All posts tagged: EU

Tesla ‘FSD’ approved in Denmark, 4th European country in 2 months

Tesla ‘FSD’ approved in Denmark, 4th European country in 2 months

Published by skeptic

Denmark has provisionally approved Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (Supervised) system, making it the fourth European country to clear the software in roughly eight weeks. The Danish Road Traffic Authority, Færdselsstyrelsen, confirmed the decision today — notably after Denmark had previously raised concerns about the technology at the EU level. Denmark accepts Dutch approval after its own review Færdselsstyrelsen said it accepted the provisional type approval originally issued by the Dutch vehicle authority, RDW, on April 10. But the Danish authority stressed it conducted its own independent review before signing off. “After a thorough review and assessment of the technical documentation, Færdselsstyrelsen agrees with RDW’s assessment that the system will contribute positively to road safety by assisting the driver while driving,” the authority said in its official statement. Advertisement – scroll for more content The authority was clear about what FSD Supervised is not: “The system does not make the car self-driving. The driver is still fully responsible for driving.” Denmark joins the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Estonia in clearing the system through national recognition of the Dutch …

Russian drone hits apartment block in NATO state Romania

Russian drone hits apartment block in NATO state Romania

Published by Sam Flores

Police and forensic investigators examine the location of impact after a Russian drone struck an apartment building in Galati, western Romania. Daniel Mihailescu | Afp | Getty Images A Russian drone collided with an apartment building in Romania, a NATO member state, early on Friday morning. Romanian President Nicușor Dan said in a post on X on Friday morning that he had convened a meeting of his national defense council in response to what he called “the most serious incident to affect the national territory” since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in early 2022. The collision occurred in Galați, Dan said, a city near Romania’s border with Ukraine. “We will order proportionate measures in relation to the Russian Federation,” he said, adding that the strike had resulted in injuries. “The unprecedented nature of the event demands a firm, coordinated, and appropriate response — at the national, allied, and international levels.” Dan added that full responsibility lay with Russia and “the irresponsible and indiscriminate manner in which Moscow operates these weapon systems in the immediate …

EU clears major hurdle to finalize U.S. trade deal

EU clears major hurdle to finalize U.S. trade deal

Published by Sam Flores

Ursula von der Leyen (CDU), President of the European Commission, sits on the podium at the Charlemagne Prize ceremony in City Hall. Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday welcomed a provisional agreement on legislation to remove import duties on U.S. goods and called on co-legislators to move swiftly to finalize the process. EU lawmakers welcomed the breakthrough after more than five hours of talks overnight, saying it likely paves the way for the 27-nation bloc to avoid a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to punish a further delay with higher tariffs. The agreement includes a safeguard mechanism that would let Brussels suspend tariff reductions in the event that U.S. imports harm European industry. It also allows the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, to suspend tariff preferences if the U.S. continues to apply a tariff rate higher than 15% on EU steel and aluminum derivatives by the end of 2026. The provisional agreement comes almost a year after the EU and U.S. first …

XPeng in talks to buy a Volkswagen plant in Europe as exports surge 62%

XPeng in talks to buy a Volkswagen plant in Europe as exports surge 62%

Published by skeptic

Volkswagen begins ID.UNYX 08 series production, its first EV developed with XPeng (Source: XPeng Motors) XPeng (XPEV) is in talks with Volkswagen about acquiring a factory in Europe as the Chinese EV maker’s contract production in Austria runs out of capacity. The company’s exports hit a record 6,006 vehicles in April, up 62% year-over-year. The move comes just one day after BYD revealed it is also pursuing European factory deals with Stellantis and other automakers, signaling a broader wave of Chinese automakers moving to localize production on the continent. XPeng outgrowing its Austrian production line Elvis Cheng, XPeng’s managing director of northeastern Europe, revealed the negotiations at the Financial Times’ Future of the Car summit on Wednesday. He confirmed XPeng is discussing with Volkswagen the possibility of finding a production location in Europe, according to a Financial Times report. XPeng currently builds vehicles for the European market at the Magna Steyr plant in Austria, which has been producing the G6 and G9 models since September 2025 to avoid the EU’s steep tariffs on Chinese-made EVs. …

Tesla ‘FSD’ approved in Denmark, 4th European country in 2 months

Tesla gets FSD Supervised approved in the Netherlands — here’s what it means

Published by skeptic

The Dutch vehicle authority RDW has granted Tesla a type approval for its “Full Self-Driving” Supervised system in the Netherlands, marking the first European country to officially approve the driver-assist technology. The approval, which falls under the UN R-171 regulation for Driver Control Assistance Systems, comes after more than 18 months of testing and is currently valid only in the Netherlands. Other EU member states can choose to recognize it nationally, but that process is not automatic. The approval Tesla Europe announced the news on X, stating that “FSD Supervised has been approved in the Netherlands & will begin rolling out in the country shortly.” The company described the system as “trained on billions of kilometers of real-world driving data” and claimed that “no other vehicle can do this.” The RDW confirmed the approval in its own statement, describing it as a “European type approval with provisional validity in the Netherlands.” The Dutch authority stressed that FSD Supervised is a driver assistance system — not an autonomous or self-driving system. The driver remains legally responsible …

Tesla delays FSD approval in Europe again, now expects April 10

Tesla delays FSD approval in Europe again, now expects April 10

Published by skeptic

Tesla’s European arm announced today that it has completed all vehicle testing for Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in the Netherlands — but the expected approval date has slipped yet again, from March 20 to April 10. The announcement, which Tesla framed as progress, also reveals that a broader EU-wide approval is now not expected until the summer. Testing done, approval still pending Tesla Europe posted on X today that it has “officially completed the final vehicle testing phase” for FSD (Supervised) with the Dutch road authority RDW and submitted all documentation required for UN R-171 approval and Article 39 exemptions. However, the RDW is still reviewing the documentation and test results package internally. Tesla said the Dutch regulator has communicated a new expected approval date of April 10, pushing back from the March 20 target that CEO Elon Musk had previously touted. Advertisement – scroll for more content It’s worth noting that when Musk claimed RDW would give them approval in March, RDW had to correct him, saying that no approval is guaranteed. Tesla shared impressive-sounding …

U.S. has no clear exit strategy from Iran war: Russia’s UK ambassador

U.S. has no clear exit strategy from Iran war: Russia’s UK ambassador

Published by Sam Flores

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the UK Andrei Kelin during an interview with PA at the official residence of the Russian Ambassador in London. Picture date: Monday February 21, 2022. Aaron Chown – Pa Images | Pa Images | Getty Images The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is a “misadventure” whose goals and exit strategy remain unclear, Russia’s ambassador to the U.K. told CNBC. Andrey Kelin said Russia has “a lot of sympathy” with Tehran and said “the best end” to the escalating Middle East war is for it to “show only that they are senseless.” “We still are trying to understand, what are the goals of President Trump in this campaign. You know that lots of doubts have been expressed about the exit strategy that the American administration can have in this endeavour,” Kelin told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick in an interview recorded on Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, earlier this week, offering his “unwavering support” to Tehran and saying the country “has been and …

Tesla Europe registrations rise 10% in February — but the bar was already on the floor

Tesla Europe registrations rise 10% in February — but the bar was already on the floor

Published by skeptic

Tesla registered 17,425 vehicles across 15 major European markets in February 2026, a 10% increase compared to February 2025. It’s the first meaningful year-over-year growth Tesla has posted in Europe in over a year. But let’s put this in context: Tesla is comparing against Q1 2025, which was a total bloodbath for the automaker in Europe. And despite the February bump, Tesla’s year-to-date registrations are essentially flat, 25,451 units in January-February 2026 versus 25,474 in the same period last year. February numbers by country The February data reveals a deeply uneven picture across European markets. Some countries posted strong year-over-year gains, but several key markets continued to deteriorate. The biggest winners were Portugal (+112%), Spain (+74%), Germany (+59%), and France (+55%). France led all markets with 3,715 registrations in February, making it Tesla’s top European country so far this year with 4,377 units YTD. Germany came in second with 2,276 February registrations, and the UK was third with 2,422. Advertisement – scroll for more content On the other side, the UK saw registrations plunge 37% …

Tesla loses Toyota and Stellantis from its EU CO2 pool, taking billions with them

Tesla loses Toyota and Stellantis from its EU CO2 pool, taking billions with them

Published by skeptic

New Tesla Model Y; via Tesla. Toyota and Stellantis are both withdrawing from Tesla’s European CO2 emissions pool for 2026, according to new EU filings. The two automakers were among the largest paying members of the pool. The move is the latest blow to Tesla’s regulatory credit revenue, which has already been shrinking globally after the US eliminated its own emission credit market last year. Tesla’s EU CO2 pool shrinks significantly Under EU regulations, automakers that can’t meet fleet-wide CO2 emissions targets on their own can join “pools” with manufacturers that have a surplus — like Tesla, which sells only zero-emission vehicles. In exchange, the pooling partners pay Tesla for the privilege of averaging down their fleet emissions. Tesla has profited enormously from these arrangements. In 2019, Fiat-Chrysler (now Stellantis) signed a deal worth up to $2 billion to pool its fleet with Tesla. Honda and Jaguar Land Rover subsequently joined the pool in following years. Advertisement – scroll for more content For the 2025 compliance year, the pool had swelled to include Toyota, Stellantis, …

Europe ‘failed’ on Trump, Putin’s ‘wrecking ball’ politics: MSC chair

Europe ‘failed’ on Trump, Putin’s ‘wrecking ball’ politics: MSC chair

Published by Sam Flores

US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 23, 2025. Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images Europe is “totally on the sidelines” on the global stage as “wrecking ball” politics has become the norm, the head of the continent’s biggest security forum has said. Speaking to CNBC’s Annette Weisbach ahead of the Munich Security Conference (MSC), Wolfgang Ischinger, the organization’s chairman, said it was Europe’s “own fault” that its power on the global stage has been diminished. “Europe has failed to speak with one voice to China and about China, Europe has failed with one voice, to come up with a clear concept about the future of the Middle East, including about how to deal or not to deal with the Iranian nuclear question,” said Ischinger, who is a former German ambassador to the U.S. Earlier this week, the MSC published its 2026 report, for which Ischinger wrote the foreword. It …