Good luck!
Euractiv Senior Editor Martina Monti here with this week's news, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, where you decide what's what.
Word starting with T
I spent an awkward amount of time trying to find a synonym that would make tariffs sound new. Tax, duty, excise, and I even considered adding a French or German word for effect. But alas, Trump imposing a 20% tariff on the EU on Wednesday night was the biggest news story of the week.
Our economics correspondent Tom stayed up late into the night to cover the issue, explained why it was hurting the US more than Europe, and then headed out at midday the next day to ask the Commission what it was going to do about it.
For you, the 20% tariff means your next aperitif could be even more expensive. As agri-food reporters Alice and Sophie wrote, in vino calamitas: expect higher prices for French Bordeaux and Champagne wines, Irish whiskey, Pecorino cheese and Greek feta.
Eldorado EC
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President António Costa went treasure hunting this week, heading to Uzbekistan for the first ever EU-Central Asia summit. They hope to start sourcing rare earths and critical minerals from the region.
But there is little hope that the bloc will find its El Dorado. Someone has already been looking for it: Central Asia remains closely tied to Russia and increasingly attracts Beijing's attention. Our new correspondent Emma examines Europe's hunt for mineral wealth from Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Le Pen: The verdict is in
Marine Le Pen's political career could have ended this week after a French court found her guilty of embezzling EU funds and immediately handed her a five-year ban. Bad timing for the far-right leader, who had been seeking to run for a fourth time in the 2027 presidential election.
But Le Pen is not one to take defeat lightly, and as you might have guessed, she is appealing the verdict. Our polyglot and network coordinator Charles breaks down what happens next.
Following the guilty verdict, all eyes are on her protégé Jordan Bardella, head of Le Pen's Rassemblement National party. He owes her everything and makes no secret of it, but is he up to the task of president? Our Paris bureau chief Laurent answers that question here.
Happy Birthday, NATO!
Today the transatlantic alliance turns 76, and what better way to celebrate than with the first visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met with NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels yesterday.
Well, except for the part where European leaders are still in a state of post-traumatic stress disorder over US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's February announcement of a shift in US security priorities.
But Rubio assured Europe that fears about Washington leaving NATO were “unfounded” and that Trump had “made it clear that he supports NATO.” Our chief diplomatic correspondent Alex attended Rubio’s briefing with reporters and wrote an article that can be found here.
The Outsider Syndrome in Italy
Rome likes to be weird – partly as a clever PR strategy, partly in the hope that Paris and Berlin will finally take it seriously. Gone are the days when Mario Draghi grinned with Macron and Scholz on the train to Kyiv.
Now Italians are complaining about defense spending. Not as loudly as Meloni when it comes to the EU's ReArm strategy, but more about the increase in military budgets in general, according to a poll exclusively provided by Euractiv.
EU capital without fossil fuels
To end on a more positive note – because let’s be honest, we need one – the bloc’s coal phase-out is well underway, with Helsinki set to become the next European capital to ditch fossil fuels for heating and electricity. Are Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany feeling inspired yet?
Finland's closure of the Salmisaari wood-fired power plant tells two stories: one about Europe's green transition, delayed by the energy crisis, and one about more EU countries where coal has the same prospects as going grocery shopping in Brussels after 8pm. Our energy reporter Niko has the story.
Source: Source
