the right choice for everyone

Apple opens iPhone ecosystem in EU: What it means for consumers, developers

Apple has announced changes to iOS, Safari, and App Store that will be limited to the 27 EU member countries and will roll out with the iOS 17.4 update in March

This EU rule may let you replace your phone battery yourself from 2027

From February 2027, the EU will require many devices to have removable batteries, a shift that could make phones easier to repair, extend their lifespan, and influence global design standards

EU to push for jet fuel diversification as Iran war threatens supply

Flights in Europe could start to be cancelled from the end of May due to a lack of jet fuel, the International Air Transport Association's director general Willie Walsh said

EU's proposed CBAM expansion may impact Indian exporters, says GTRI

The European Union is planning an expansion of its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the move could increase carbon tax costs on Indian manufactured exports to Europe, think tank GTRI said on Thursday. It said that Indian exporters selling into Europe may need to accelerate emissions accounting, supply-chain traceability, and decarbonisation investments to remain competitive in one of the country's key export markets. In a draft report issued on April 10, 2026, the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (ENVI) proposed five major changes to the CBAM regime. The changes include extending CBAM to around 180 additional steel- and aluminium-based manufactured products from January 1, 2028; and tightening carbon accounting rules for scrap-based production by including emissions from pre-consumer scrap, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. It also includes examining expansion of the mechanism to indirect emissions from ...

EU unveils age verification app as social media bans gain steam

The software was originally pitched as a way to prevent children from accessing obscene or harmful content online and comes as many EU members are debating restricting social media for minors

Europe mulls fallback plan if US pulls back from Nato amid Trump's threats

An anxious Europe scrambles for solutions after US President Donald Trump has threatened to annex Greenland from Denmark, and called Nato a 'paper tiger'

EU launches critical minerals platform to reduce reliance on China

The EU's Energy and Raw Materials Platform opened to submissions from buyers on Monday in the first phase of a multi-month process, an EU spokesperson told Reuters

PM Modi congratulates Hungary's Peter Magyar for landslide victory in polls

Magyar's victory is being widely seen as a turning point in Hungarian politics, potentially reshaping the country's domestic policies as well as its relations within the European Union

'Flagrant violation': EU condemns Israel over 30 new West Bank settlements

The reaction came following Israel's recent decision to establish more than 30 new settlements in the occupied West Bank

European nationalists, once MAGA allies, turn against Trump over Iran war

When President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, he was eager to pick up where he left off by strengthening ties with Europe's right wing. But now many of those same factions are expressing open revulsion at the Iran war, rupturing relationships that were supposed to usher in a new international order. Although Vice President JD Vance campaigned for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban this week, such a display has become the exception rather than the rule among conservatives and far-right leaders in Europe. Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni refused to let the United States use an air base in Sicily to launch attacks on Iran. France's National Rally leader Marine Le Pen described his war goals as "erratic." And the head of Germany's Alternative for Germany party called for American troops to leave their bases in the country. Even with a fragile ceasefire in place with Iran, Trump's support for Orban may not work out for the autocratic Hungarian leader, who fac

EU pushes for profit caps on energy firms as Iran conflict drives prices up

The finance ministers of Spain and four other European countries are urging the European Union to impose a bloc-wide windfall tax on energy companies, concerned that surging oil and gas prices driven by the war in Iran will fuel inflation and strain households. Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said on Saturday that his counterparts from Germany, Italy, Portugal and Austria had signed a letter to the European Commission citing "market distortions" caused by the price spike. "The conflict in the Middle East has caused oil prices to rise, placing a significant burden on the European economy and on European citizens," the letter, dated Friday and made public by Cuerpo in an online post, said. "It is important to ensure that this burden is distributed fairly," it added. Europe is largely dependent on imported oil and gas, leaving it vulnerable to external shocks. In 2022, turmoil in energy markets following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine pushed inflation into double digit

Europe seeks to increase migrant deportations using Trump-style tactics

The European Union is expanding its powers to track, raid and deport migrants to "return hubs" in third countries in Africa and elsewhere, quietly adopting tactics of the Trump administration that have drawn public criticism across the 27-nation bloc. The EU continues to tighten migration policies after right-wing parties took power in some countries in 2024. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, from the centre-right European People's Party coalition, has said the new measures will prevent a repeat of the 2015 crisis caused by the civil war in Syria, when about one million people arrived to seek asylum. "We have learnt the lessons of the past. And today, we are better equipped," von der Leyen has said. The new policies, known as the Pact on Migration and Asylum, go into effect on June 12. Far-right parties in Europe have praised the deportation policies of US President Donald Trump and called for the EU to adopt a similar approach. Human rights groups warn that ...

European Parliament approves US trade deal but adds safeguard clauses

The European Parliament voted Thursday to approve a trade deal between Washington and Brussels but with amendments added to protect European interests should the United States fail to hold up its end of the bargain. The deal was negotiated last July in Turnberry, Scotland, by US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. It set a 15 per cent tariff on most goods in an effort to stave off far higher import duties on both sides that might have sent shock waves through economies around the globe. New language now says that the deal can be suspended if Washington "undermined the objectives of the deal, discriminated against EU economic operators, threatened member states' territorial integrity, foreign and defence policies, or engaged in economic coercion." That clause was forged because of the tensions over Greenland, said Bernd Lange, a German lawmaker and head of the EU's parliamentary trade committee. Trump drew widespread condemnation across th

Australia, EU sign free trade pact after eight years of negotiations

The deal follows intensified talks amid sharply higher US tariffs under the Trump administration and growing Western concerns over China's dominant position in rare earths and other critical minerals