Europe

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10395497

• Tata Power sees a potential 2-3 GW market for Indian-made solar cells and modules in at least one European country.
• The company has 4.9 GW of integrated cell and module capacity and plans up to 10 GW of upstream ingot and wafer manufacturing.
• Indian supply could help Europe reduce its reliance on China, although diversification through imports is not the same as rebuilding European manufacturing.

Tata Power is preparing to export solar cells and modules to Europe for the first time as procurement rules and energy security concerns encourage developers to seek alternatives to Chinese equipment.

Chief executive Praveer Sinha told reporters during a post-results call that the Indian company had identified a potential opportunity of between 2-3 GW in one European country. He did not name the market or disclose any specific orders.

Tata Power currently has 4.9 GW of integrated cell and module manufacturing capacity. It is also considering up to 10 GW of capacity to manufacture solar ingots and wafers, the upstream materials needed to produce cells.

The proposed exports would represent a significant change from late 2024, when Sinha said output from the company’s new Tamil Nadu factory was committed to the Indian market for the following 12 to 16 months. Since then, India’s manufacturing base has expanded rapidly, creating greater pressure to identify overseas customers.

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Europe offers a large but highly contested market. More than 95% of solar modules installed in the EU are imported, with China accounting for roughly 94% of module and cell supplies in 2023. Low Chinese prices have supported rapid deployment but contributed to factory closures and weak investment in European manufacturing.

The EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act seeks to reduce that exposure by introducing resilience and sustainability criteria into renewable energy auctions. It also sets an ambition for European manufacturing capacity to approach 40% of the bloc’s annual deployment needs by 2030.

Italy provided an early test of the approach in 2025, awarding more than 1.1 GW to 88 solar projects in its first auction restricted to equipment made outside China. The average tariff was €66.38/MWh, around 17% higher than in earlier auctions without sourcing restrictions, according to Reuters.

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Supply chain resilience

Indian manufacturers' equipment can offer buyers an alternative to Chinese final assembly without carrying the full cost of European production. An EU-India trade agreement concluded earlier this year, which reduced tariffs on most goods, could improve that proposition further.

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However, the distinction between assembly location and supply chain origin will matter. Unless suppliers can demonstrate where wafers, polysilicon and other inputs were produced, modules assembled in India may still contain a substantial amount of Chinese material. Tata Power’s planned upstream expansion could therefore prove more strategically important than its existing module capacity.

The development is relevant to the UK even though EU procurement rules do not apply directly. The UK’s Solar Roadmap calls for more resilient, diverse and sustainable supply chains, with particular emphasis on traceability and eliminating forced labour.

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Archived

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10394465

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Brussels has been examining ways to shield European industry from what many manufacturers say is the negative fallout from China’s industrial overcapacity and subsidised exports.

Stefania Pigozzi, head of economic studies at Italian machine tool industry association UCIMU, said Chinese manufacturers had largely satisfied domestic demand and are now rapidly expanding overseas.

UCIMU said it wants imported machinery to be subject to the same technical and safety standards required of European manufacturers in order to level the playing field.

"Europe needs common rules that apply to everyone," Pigozzi told Reuters. "Machinery safety standards, for example, have a direct impact on production costs and ultimately on the final price of a product."

For most Italian companies, meanwhile, moving production to China to compete against Chinese manufacturers on equal terms is not an option, she added.

UCIMU represents about 250 producers of machine tools, robots, automation systems and components with combined revenue of roughly €8 billion ($9.1 billion) and employing some 30,000 workers.

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According to data compiled by UCIMU from national industry associations and Italy’s trade agency ICE, China’s share of global metalworking machine tool exports rose to 23% in 2025 from 8% in 2016, while Europe’s fell to 46% from 52% during the same period.

Italy, the world’s fourth-largest machine tool exporter, also lost ground over the period. Its share of global exports slipped to 7.8% in 2025 from 8.4% in 2016, while Italian exports to China plunged to €110 million from €316 million.

The concerns of Italian manufacturers echo a broader debate within the EU.

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Earlier this year Italy joined France, Spain and two other countries in calling on Brussels to strengthen trade defence tools to protect European industry from unfair competition.

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Archived

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10390036

Hungary’s previous [Orban] government pledged substantial financial support for BYD’s planned investment in the city of Szeged, a parliamentary state secretary at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.

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‘Guest workers and generous subsidies’

György László Velkey [said that] according to documents held by the ministry, the Hungarian state committed more than 70 billion forints in infrastructure support for the area where BYD is set to establish operations. In addition, the government offered significant direct financial assistance to the company, although the precise sum remains a commercial secret.

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“I can say, however, that the scale is comparable to the funding provided for the CATL factory in Debrecen,” the state secretary noted.

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It also emerged that BYD has been granted permission to bring in around 10,000 guest workers—almost as many as the number of jobs the investment is expected to create, he added.

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Péter Stumpf, parliamentary state secretary at the Ministry for Rural and Regional Development and MP for the area, said in the same video that residents of Szeged have three key expectations regarding the project.

They expect the company to comply fully with existing legislation—particularly environmental regulations—so as not to endanger public health; to provide well-paid jobs for local residents and Hungarian workers; and to ensure that Szeged benefits from the company’s economic success.

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“It appears that Péter Szijjártó, the former minister for foreign affairs and trade, and Fidesz did not represent these interests during the negotiations,” Stumpf said.

Mr Velkey concluded by stressing that the current government would negotiate with the Chinese company—and with all foreign partners—solely with the interests of Szeged’s residents and the Hungarian people in mind.

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Mr Szijjártó recently announced that he would resign his parliamentary seat and join BYD as an international executive responsible for global external relations and the development of new business divisions.

The former minister, who has been attending a world championship event in the United States, described his new contract on Facebook as “the signing of the year”. However, many—even within Fidesz—have reportedly viewed the move as a betrayal at a difficult time for the political community.

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Archived

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10390701

Europe’s wind turbine makers are examining whether combining to create industry champions would help them confront Chinese competition in the race to supply the global wind power industry.

China’s and Europe’s wind turbine makers have each long held sway in their domestic markets but China’s manufacturers are developing an edge in fast-growing regions such as Latin America and the Middle East, as well as looking to gain ground in Europe.

This march into wider territories has fuelled European angst over its strength in strategic industries and prompted the suggestions from some executives for the need to consolidate to create greater scale. “I have great faith in European industrial capacity,” says José Manuel Entrecanales, chief executive of Acciona, the largest shareholder in Nordex, which sold the most turbines by capacity in Europe last year.

“We’ve got a number of opportunities — one of which is wind. [But] scale is the essence. [. . .] We believe that to gain the scale difference, consolidation is the only means.”

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In April, the European Commission published long-awaited new guidelines for mergers and acquisitions, putting more focus on the benefits of corporate scale and urging competition officials to give greater weight to innovation, investment and resilience of the internal market.

After several previous mergers, Europe’s wind turbine industry is already relatively concentrated — between Nordex, Vestas, Siemens Gamesa and Enercon — leading to questions over what further tie-ups would be allowed.

“First of all, we need to clarify what it is we want from a political point of view,” said Entrecanales. It was “not worth” talking to rivals until then, he added. “Once we do that, then we can see what possible concepts are doable.”

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The new merger guidelines were one of the initiatives stemming from the landmark 2024 Mario Draghi report, aiming to boost European competitiveness and prevent the bloc countries from lagging in both the digital and energy transition.

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Archived

https://archive.ph/2G8wK

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10376285

A massive majority of Spaniards believe corruption in the country has skyrocketed under the government of Pedro Sanchez.

The findings come from a new report published by the European Commission, which notes that this perception has especially worsened in the last five years – affecting not just the average citizen but companies and the judicial system.

The Special Eurobarometer survey found that Spain scores highly on the perceived corruption indexes compared to its European counterparts.

It comes after a turbulent week in which Sanchez’ family has been under fire for various corruption scandals.

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Spain scored just 55 out of 100 in the Corruption Perception Index 2025, placing it seventeenth in the European Union and 49th worldwide.

According to the new survey, 92% of Spanish citizens consider that corruption is widespread, far above the European average of 71%. Moreover, 53% say they feel personally affected by corruption, in comparison to the 30% of the European average.

The document released this Friday comes on the back of a period of chaos.

Last Thursday, a court ruled that Begona Gomez, Pedro Sanchez’s wife, will stand trial for charges of influence peddling and embezzlement.

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The ruling came just two days after a ruling against David Sanchez, the prime minister’s brother, who is now barred from public office for nine years.

He had been working a role that was specifically created for him.

Meanwhile, former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos was convicted last month over illegal pandemic mask contracts.

In response to the recent rulings, several Sanchez allies have attacked the decisions, calling them ‘a judicial conspiracy’ and ‘politically motivated cases’ which amount to ‘lawfare’.

Judges and legal professionals continue to show concern. The Constitutional Court warns that statements against judges contribute to eroding public trust in the justice system.

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The EU Commission has warned Sanchez’ government that: “All powers of the state – executive, legislative and judicial – must act with mutual respect to guarantee proper functioning.”

This is not the first time Sanchez’ government is being put on the spot by the EU Commission. Last year former attorney general Alvaro Garcia Ortiz was found guilty in a controversial case over the leaking of confidential information.

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Archived

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10391341

For three years Europe has repeated the same phrase about China, de-risking, not decoupling, and for three years it has struggled to show what the phrase means in practice. In mid-2026 that is starting to change.

At the European Council on 19 June, heads of state handed the Commission a clear political mandate to strengthen the bloc’s defences against Chinese industrial overcapacity and other forms of what Brussels calls unfair competition. The debate ran for more than two hours, which in European summitry signals a genuine argument rather than a rubber stamp.

The numbers behind the frustration are stark. The EU’s trade deficit with China has swollen to roughly 360 billion euros a year, close to a billion euros every day. Behind that figure sits a pattern European manufacturers know well: heavily subsidised Chinese capacity in electric vehicles, solar panels, batteries and now chemicals, produced far in excess of Chinese demand and pushed onto world markets at prices domestic rivals cannot match.

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Yet the [European] Commission is careful to keep the door open. De-risking was always meant to reduce exposure, not to sever a relationship worth hundreds of billions in two-way trade.

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Beijing, for its part, reads every tariff as provocation and has warned of retaliation against European farm goods, spirits and luxury exports.

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What has shifted in 2026 is not the slogan but the resolve behind it. Europe has stopped debating whether Chinese overcapacity is a problem and started arguing about how forcefully to answer it. For a bloc that prizes consensus and caution, that is a meaningful change of gear.

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Archived

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10391285

The entire ifo Business Climate Report (pdf)

Business sentiment among companies in Germany has improved, according to the German cconomic research institute ifo. The ifo Business Climate Index rose to 86.6 points in July, up from 85.7 points in June , due to a significant improvement in expectations. However, companies were somewhat less satisfied with their current business performance. Despite the uncertain situation in the Persian Gulf, companies are less pessimistic.

In manufacturing, the index rose noticeably. Expectations, in particular, saw a significant boost. Assessments of the current situation were somewhat less favorable. Demand picked up, and material shortages eased.

In the service sector, the business climate improved. Service providers were less skeptical about the coming months. However, they assessed the current business situation as slightly worse. Sentiment among tour operators has picked up.

In trade, the indicator rose once again. Companies were somewhat more satisfied with their current business. Expectations were also less pessimistic. Retailers, in particular, were less concerned about their future performance.

In construction, the index picked up. Both assessments of the current situation and expectations improved. Fewer companies reported a lack of orders.

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10376559

A Canadian national interning at NATO’s strategic military headquarters in Belgium has been arrested on charges of spying for a foreign power and participating in a criminal organisation, Belgian authorities announced on Saturday.

The suspect, an intern of Chinese origin based at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) near Mons, was formally served with an arrest warrant on 24 July, following a multi-agency security operation.

According to the Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the suspect was initially flagged by SHAPE’s internal security team. The case was subsequently escalated to Belgium’s General Intelligence and Security Service (SGRS) and referred to federal prosecutors for a formal criminal investigation.

On 23 July officers from the Charleroi Federal Judicial Police carried out coordinated raids at the suspect’s residence and her office within the NATO facility. Specialised units, including the Computer Crime Unit and forensic teams from Charleroi and Mons, assisted in seizing potential digital and physical evidence.

An investigating judge at the Hainaut Court of First Instance ordered her detention the following day.

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Archived

German police have shot dead the suspect in a car-ramming attack on Berlin’s Pride march, ending a 24-hour manhunt.

Ballout had a criminal conviction for which he received a suspended sentence of one year and 10 months. According to German media, he was convicted of “preparing a serious act of subversive violence” after a failed attempt to join ISIL (ISIS).

Although investigations are ongoing and questions are being asked about how Ballout was able to carry out the attack despite being known to police, Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner expressed relief that the manhunt was over.

Despite having little sympathy for LGBTQ causes, far-right figures have been quick to use the incident to support their anti-immigration agenda.

Martin Hess, a lawmaker in the Alternative for Germany party, denounced the attack as a result of “a complete failure of the government’s security policies”.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10372211

• Startups playing greater role in securing German defence
• Fund will take direct stakes in startups

Germany's government on Wednesday said it will create an investment fund that allows the state to take direct ‌stakes in defence startups, as part of a broader strategy to support new businesses.

Spurred by Russia's war in Ukraine and doubts about the reliability of U.S. security guarantees under Donald Trump, Germany and other European governments are moving to rebuild defence capacity after decades of underinvestment.

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Startups and scale-ups in the security and ​defence sector are playing an increasingly important role in bolstering Germany's security and defence readiness, according to a government ​paper.

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The defence sector ⁠overall could generate additional economic growth of 0.5% to 1.0% if the extra funding is invested well.

German AI defence firm Helsing ​and autonomous ground-systems startup ARX Robotics have supplied systems for battlefield use in Ukraine, where the war has become a proving ground for ​fast-deployable technology and helped show young European companies can deliver capabilities faster than traditional procurement channels.

To improve access to capital, the government will establish "a new vehicle for direct federal investments in startups and scale-ups" that develop products and services with clear military applications, it said.

The value of the fund has not ​been announced.

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"After years of stagnation, one part of Germany’s economy is showing remarkable momentum: entrepreneurship," Deutsche Bank Research said in a note.

A record 3,053 startups were founded in Germany in the first half of 2026, up 52% from the second half of ​2025. They employed 26% more people ​in 2024 than in 2020.

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The ⁠German bank said the startup strategy could provide fertile ground for the numerous newly founded firms to grow.

Europe and Germany perform well in early-stage financing — specifically pre-seed and seed capital — where Europe accounts for ​nearly 80% of the allocated funds.

However, Europe loses ground in larger funding rounds, with ​companies heading to ⁠the United States to secure major financing.

Germany struggles to turn successful startups into growth companies. According to the paper, venture capital investment reached €7.2 billion ($8.21 billion) in 2025, far below levels in the United States and Britain.

Germany's BVK private equity and venture capital association said the strategy ⁠marked an ​important step in strengthening Germany's standing as a startup location and "focused on the ​right levers, particularly regarding financing."

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The strategy also aims to mobilise more private capital for sectors including technology and biotechnology.

The Future Fund — a German government-backed venture capital programme launched ​in 2021 — will be extended beyond 2030.

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A newer ‘climate-friendly’ refrigerant used in car air conditioning systems, may already be a significant, and possibly dominant, source of a ‘forever chemical’ pollutant across Europe, according to a new University of Bristol-led study.

Greece has approved 11 defense procurement programs worth a combined €4.2 billion ($4.8 billion), including a €3.1 billion Israeli-developed integrated air defense system known as Achilles’ Shield, according to a media report.

The Greek daily Ekathimerini reported Friday that the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense approved the package, with the air defense system expected to be delivered within 35 months of the contract being signed.

According to the report, Achilles’ Shield will provide anti-aircraft, anti-ballistic and counter-drone protection.

The system will integrate Israel’s Spyder (All In One), Barak MX and David’s Sling air defense systems, while existing non-kinetic counter-drone systems deployed on islands in the eastern Aegean will also be upgraded.

One of the best bulwarks against monopoly is interoperability—that is making a new product or service work with an existing product or service. Interoperability allows users, and not the manufacturers of their devices or largest player in a market, to decide what application best serves them. Unsurprisingly, companies like Apple have worked hard to resist interoperability requirements.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10332956

The European Commission on Friday said it found TikTok had not adequately protected children’s privacy rights on its platform by allowing adults to view the accounts of minors.

The action exposed children to cyberbullying, unwanted contact and predatory behavior, commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said.

“Children’s content must never be visible to strangers,” he said. If TikTok does not take steps called for by the European Union’s landmark Digital Services Act, “minors are exposed to predators, to grooming and to cyberbullying,” Regnier said, adding that children aged 13 to 15 can “easily” change their accounts from private to public and the private accounts of minors aged 16 to 17 can be seen by anyone on the internet. “We do not accept this,” Regnier said. “Putting default settings for minors is not a beauty contest under the DSA. It must be effective.”

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The investigation comes on the heels of back-to-back crackdowns on Big Tech by Brussels, which has led the world in regulating tech behemoths including Meta and Apple.

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The Chinese social media firm, whose parent company ByteDance is based in Beijing, said in a statement it would review Brussels’ findings and “continue to engage constructively with the Commission.” ... If unsatisfied with the firm’s response, the commission could issue a so-called non-compliance decision and possible fine worth up to 6% of the company’s total annual revenue.

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The commission estimates most of TikTok’s 170 million users in the EU are children, with 7% of children aged 12 to 15 spending four to five hours daily on the app.

The 27-nation European Union found in February that TikTok had breached another aspect of its digital rule book with an “addictive design” of features such as autoplay and infinite scrolling that could harm the physical and mental health of users and minors especially.

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Archived

Luxembourg will not renew its approval for the sale of Israel Bonds in the European Union, the country’s finance minister has confirmed.

In an interview with broadcaster RTL, Gilles Roth said the decision had been taken solely by the CSSF, Luxembourg's financial regulator, which he said had decided two months ago not to extend the bond programme beyond its 31 August expiry date.

Campaign groups in Luxembourg and across the EU have long called for Israel Bond sales to European investors to be stopped. As previously reported by Middle East Eye, they say the programme, which raises billions of dollars for the Israeli government, has helped fund Israel’s wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

Roth defended the CSSF against criticism, arguing that the regulator had followed European criteria throughout and that many of the accusations levelled at it were unwarranted. The discontinuation, he insisted, was a matter of regulatory compliance rather than political pressure.

Speaking to the Economist magazine's editor-in-chief, Musk was asked whether he was "anti-Muslim".

“If people are coming to a country with antithetical views, I am against that,” he said in response.

“I’m against rape and murder, I’m against the imposition of rules and laws that are contrary to what we’ve come to accept in the West. I think it’s a crying shame that the traditional media don’t recognise this.”

When pushed by Zanny Minton Beddoes on past comments suggesting "civil war" was "inevitable" in the UK, Musk said that it was "on the current trend".

"That is nonsense. The numbers also disprove what you say. London is a much safer city than any city in the US," said Beddoes in response. "You have painted Europe and the UK as overrun with terrifying Muslim immigrants, there's rape on every corner, there's civilisational destruction."

Musk then conceded that it had been a "few years" since he had been to the UK, but also claimed he "didn't say any of those things".

Police have clashed with demonstrators during a protest in the Italian city of Bologna after a Moroccan-born man died pleading for help under police restraint.

Human rights campaigners and Italy’s opposition parties have demanded urgent answers over the death on Sunday of Abderrahim ⁠Fakir, 42, who had lived in Italy since he was five years old and ran a small removals and cleaning business.

A video shared widely on Italian media shows Fakir, who reportedly had heart issues and asthma, repeatedly calling out “aiuto, aiuto, basta” (Help, help, that’s enough) as two officers sit on him and ambulance workers look on.

After he stops moving, the police officers are seen binding his ankles together, only later checking his vital signs with the ambulance workers, the video shows. Prosecutors have opened an investigation and requested the officers’ body cam footage.

“You can’t die like this,” Fakir’s sister, Khadija, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. “The police have to protect us. If someone is agitated, you have to calm them down … not kill them like a dog.”

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10334892

France has adopted a landmark law targeting ultra-fast fashion, introducing immediate transparency rules, enhanced EPR [Extended Producer Responsibility] eco-contributions, advertising and influencer restrictions, and removal of tax incentives for unsold goods donations. The law is designed to reduce environmental impacts and promote responsible consumption.

On July 9, 2026, French Law No. 2026-602 of July 8, 2026 was officially published, making France the first country to enact legislation specifically targeting ultra-fast fashion.

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Businesses that operate high-volume, rapidly changing fashion models may face significant compliance and cost implications under the new regulatory framework.

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Key Provisions

• Mandatory Transparency Requirements (Effective immediately)

Online sellers must:

• Provide clear information on the environmental and social impacts of products, including messages encouraging responsible consumption, reuse, repair, and recycling.
• Inform consumers about the social, environmental, health, and delivery-related impacts associated with products.
• Clearly display manufacturing locations alongside the product price.
• Ensure such information is presented in the same font size, remains easily accessible, and appears on all relevant sales pages.

Advertising and Influencer Promotion Ban (Effective 1 January 2027)

• The law introduces a comprehensive ban on advertising for ultra-fast fashion products and brands.
• The prohibition also extends to influencer marketing activities, including promotions that involve: free gifts; product loans; and sponsored invitations or similar benefits.

Influencers who violate these requirements may face fines of up to €100,000.

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Archived

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