All posts tagged: Supply chains

EU’s intelligence hub eyes bigger role in security overhaul – POLITICO

EU’s intelligence hub eyes bigger role in security overhaul – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

INTCEN has no operational espionage capabilities of its own; instead, it analyzes intelligence shared voluntarily by EU countries and passes its assessments to senior officials in the EEAS, the Commission and the European Council. The renewed attention lends fresh weight to a unit often dismissed as toothless — and comes as officials in Brussels and national capitals have floated the question of whether the EU needs its own spy agency. The EU’s new European Security Strategy, which is being drafted by the Commission and the EEAS, should be published this summer. It is expected to use an expansive definition of security that goes beyond defense to include economic security, supply chains, preparedness and partnerships with countries outside the EU, a fourth person briefed on the strategy told POLITICO. The document, which has been advertised as a “grand strategy,” is expected to be short and to include a geopolitical threat assessment, a status report on European security, and a roadmap for future action, the person said. The roadmap will propose up to 10 major ideas for …

EU looks to cow manure to keep food prices down

EU looks to cow manure to keep food prices down

Published by Sam Flores

Brussels’ answer to a looming fertilizer crisis is to make more use of cow dung. Grocery price spikes are on the horizon amid the unending war in Iran and the rising cost of fertilizer. Yet the European Commission’s plan to shore up Europe’s supply, due out Tuesday, centers around a long-term regulatory push to recycle more manure and farm waste into fertilizer.  It’s not the quick fix some were hoping for. Farmers “expected bold action,” said MEP Veronika Vrecionová, who helms the European Parliament’s agriculture committee. “Roadmaps don’t pay the bills. Farmers need action, not intentions.” Farm lobbies are pushing the same line. “European farmers cannot wait for another long-term roadmap while production costs continue to rise and European fertilizer capacity keeps disappearing,” said José María Castilla of ASAJA, Spain’s largest farmers’ organization. “The current crisis is not only about prices, it is about strategic autonomy, food security and the survival of European agriculture.” Europe makes most of its own fertilizer from imported gas. When the Strait of Hormuz closed at the end of February, gas prices …

Kann die EU noch Industrie? Mit VDMA-Präsident Bertram Kawlath – POLITICO

Kann die EU noch Industrie? Mit VDMA-Präsident Bertram Kawlath – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Der Maschinen- und Anlagenbau ist das industrielle Rückgrat Deutschlands. Aber die Branche mit ihren rund eine Million Beschäftigten steht unter massivem Druck: 22.000 Stellen wurden im vergangenen Jahr gestrichen, externe Schocks vom Ukraine- bis zum Iran-Krieg belasten die langfristigen Planungen, und der Konkurrenzdruck aus China wächst. In dieser Folge analysiert Joana Lehner mit Tom Schmidtgen zunächst drei EU-Regulierungsschwerpunkte, die die Wirtschaft aktuell besonders spalten: Den Industrial Accelerator Act, die Lieferkettenrichtlinie und den umstrittenen EU-Klimazoll (CBAM). Danach spricht Joana Lehner mit Bertram Kawlath, dem Präsidenten des Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau. Der Unternehmer aus Ingolstadt zieht eine kritische Bilanz der aktuellen Wirtschaftspolitik und erklärt, warum Deutschland trotz erstklassiger Produkte droht, den Anschluss zu verlieren. „Power & Policy“ zeigt jede Woche, wo und wie die Entscheidungen in der Wirtschaftspolitik fallen. ⁠Jürgen Klöckner⁠ und ⁠Joana Lehner⁠ von POLITICO sprechen mit Top-Entscheidern und liefern Off-the-Record-Einblicke aus der Redaktion und Machtzentren. Präzise Analysen, lange bevor Gesetze beschlossen sind. Der Podcast für alle in Wirtschaft und Politik, die einen Wissensvorsprung brauchen — immer donnerstags. Für Policy-Profis: Abonnieren und die Pro-Newsletter ⁠Industrie …

EU trumpets its reliability on global health as US slashes foreign aid – POLITICO

EU trumpets its reliability on global health as US slashes foreign aid – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The strategy also condemns the “instrumentalization” of health and says closing “the emerging gaps in global health resilience” is crucial. The U.S. has come under fire from global health advocates for offering funding deals with developing countries that formerly received USAID support, in return for them boosting disease surveillance and providing America with access to disease data and in some cases rare minerals. “Health is increasingly instrumentalised in the pursuit of geopolitical and geoeconomic interests,” writes the Commission. “Global health governance is shifting away from multilateral cooperation and humanitarian principles towards at times overtly transactional bilateral approaches.” Staying the course The Commission wants to help strengthen countries’ health systems, fight fake news and tackle “dangerous dependencies” in supply chains — though it hasn’t announced any new funding for its plan. To boost prevention, preparedness and response to crises, the EU will invest in drugs, vaccines and diagnostics. It will also help set up a new global therapeutics development coalition and EU hubs for therapeutics and diagnostics. The EU will also help map global health spending, …

Open your markets if you want EU cash, industry chief tells US and other trade partners – POLITICO

Open your markets if you want EU cash, industry chief tells US and other trade partners – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Séjourné has long championed a “European Preference” as part of his flagship Industrial Accelerator Act (which aims to make Europe more competitive by favoring local manufacturers of green technologies) and for projects funded by the EU’s long-term budget. However, some EU countries — led by Germany — oppose what they say are too rigid criteria that could disrupt supply chains. However, Séjourné said “the more the world is changing,” the stronger the case for the policy grows and “the debate is no longer about why Europe should do this, but about how to do it effectively.” The intervention comes as trade tensions grow with the U.S., with President Donald Trump announcing Thursday that he would impose “much higher” tariffs on the EU’s exports if the bloc does not drop its own rates to zero. A landmark trade deal, struck between Trump and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in July last year, has been held up in negotiations in Brussels as lawmakers weigh up safeguards in case Washington reneges on its commitments. Séjourné argued that …

EU pressure builds on Anthropic over Mythos hacking risks – POLITICO

EU pressure builds on Anthropic over Mythos hacking risks – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

For Pierrakakis, who is also Greece’s finance minister, the geopolitical situation is making the task more difficult: “The challenge here is that technologies like AI necessitate international governance frameworks at a moment where multilateralism is challenged,” he said in the same press conference. But the scare around Mythos comes amid rocky EU-U.S. relations, with clashes over a range of issues from military support to trade flows and online freedom of speech. U.S. Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat from Michigan and ranking member of the U.S. Senate’s homeland security committee, told POLITICO’s AI & Tech Week event on Tuesday he wants to “explore” why Anthropic’s superhacking model Mythos has not been shared with EU regulators for review. “I’d love to explore why it’s not being provided to folks here in Europe as well. Because you’ve got to be part of the solution. There’s just no question about it in my mind,” Peters said. Brussels and Washington plan to set up a new forum to discuss technology regulation, they said at the start of April, but details …

LVMH-owned leather-maker linked to deforestation pushes to weaken EU green law – POLITICO

LVMH-owned leather-maker linked to deforestation pushes to weaken EU green law – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Fabrizio Nuti — president and CEO of Nuti Ivo Group, an Italian tannery acquired three years ago by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, and president of Italy’s national tannery industry association — is a prominent voice in the campaign. “If we cannot get the raw material that we need, we’re out of business — we are out, simply, overnight because we don’t have the information that is required,” Nuti told a recent event at the European Parliament, referring to the supply-chain data he would need to comply with the anti-deforestation rules. He insisted that South American skins only represent a fraction of the sector’s imports. An investigation by NGO Global Witness, a campaign group that investigates the impact of business on the environment, shows that Nuti Ivo has worked with suppliers that have a high risk of causing deforestation across more than 100,000 hectares in Paraguay — including on land claimed by Indigenous communities. The investigation, shared exclusively with POLITICO, also finds that Nuti is part owner of a Paraguayan tannery shipping those skins to Nuti …

Don’t count on Starmer’s EU reset to bring down food prices – POLITICO

Don’t count on Starmer’s EU reset to bring down food prices – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

By pursuing an agreement, the government appears ready to adopt “unnecessarily stringent” EU SPS controls on imports from non-EU countries, said Jenney. This risks triggering “thousands of additional and unnecessary border delays, considerably more inspections, more paperwork and port congestion — every added layer acting as a compounding financial penalty on trade,” he warned.  Analysis conducted by the Fresh Produce Consortium — seen by POLITICO — suggests that a number of staples from the weekly shop could be negatively impacted as border checks for non-EU produce are ramped up — from Moroccan cucumbers and Indian mangoes to South African citrus fruits and U.S. sweet potatoes. This is expected to add a cost of around £400 million to the supply chain, the consortium estimates.  U.K. Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds leaves No. 10 Downing Street after a Cabinet meeting on March 24, 2026. | Leon Neal/Getty Images Beyond imports, firms have warned that the SPS deal risks imposing costly burdens on domestic growers, who are forced to impose EU standards even if they have no plan to …

German government slashes growth forecast amid Iran war fallout – POLITICO

German government slashes growth forecast amid Iran war fallout – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Inflation to rebound Rising energy prices will likely push inflation back toward 3 percent this year and next, the government said — prompting financial markets to expect two European Central Bank rate hikes this year. ECB officials say they won’t overreact to what may be a short-lived blip, but have warned that they will raise rates if they see any signs of inflation taking root again, only four years after the last such shock. German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche — whose past employment at energy giant E.ON has made her a target for criticism from the left and environmentalists — was quick to blame factors beyond her control for the latest downgrade. “The recovery that we expected this year will once again be derailed by external geopolitical shocks,” Reiche told a press conference. “The war in Iran is driving energy and commodity prices through the roof. That is hurting households and raising costs for the German economy.” However, German business and independent economists have both accused the government of failing to do what is in …