China

Germany

France

Belgium

Netherlands

Economics

European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager is set to announce that the European Commission is launching a new anti-subsidy investigation into imports of Chinese wind turbines during a speech at Princeton University in the United States, Politico reported April 9.

EU, China: Brussels to Launch Anti-Subsidy Probe into Chinese Wind Turbines

The European Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement to ban products made with forced labor from the EU market, a press release from the European Commission shows March 5.

EU, China: EU Reaches Provisional Agreement to Ban Products Linked to Forced Labor

Italy

Russia

Military & Security

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The European Union has approved its 13th package of sanctions against Russia, Reuters reported Feb. 21.

EU, China, Russia: EU's 13th Sanctions Package Against Russia Includes Measures Targeting Chinese Companies Aiding War Effort

Luxembourg

Lithuania

Malta

Finland

Latvia

Czech Republic

Denmark

Greece

Estonia

Sweden

Bulgaria

Portugal

Poland

Romania

Croatia

Cyprus

Austria

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Ireland

Hungary

Environment, Science & Technology

Politics

Science & Technology

The European Commission recommended reducing the European Union's net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 compared with 1990 levels, Reuters reported Feb. 6. 

EU: Brussels to Exclude Agriculture from 90% Emissions Reduction Target for 2040

Ukraine

European Union member states unanimously agreed to a 50 billion euro ($54 billion) financial support package for Ukraine as part of their joint budget through 2027, for which Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban lifted his veto on the initiative, Reuters reported Feb. 1.

EU, Ukraine: EU Leaders Unanimously Agree to New 50 Billion Euro Aid Package for Kyiv

The foreign ministers of all EU member states have agreed to support a plan to tax the profits generated by frozen Russian central bank assets, Bloomberg reported Jan. 23.

Russia, EU: EU Foreign Ministers Support Plan to Tax Gains of Frozen Russian Assets 

Europe

Energy

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called for an EU Industrial Deal alongside the bloc's Green Deal to "keep industrial production here with us in Europe" during a speech to the European Parliament that inaugurated Belgium's rotating presidency of the European Union, Politico reported on Jan. 17.

EU: Belgian Prime Minister Calls for EU Industrial Deal

United States

U.S. President Joe Biden extended the suspension of Trump-era tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from the European Union for an additional two years until December 31, 2025, Reuters reported Dec. 28.

EU, U.S.: Transatlantic Steel and Critical Minerals Negotiations Stalled

Assessments

United Kingdom

A photo taken on Jan. 20, 2024, shows cars driving by campaign billboard posters in Sao Pedro do Estoril, Portugal, ahead of the country's March 10 parliamentary elections. 

Social Issues

Of the various European countries holding elections this year, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, Romania and the U.K.'s votes have the potential to yield the most drastic leadership and policy changes.

Previewing Europe's 2024 National Elections

Ethiopia

South Africa

Brazil

Egypt

Iran

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

Taiwan

India

Leaders at the closing day of the BRICS Summit on Aug. 24, 2023, in Johannesburg. On Jan. 1, BRICS will admit Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia after agreeing at an August summit to expand its membership.

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Taiwan's Election Media Blackout, BRICS Expansion

Snapshots

Members of the European Parliament take part in voting on the Artificial Intelligence Act during a plenary session at the European Parliament.

Cyber

The EU's recently negotiated Artificial Intelligence Act will bolster the European Union's dominance as a regulatory heavyweight in emerging technologies, yet anticipated enforcement challenges and stringent stipulations with the Act risk impeding AI innovation within the bloc.

EU Lawmakers Clinch Agreement on Artificial Intelligence Act 

Columns

On Geopolitics

Demonstrators hold Spanish flags during a protest called by the country’s far-right Vox party in Madrid, Spain, on Nov. 12, 2023. 

Far-right parties are expected to perform strongly in sub-national, national and EU elections next year, portending significant shifts in governance and policies.

In Europe, Far-Right Parties Are Again on the Rise

Israel

Palestinian Territories

Israeli and EU Flags

Israel-Hamas Conflict

A lack of a unified EU response to the Israel-Hamas War highlights divisions among member states' foreign policies, complicating the bloc's plans to play a meaningful role in the conflict, as well as efforts to maintain unified support for Ukraine.

Israel-Hamas War Highlights Divisions Among EU Member States

Rail cars loaded with steel sit at the ThyssenKrupp Schwelgern steel plant on May 30, 2018 in Duisburg, Germany. 

The European Union and the United States will increase efforts to deconflict their trade and climate policies ahead of the upcoming U.S. presidential and EU parliamentary elections, but lingering disagreements will not allow for a complete respite of Trump-era tariffs on EU steel and aluminum.

EU-U.S. Steel and Aluminum Negotiations Make Limited Headway

On Security

Ecuador

Mexico

Venezuela

Syria

North Korea

Seized marijuana bricks are incinerated in Guadalajara, Mexico.

While narco-states exist on a spectrum of severity, they can all have dramatic geopolitical, operational and tactical impacts that raise a wide variety of risks.

What Is a Narco-State, and Why Does It Matter?

Japan

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Economist Pierre Olivier Gourinchas speaks during a media interview at the IMF headquarters in Washington D.C. on July 26, 2022, after the institution downgraded its outlook for the global economy this year and next. 

As the effects of post-COVID reopenings wane, rising interest rates and slower economic growth may prove particularly problematic for highly indebted countries like Italy.

After a Brief Reprieve, Debt Levels in Many Advanced Economies Are Set to Rise

Supporters of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) protest in Glasgow, Scotland, on July 27, 2022, as part of a nationwide strike among U.K. rail workers. 

European countries could see a wave of disruptive protests in the coming months as workers demand wage increases to keep up with the rising cost of living. 

Europe's Inflation Crisis Raises the Risk of Social and Labor Unrest

Turkey

Pakistan

Nurses demand better wages and to be paid in dollars amid inflation and economic crisis on Nov. 19, 2019, in Caracas, Venezuela. History is replete with examples of inflation -- and, in the most extreme cases, hyperinflation -- generating social unrest.

Even if the world probably won't be engulfed by violence, persistent inflation-linked protests can be expected some places, with periodic episodes of more serious unrest.

What Unrest Provoked by Inflation Could Look Like in 2022

Guidance

Mozambique

The Tianwen-1 probe is successfully launched on July 23, 2020, in Wenchang, Hainan, China.

COVID-19

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended Stratfor articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Cypriot Sovereignty Talks and a Chinese Space Launch

British fine china company Wedgwood on Oct. 14, 2020, in Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire, England. Founder Josiah Wedgwood incorporated some details of Chinese porcelain assembly lines into his own production process.

History has shown that economic espionage has been most successful at boosting domestic industries rather than destroying targeted industries.

Understanding Economic Espionage: The Past

<p>Belgium&#39;s history has been shaped by its location at the crossroads between Latin and Germanic Europe. Belgium is surrounded by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and the North Sea. It is home to a Flemish community in the north, which is mostly Dutch-speaking, and a Walloon population in the south, which mostly speaks French. Belgium&#39;s location also has made it a land of invasion, as it was for centuries disputed by larger powers such as Spain, France and Austria. Belgium gained independence in the 1830s, which was followed by a process of heavy industrialization and colonial expansion, particularly in Africa. Belgium is a mostly flat country, with a coastal plain full of polders in the northwest, a plateau with numerous waterways and fertile lands in the center, and thick forests and hills in the south. Belgium&#39;s core is in the so-called Flemish Diamond, an area that includes Brussels, Belgium&#39;s capital; Antwerp, which is home to one of the busiest ports in the world; and Ghent and Leuven, two important cultural and industrial centers. Almost half of Belgium&#39;s 11 million people live within this area. Belgium is also home to some of the most important institutions of the European Union, making Brussels the bloc&#39;s unofficial capital. Belgium&#39;s politics are defined by its linguistic and economic divides. A series of reforms between the 1970s and the 1990s made Belgium a federal state, in which Flanders and Wallonia were given some degree of self-government. But this was not enough to appease autonomist and secessionist sentiments, especially in Flanders, which is more economically developed than Wallonia. Belgium&#39;s federal government also has to include political parties from the two communities, which many voters see as inefficient. Belgium&#39;s main geopolitical challenge, therefore, is to remain united as a country. Domestic politics will play a role in this, but so will the evolution of the European Union, to which Belgium is deeply intertwined.</p>

SITUATION REPORTS

EU, China: Brussels to Launch Anti-Subsidy Probe into Chinese Wind Turbines

EU, China: EU Reaches Provisional Agreement to Ban Products Linked to Forced Labor

EU, China, Russia: EU's 13th Sanctions Package Against Russia Includes Measures Targeting Chinese Companies Aiding War Effort

EU: Brussels to Exclude Agriculture from 90% Emissions Reduction Target for 2040

EU, Ukraine: EU Leaders Unanimously Agree to New 50 Billion Euro Aid Package for Kyiv

Russia, EU: EU Foreign Ministers Support Plan to Tax Gains of Frozen Russian Assets

EU: Belgian Prime Minister Calls for EU Industrial Deal

EU, U.S.: Transatlantic Steel and Critical Minerals Negotiations Stalled

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