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Good morning. Ursula von der Leyen has laid out her financial concepts for a possible second time period as European Fee president, telling the Monetary Instances that she is open to discussions over each making cohesion and agricultural funds from the EU price range — value some €100bn a yr — conditional on reform and funding targets, and to talks on recent joint borrowing. Learn the complete interview right here.
Immediately, I’ve extra from von der Leyen on the way to take care of China, and our Austria correspondent stories on allegations in opposition to the nation’s main Inexperienced occasion candidate for the European elections.
Tonight, hear von der Leyen and her foremost election rivals conflict over the long run financial course of the EU, in a particular Bruegel-FT leaders’ debate in Brussels and on-line. Join right here.
Go EUr personal method
As Washington imposes sweeping tariffs on Chinese language imports, and Beijing hits again in opposition to Brussels’ commerce probes, Ursula von der Leyen has rejected the concept that the west is already in a commerce warfare with China — and nixed the prospect of the EU becoming a member of the US on one facet of the barricades.
Context: Beijing on Sunday introduced an anti-dumping probe in opposition to chemical imports from the US and EU, days after the White Home jacked up import tariffs on Chinese language inexperienced applied sciences. Brussels has opened investigations into allegedly unfair subsidies of Chinese language photo voltaic panels and electrical autos.
Von der Leyen, talking because the lead candidate of the centre-right European Individuals’s occasion at subsequent month’s European parliament elections, denied the EU was already in a commerce warfare in opposition to China, and stated Brussels’ method ought to be “totally different” from the US.
“Let’s say we share a number of the considerations of our American counterparts. [But] our method is totally different. The People have simply utilized blanket tariffs,” she informed the FT. “We would like competitors, we need to commerce collectively, however we would like it to be truthful and by the foundations.”
“We see China, for instance . . . producing huge overcapacity with artificially low-cost merchandise and flooding our market, and our corporations having issues to entry the Chinese language market underneath truthful circumstances,” she added. “And we see the subject of compelled expertise switch. These are subjects which might be of concern.”
Von der Leyen stated she anticipated the EU probe introduced final September would conclude that Chinese language electrical autos have benefited from “extreme manufacturing subsidies”, and that the response can be “that the extent of duties would correspond to the extent of injury performed”.
“So it’s a extra differentiated, focused method [than the US] . . . we need to sign, it’s not about closing the market or protectionism,” she added. “We need to de-risk, not decouple [from China]. And now we’re creating the toolbox.”
Chart du jour: Feeling the ache
The general public temper in superior nations stays low as households reel from the price of residing disaster.
Gossip lady
A scandal involving Austria’s main Inexperienced candidate for the EU elections and her allegedly uncertain relationship with the reality has been dominating native headlines over the previous week, writes Sam Jones.
Context: Lena Schilling gave the impression to be the right candidate. The charismatic and photogenic 23-year-old environmental activist from the Fridays For Future motion was supposed to ensure a lift for Austria’s Greens, the minority companion in Austria’s coalition authorities.
However earlier this month, revelations by Austrian newspaper Der Customary threw that every one into doubt.
The journalists uncovered that the younger Inexperienced signed a cease-and-desist declaration regarding statements she made about two former pals, a outstanding activist couple. Schilling had informed others that the person within the couple was beating his spouse who suffered a miscarriage in consequence, which the spouse known as “lies”.
Different instances had been cited: Schilling was accused of wrongly claiming to have had an affair with a journalist, placing his profession in danger, and a senior politician needed to resign due to rumours allegedly unfold by Schilling.
Schilling has stated the assaults are an unjustified intrusion into her non-public life supposed to distract from her political credentials.
Get together bosses have stood by her. Final week Inexperienced chief Werner Kogler dismissed the accusations as “grumbling and farting” from jealous political rivals.
However voters appear to have misplaced religion within the Inexperienced prodigy. Schilling is now one of many least trusted politicians within the nation, in line with polls.
Criticism has come largely from the left — a lot in order that the Greens final week gained an unlikely supporter: Harald Vilimsky, lead candidate for the far-right Freedom occasion, in a TV debate defended his younger rival because the sufferer of a hidden and nefarious liberal institution.
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EU telecommunications ministers meet.
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