City Brussels Financial News

BRUSSELS—The European Union is launching an antisubsidy investigation into China’s electric-vehicle makers, opening a new front in the battle for leadership of the global clean-technology industry. The probe, announced Wednesday, reflects growing concern in Europe about the impact of low-price products from China on the bloc’s domestic industries. It could result in tariffs if officials from the European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, conclude that Chinese EV manufacturers are receiving subsidies that are hurting Europe’s auto industry.

Poland's prime minister says his government will not lift its embargo on imports of Ukrainian grain as scheduled Friday because it would hurt Polish farmers

By Giuseppe Fonte

Poland’s conservative governing party and the opposition has showered potential voters with promises as the country's political parties revealed their campaign programs before the Oct. 15 parliamentary election

Rahul Gandhi said. This is Rahul Gandhi's first foreign trip after the restoration of his Lok Sabha membership following the Supreme Court's stay on his conviction in the ‘Modi-surname’ remark. The Europe trip comes at a time when New Delhi is hosting the G20 Summit and heads of all major states are arriving in India's capital for the G20 summit on 9 and 10 September.

Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union says that the digital euro should not be rushed until the next Commission's parliamentary election.

The European Union's financial services chief, Mairead McGuinness, believes there’s no reason to rush with the digital euro until after the next European elections in June 2024. In her opinion, the EU’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) project should be approached “quietly and slowly” by the next EU Commission, which will be appointed by the then-incoming parliament. 

Rishi Sunak has given the go-ahead for his officials to finalise a deal allowing Britain to re-join the European Union's Horizon scientific research program, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. Under a trade agreement signed at the end of 2020, Britain had negotiated access to a range of science and innovation programmes, including Horizon — a 95.5 billion euro ($97 billion) programme that offers research grants and projects. But it was locked out of Horizon as a result of a tit-for-tat dispute over how the Brexit agreement was being implemented. London and Brussels settled their dispute over post-Brexit trade rules governing Northern Ireland in February, and the UK has since been negotiating with the EU over rejoining Horizon. The report, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter, said a deal could be announced as soon as this week, as only minor details remained to be ironed out. Britain's science ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will hold extensive interactions with EU parliamentarians, students and the Indian diaspora during his almost week-long visit to Europe, which began on Tuesday. Sources said Gandhi will meet and hold consultations with EU MPs on September 7 in Brussels, the first of his interactions during his visit.

Open Society Foundations will spin off its support for Europe’s Roma communities into a new foundation to which it has pledged €100 million or around $107 million

The European Union’s Commission is reshuffling more of its top management because antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager of Denmark is seeking to become the president of the European Investment Bank

In introductory remarks to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament in Brussels, ECB executive Fabio Panetta, emphasises that in the absence of a digital euro, the emergence of potentially dominant private actors in the digital payments market could have a strong impact on the financial sector. While Facebook's bid to launch its own currency was dashed by regulatory hurdles, Panetta points to PayPal's recent launch of its own private stablecoin as a new emergent threat: "Private providers of payment services, including PayPal, have no incentive to limit the take-up of their stablecoins or the range of services they provide. Quite the opposite: their objective is to expand their customer base and gain market share. "They may have no incentive to make their payment solutions compatible with those used today.

Olivia Dean, the rising British music star known for her exceptional debut album, «Messy,» has exciting news for her fans across the UK and Europe. She's embarking on a headline tour in spring 2024, aptly named the "Messy Tour," to celebrate her album's remarkable success and its well-deserved Mercury Prize nomination.

By Foo Yun Chee

Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Europe next month to meet European Commission lawmakers in Belgium besides addressing students at a university in Paris, according to a report published by the news agency PTI. Sources said that the Congress leader is also likely to address the Indian diaspora at an event in Oslo in early September. Rahul Gandhi is likely to leave for Paris in the first week of September for a five-day tour to Europe.

There are some passions that are larger than life, some so expansive that they cover the seven seas. For Rémi, a captain from Brussels, this is the case. 

Ukrainian police officers are receiving crypto crime investigation training from EU officials, with the nation continuing to streamline its crypto and blockchain policy with Brussels.

Activision Blizzard proposes to sell its streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment in a fresh attempt to win approval from UK Competition and Markets Authority for its $69 billion sale to Microsoft. The shares of Activision were trading 1.1% higher, while Microsoft was up 0.7% before noon in New York. Shares of Ubisoft listed in Paris closed 8.8% higher.

By Kate Holton and Paul Sandle

A new report suggests that China is pushing proposals aiming to transplant its traditional social credit system to the metaverse as it seeks to establish greater control.

Queensland-headquartered private markets investor QIC should have its eye (and chequebook) out for mid-market European buyouts in the coming years as it adds a new client to its books.