European environment ministers adopted their first formal position on the Green Claims Directive in Luxembourg on Monday (17 June), with environmental NGOs arguing that the text had been watered down.

Despite having only two leaders, the Conservatives, represented by Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Czechia’s Petr Fiala, they aim to have a bigger say in the EU’s top jobs allocation, after their allied parties have won a large place in the European Parliament in last week’s election.

A proposed centralised agency to support the detection and removal of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) will also be assessing how to technically preserve privacy while detecting such content in text communications included in the law's scope, according to the latest compromise of the draft law to fight CSAM.

Spain will urge EU health ministers to support the transfer of patients in need of urgent medical care from Gaza to EU countries willing to offer their healthcare services, according to a leaked document seen by Euractiv.

The speech given by Minister Peng Gang at the Europe-China Business Summit in Brussels.

In psychology, frustration is an emotion arising from perceived obstacles to fulfilling one’s will or goal. In EU politics, frustration is today’s special.

Following validation by member states on Monday (17 June), the 'High Seas Treaty' for the protection of oceans now has the full support of the EU, but many countries across the world still need to ratify it.

The European  Commission said it was "not worried" by Beijing's announcement on Monday (17 June) of an anti-dumping investigation into the bloc's pork exports, in an escalation of trade tensions with the bloc. 

(Recasts and adds trade figures in paragraph 8, further details and context throughout)

By Joe Cash

BEIJING, June 17 (Reuters) - China has opened an anti-dumping investigation into imported pork and its by-products from the European Union, a step that appears mainly targetted at Spain, the Netherlands, France and Denmark in response to curbs on its electric vehicle exports.

The investigation announced by China's commerce ministry on Monday will focus on pork intended for human consumption, such as fresh, cold and frozen whole cuts, as well as pig intestines, bladders and stomachs. The probe will begin on June 17.

It was prompted by a complaint submitted by the China Animal Husbandry Association on June 6 on behalf of the domestic pork industry, the ministry said.

Following the European Commission's June 12 announcement that it would impose anti-subsidy duties of up to 38.1% on imported Chinese cars from July, global food companies have been on high alert for retaliatory tariffs from China, owing to reports in the country's state media.

The state-backed Global Times newspaper first reported late last month that Chinese firms planned to ask authorities to open an anti-dumping investigation into some European pork products, citing an unidentified "business insider".

That was followed by a second report in the same outlet on June 8 requesting officials probe European dairy imports.

Chinese authorities have previously dropped hints about possible retaliatory measures through state media commentaries and interviews with industry figures.

China imported $6 billion worth of pork in 2023, including offal, with the EU accounting for more than half, according to customs data.

Spain accounted for $1.5 billion worth of outbound swine shipments from the bloc, almost three times as much as second and third ranking the Netherlands and Denmark, which exported $620 million and $550 million of pork products, respectively.

Growing alarm over Chinese industrial overcapacity flooding the EU with cheap products, including EVs, is opening a new front in the West's trade war with Beijing, which began with Washington's import tariffs in 2018.

EU trade policy is turning increasingly protective against the global ramifications of China's production-focused, debt-driven debt model.

Governments typically place anti-dumping duties on imported goods when they suspect the item in question is being sold for less than it cost to produce in order to protect domestic firms.

European pork producers should be able to keep exporting to China tariff-free while the investigation is underway, pending a decision and a tariff announcement by the Chinese side.

The commerce ministry said that the investigation should be completed by June 17, 2025, but could be extended by another six months if required.

(Additional reporting by Albee Zhang and Ella Cao; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Mark Potter)

The Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP/EPP) is seeking to file criminal charges against Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler for abuse of office following her vote in favour of the controversial nature restoration law in the EU Council on Monday.

A European Green Deal 2.0 was always going to be a very different agenda, especially if the original European Green Deal succeeded.

Biocontrols like peptides offer Europe’s growers new and more sustainable ways to manage crop pests, but without an overhaul of pesticide product classifications and authorisations, European farmers can’t access these vital tools. Vestaron Corporation’s Juan Estupan explains why regulatory change is needed.

A majority of EU member states gave the final green light to the Nature Restoration Law on Monday (17 June) during a Council meeting in Luxembourg, marking the last step for one of the Green Deal's most controversial files.

President Aleksandar Vučić said Serbia could exploit lithium as early as 2028 following new guarantees from Australian mining giant Rio Tinto and the EU over the controversial project, the Financial Times reported on Sunday (16 June).

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Czechia’s ANO opposing a second von der Leyen mandate, former president Nicolas Sarkozy criticising current president Emmanuel Macron for dissolving parliament, and so much more.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Hanoi this week, multiple officials said, highlighting Communist-ruled Vietnam's loyalty to Russia and triggering a US rebuke.

Global concerns about the use of AI in news production and misinformation are growing, a report published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found, posing fresh challenges to newsrooms already struggling to engage audiences.

Romanian right-wing populist and nationalist AUR leader George Simion on Saturday became the first politician to announce his candidacy for the Romanian presidency, expressing his desire to serve all Romanians and strongly criticising Austria for blocking full Schengen membership to Romania.

Boyko Borissov, the leader of Bulgaria's centre-right GERB party who won Bulgaria's snap parliamentary elections last weekend, has given his future partners a one-week ultimatum to form a ruling coalition and elect a new government - or face another snap election.