In the last 12 hours, the most prominent policy thread is EU–US trade negotiations and the risk of renewed tariff escalation. Multiple reports say EU lawmakers and governments are making “good progress” toward a deal scrapping duties on US imports, but that “there is still some way to go,” with negotiators set to meet again on 19 May. The talks are occurring under renewed pressure tied to US threats to raise tariffs on EU cars and trucks to 25% from 15%, and the EU side is also emphasizing enforcement of the earlier 15% tariff rate agreed in the Scotland deal.
A second major cluster concerns EU regulation and implementation choices. Reuters reports EU countries and European Parliament lawmakers agreed to “watered-down” AI Act rules, including delaying enforcement for certain high-risk AI systems to December 2, 2027 and excluding machinery from the scope of the AI Act. In parallel, the EU is also dealing with cybersecurity and supply-chain questions: a joint report by the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU and KPMG warns that a proposed revision of the EU Cybersecurity Act (CSA2) could cost nearly €368bn over five years if it effectively forces replacement of Chinese suppliers across critical sectors.
Beyond trade and regulation, the last 12 hours also show continuity in EU external partnerships and energy/security priorities. India and the EU held discussions on deepening their strategic partnership and launched a €15.2m initiative to develop EV battery recycling technologies, framed as supporting critical mineral supply chains and a circular economy. Separately, the G7 trade ministers meeting in Paris focused on securing critical minerals dominated by China, while also noting that US tariff threats against EU-made cars could strain unity. On energy, the coverage includes EU methane policy debates (including calls to act on methane and discussion of possible get-outs), and a separate report says EU household gas prices rose in the second half of 2025 with large cross-country disparities.
Finally, there is a notable governance-and-accountability theme, though with fewer corroborating details in the most recent window. EU auditors report they cannot clearly trace how billions of euros from the COVID-era Recovery and Resilience Facility are used, highlighting transparency gaps and missing identification of recipients. In the same period, reporting also includes a high-profile subsidy controversy: an investigation says the UAE’s ruling Al Nahyan family benefited from more than €71m in EU farming subsidies via farmland holdings in Romania, Italy and Spain—an issue that ties into broader concerns about how EU agricultural support reaches large foreign-controlled landowners.