DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Brazil has taken its green trade row with the European Union to this year’s global climate summit.
The Brazilian government has been among the most vocal opponents of the EU’s new carbon border tax on imported goods, describing the measure as “discriminatory” and warning it might hinder rather than help global efforts to reduce planet-warming emissions.
A fight is now brewing at the COP28 conference in Dubai as Brazil — backed by China — seeks to inject its trade concerns into international talks on how to curb climate change.
In the first iteration of a draft negotiating text published Tuesday, some countries are pushing for language that would see the nearly 200 countries represented at this year’s talks criticize measures such as the EU’s carbon border tax — essentially a levy on carbon-intensive products coming into the bloc.
The proposal suggests that countries adopt a COP28 declaration that “expresses serious concern” about measures such as “sanctions on low-carbon products, restrictions on technology investment and cooperation, green barriers, discriminatory legislation, plurilateral constraints, etc.” — a series of categories that would cover the EU’s carbon levy.
That comes after delegations narrowly avoided starting the summit with a scrap over the conference agenda last week, with Brazil requesting a last-minute addition to carve out space for a discussion on “concerns with unilateral trade measures related to climate change and their potential adverse impact on equitable and just transitions.”
The development reflects the rising tensions between the EU and its trade partners, coming just as EU trade talks with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay ground to a halt this week. China earlier this year also escalated a fight against the EU at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the tax, questioning whether the measure complies with global trade rules.
Who’s angry?
The agenda request was submitted on behalf of the BASIC group of large, emerging economies — Brazil, China, India and South Africa. The accompanying justification text explicitly complained about “unilateral carbon border taxes.”
The four countries fear they could be hit hard by the so-called carbon border adjustment mechanism, which will force exporters to the bloc to pay the difference between the EU’s carbon price and that of their home countries. Carbon prices vary from country to country, with the EU’s nearing €100 at times and China’s hovering around €8.
The measure — which entered a transitional phase on October 1, with payments starting in 2026 — was designed to protect EU companies that pay a carbon price against unfair competition from countries with no or low carbon prices.
At COP28, the EU insists that tensions over the tax aren’t affecting climate talks.
“We expect these political messages of concern to continue to come up” in climate negotiations, EU lead negotiator Jacob Werksman told reporters in Dubai on Monday.
But he added: “We don’t expect them to derail the conversations, mostly because I don’t think any party expects this to be a forum for a discussion on any party’s particular [trade] measures. … There’s a whole other institution for that. That’s the World Trade Organisation.”
Yet on Tuesday, Brazil’s lead negotiator André Corrêa do Lago told reporters again that “some countries decided to adopt some trade measures that we believe don’t help developing countries to increase their efforts toward fighting climate change.”
He cited several United Nations agreements that Brazil sees as supporting its case. The BASIC submission also warns that such measures go against the Paris Agreement principles of “equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities,” meaning that developed countries responsible for the bulk of emissions in the atmosphere should do more to tackle climate change than developing nations.
Corrêa do Lago also hit back at suggestions that Brazil should take its concerns to the WTO instead.
“Why are we dealing with that here and not at the WTO?” he asked. “It’s very interesting. The same countries that say, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t be discussing this at COP, go to the WTO please,’ say at the WTO that ‘Oh, you should be discussing this at the [COP].”
Smiling, he said: “So we decided to talk about it here.”
China hasn’t come out against the EU’s carbon border tax while at COP28. But the key language in Tuesday’s draft is identical to a Chinese U.N. submission from September. It’s got the same jargon, and even the same “etc.” to wrap its list of items.
To compare — China suggested countries at COP28 declare “serious concerns that some countries imposed measures, including, inter alia, sanctions on low-carbon products, restrictions on technology investment and cooperation, green barriers, discriminatory legislation, plurilateral constraints, etc.”
You know those ads that pop up on social media with products that are original, unique, and completely unexpected? Here are four of those fun items that make for great gifts this holiday season.
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Mumbai: 61-Year-Old Borivali Resident Arrested For Importing 7857 gm Ganja; Customs Probe Uncovers Network Of Marijuana Trade | Freepik
The Special Investigation and Intelligence Branch (SIIB), Import of the Customs department on Saturday arrested a 61-year-old Borivali resident for allegedly importing 7857 grams of cannabis plant. The agency is now probing from where the consignment was imported and about the persons who were to receive the consignment.
Details of Probe
According to the Customs, on the regular course of examination one import consignment was examined on 17 and 18 November by the officers of Import Shed, Airport Cargo Customs (ACC), Mumbai; which resulted into the recovery of a total of 7857gms of flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant purported to be Ganja/Marijuana. The same was seized under the provisions of the NDPS Act.
On November 18, the statement of the suspect, who is associated with the customs clearing agency and two others were recorded by the Customs. Simultaneously, on the same day, search was undertaken at the office of the customs clearing agency and at the delivery address provided by the importer.
Investigation discloses involvement of more people
According to the officials, it was revealed that the accused failed to do the KYC verification of the documents of the importer and also to ascertain the genuineness of the importer. The said facts state that the accused is involved in the import of the contraband and have contravened…
When the EU and Canada meet for talks this week, their encounter will be calm, pleasant and even, in the words of one EU diplomat, “just plain boring.” But both sides will be contending with a looming problem — Donald J. Trump.
The prospect of another Trump presidency in the U.S. is spooking both Brussels and Ottawa as leaders plan to meet in St. John’s, a remote Canadian harbor city symbolic of their bilateral relationship: historically rooted, pleasant and friendly.
The U.S. is key to the economies of both sides. As the EU, especially, struggles to cope with the trade legacy of the previous Trump term, the unpredictability of another Trump presidency is sending shivers through Brussels. POLITICO spoke to several officials briefed on the summit who said next year’s U.S. elections will overshadow the talks.
After the recent visit of EU leaders to the White House, the bloc’s relationship with the U.S. will be discussed with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to officials briefed on the summit. Another four years of antagonism under a Trump White House would be a grave blow to the EU and Canada; both also fear that U.S. military and financial support for Ukraine will disintegrate with a Trump presidency.
For now, the talks should provide the participants with a breakafter weeks of navigating both the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war.
European Council President Charles Michel met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv earlier this week, while Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has travelled to the Middle East following initial criticism of her response to the war between Israel and Hamas — geopolitical challenges on which the EU and Canada are cooperating at “unrivaled historic levels,” according to an EU official. In early December, both European leaders are set to travel to Beijing for their EU-China summit, from which they risk returning empty-handed.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s approval ratings have been in free-fall since the summer. Court rulings and the politics of affordability have dented his record on the climate, casting uncertainty on timelines for major projects. Fallout from the Israel-Hamas war has also hurt morale within his Liberal Party.
In St. John’s, at least, leaders will be able to reaffirm their bilateral relationship and underscore their “shared commitment to democratic values, multilateralism and the international rules-based order,” which elsewhere are falling apart. The two sides are set to double down on their bilateral commitments in new policy fields with an “impressive list of deliverables,” according to the EU official, including a green alliance, more cooperation on raw materials, and a digital partnership.
Another EU diplomat said that while there are no mutual irritants, “a few irritants could be a welcome challenge to dynamize the relationship.”
But while the EU remains on a good footing with Canada, it has struggled with the current U.S. administration of President Joe Biden, most notably with Washington’s Inflation Reduction Act, which will also be discussed on the sidelines of the St. John’s summit. The EU had worried that the $369 billion IRA would hollow out the bloc’s economy as firms decamped across the Atlantic to take advantage of its massive subsidies. Brussels and Washington continue to negotiate a high-stakes agreement on critical minerals to allow electric vehicle batteries made by European companies to qualify for the IRA’s consumer tax credits.
EU Ambassador to Canada Melita Gabrič told POLITICO that Ottawa’s relationship with the bloc is “closer than it has ever been.” She declined, however, to say if she saw Trump’s potential return as a catalyst for even closer ties in the year ahead.
“We will see what happens, but certainly we put a premium on our transatlantic relations,” she said, referring to both the U.S. and Canada.
Barbara Moens reported from Brussels. Zi-Ann Lum reported from Ottawa. Camille Gijs contributed reporting from Brussels.
This article is part of the Road to COP special report, presented by SQM.
Last week’s surprise deal between China and the United States may provide a boost to the climate talks in Dubai — but the two powers remain at odds on tough questions such as how quickly to shut down coal and who should provide climate aid to developing nations.
The world’s top two drivers of climate change are also divided by a thicket of disagreements on trade, security, human rights and economic competition.
The good news is that Washington and Beijing are talking to each other again and restarting some of their technical cooperation on climate issues, after a yearlong freeze. That may still not be enough to get nearly 200 nations to commit to far greater climate action at the talks that begin Nov. 30.
The two superpowers’ latest detente creates the right “mood music” for the summit, said Alden Meyer, a senior associate at climate think tank E3G. “But it still is not saying that the world’s two largest economies and two largest emitters are fully committed to the scale and pace of reductions that are needed.”
The deal, announced after a meeting this month between U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua, produced an agreement to commit to a series of actions to limit climate pollution. Those include accelerating the shift to renewable energy and widening the variety of heat-trapping gases they will address in their next round of climate targets.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping endorsed that type of cooperation after a meeting in California on Wednesday, saying they “welcomed” positive discussions on actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during this decade, as well as “common approaches” toward a successful climate summit. Biden said he would work with China to address climate finance in developing countries, a major source of friction for the U.S.
“Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed,” said Xi ahead of his bilateral with Biden.
But the deal leaves some big issues unaddressed, including specific measures for ending their reliance on fossil fuels, the main contributor to global warming. Andthe two countries are a long way from the days when a surprise U.S.-Chinese agreement to cooperate on climate change had the power to land a landmark global pact.
That puts the nations in a dramatically different place than in 2014, when Xi and then-President Barack Obama made a historic pledge to jointly cut their planet-warming pollution, paving the way for the landmark Paris Agreement to land in 2015.
Even a surprise joint deal between the two nations in 2021 failed to ease friction, with China emerging at the last minute to oppose language calling for a phase-out of coal power. The summit ended with a less ambitious “phase-down.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks after receiving the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon, Taiwan’s highest civilian honour | Handout/Getty Image
The two countries’ struggles to find comity have come at the worst possible moment — at a time when rapid action is crucial to preventing climate catastrophe. A growing number of factors has threatened to widen the U.S.-Chinese wedge further, including their competition for supremacy in the market for clean energy.
Two nations at odds
While the U.S. has contributed more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than any other nation during the past 150 years, China is now the world’s largest climate polluter — though not on a per capita basis — and it will need to stop building new coal-fired power for the world to stand a chance of limiting rising temperatures.
The recent agreement hints at that possibility by stating that more renewables would enable reductions in the generation of oil, gas and coal, helping China peak its emissions ahead of its current targets.
The challenge will be bridging the countries’ diverging approaches to climate issues.
The Biden administration is urging a rapid end to coal-fired power, which is waning in the U.S., even as it permits more oil drilling and ramps up exports of natural gas — much of it destined for Asia.
At the same time, it wants the United States to claim a larger role in the clean energy manufacturing industry that China now dominates, and is seeking to loosen China’s stranglehold on supply chains for products such as solar panels, electric cars and the minerals that go into them. It’s also pressuring Beijing to contribute to U.N. climate funds, saying China’s historic status as a developing country no longer shields it from its responsibility to pay.
China sees the U.S. position as a direct challenge to its economic growth and energy security.
Beijing wants to protect the use of coal and defend developing countries’ access to fossil fuels. It has also backed emerging economies’ demands that rich countries pay more to help them deploy clean energy and adapt to the effects of a warmer world. China says it already helps developing countries through South-South cooperation and points to a clause in the 2015 Paris Agreement that says developed countries should lead on climate finance.
Hanging over the talks is also the prospect of a change of administration in the U.S., and continued efforts by Republicans to vilify Beijing and accuse the Biden administration of supporting Chinese companies through its climate policies and investments. And as China’s response to Pelosi’s trip underscored, climate cooperation remains hostage to other tensions in the two countries’ relationship, a dynamic likely to heighten in the coming year as both Taiwan and the U.S. hold presidential elections.
One challenge is that China doesn’t seem to see much to gain from offering more ambitious climate actions amid worsening relations with other countries, said Kevin Tu, a non-resident fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University and an adjunct professor at the School of Environment at Beijing Normal University.
“In the past several years, China has voluntarily upgraded its climate ambitions a few times amid rising geopolitical tensions,” Tu said, pointing to its 2020 pledge to peak and then zero out its emissions. “So China does not necessarily have very strong incentive to further upgrade its climate ambition.”
The divide between the two nations has created a dilemma for some small island nations that often walk a fine line between negotiating alongside China at climate talks while pushing for more action to scale back fossil fuels.
The U.S. and China remain at odds on how quickly to shut down coal and who should provide climate aid to developing nations | Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
“The U.S. is trying to drag everyone to talk about an immediate coal phase-out,” Ralph Regenvanu, climate minister for the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, said during a recent call with reporters, calling the effort a “U.S.-versus-China thing.”
“But we also need to talk about no more oil or gas as well,” he added.
Operating on its own terms
The dynamic between China and the U.S. will either drag down or bolster the ambitions of countries updating their national climate pledges, a process that begins at the close of COP28. Nations are already woefully behind cuts needed to hit the goals they laid out in Paris.
China’s new 10-year targets will be crucial for meeting those marks, given that China accounts for close to 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and that it plans to build dozens of coal-fired power plants in the coming years. The U.S., and many other countries, will be looking for greater commitments from China — whether that’s modifying what it means by phasing down coal or setting more stringent targets.
China has pledged to peak its carbon emissions before 2030 and zero them out before 2060,a decadelater than the United States has promised to reach net-zero. Beijing is unlikely to accelerate that timeline, in part because — analysts say — its philosophy is fundamentally different from that of the U.S.: underpromise and overdeliver.
Even without committing to more action, China’s massive investments in low-carbon energy installations — twice that of the United States — may inadvertently help the country achieve its peaking target early, some analysts say.
A complicated picture
If the Trump years drove China further from America, the global pandemic and resulting economic slowdown that started during his final year didn’t bring it closer. And the energy crunch stemming from Russia’s war with Ukraine cemented China’s drive for reliable energy to meet the rising needs of its 1.4 billion people. That created a coal boom.
Meanwhile, China heavily subsidized the expansion of wind, solar and electric vehicle production. Its clean energy supply chain dominance has lowered the global costs for those technologies but drawn scorn from the U.S. as it tries to rebuild its own domestic manufacturing base.
China has turned more combative in response. Rather than work with the U.S. to make joint announcements on climate action, Xi has made clear that China’s climate policy won’t be dictated by others. At G20 meetings, China has aligned with Saudi Arabia and Russia in opposing language aimed at phasing out fossil fuels.
“At the end of the day, it’s harder to make a claim that China needs the U.S. and it’s harder to make the claim that the U.S. can rely on China,” said Cory Combs, a senior analyst at policy consulting firm Trivium China.
Wealthy countries’ inability to deliver promised climate aid to vulnerable countries hasn’t helped. While China remains among the bloc of developing nations in calling for more action on climate finance, it also points to the investments it’s making in the Global South through its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative and bilateral aid.
A foreign diplomat who asked for anonymity to speak openly said China has resisted pressure to contribute money to a climate fund that would help developing countries rebuild after climate disasters and would likely push back against a focus on its continued build out of coal-fired power plants.
US climate envoy John Kerry sits next to China’s special climate envoy Xie Zhenhua | Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
“Anything that would signal that they would need to do more is something that gets blocked,” the person said.
China did release a plan earlier this month to cut emissions of the potent greenhouse methane, delivering on a promise it had made in a joint declaration with the U.S. at climate talks in 2021. But it has still not signed onto a global methane pledge led by the U.S. and the European Union.
All that amounts to a complicated picture for the U.S.-Chinese relationship and its broader impact on global climate outcomes.
“The U.S.-China talks will help stabilize the politics when countries meet in the UAE, but critical issues such as a fossil fuel phase-out still require much [further] political efforts,” said Li Shuo, incoming director of the China climate hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
“It’s very much about setting a floor,” and the talks in Dubai still need to build out from there, Shuo added.
He argues in a recent paper that China will subscribe to targets it sees as achievable and will continue toside with developing countries on climate finance. Chinese government officials are cautious about what they’re willing to commit to internationally, which sometimes serves as a disincentive for them to be more ambitious, he said.
The calculation is likely to be different for Biden’s team, who “want a headline that the world agrees to push China,” said David Waskow, who leads the World Resources Institute’s international climate initiative.
Not impossible
The power of engagement can’t be completely written off, and in the past it has proven to have a positive effect on the U.S.-China relationship.
“[Climate] sort of was a positive pillar in the relationship,” said Todd Stern, Obama’s former chief climate negotiator. “And it came to be a thing where when the two sides have come to get together, it was like, ‘What can we get done on climate?’”
Engagement with Chinaat the state and local level and among academics and research institutes has potential — in large part because it’s less political, said Joanna Lewis, a professor at Georgetown University who closely tracks China’s climate change approach.
There could also be opportunities to separate climate from broader bilateral tensions.
“I do feel like there’s that willingness to say, ‘We recognize our roles, we recognize our ability to have that catalytic effect on the international community’s actions,’” said Nate Hultman, director of the University of Maryland’s Center for Global Sustainability and a former senior adviser to Kerry. “It doesn’t solve all the world’s issues going into the COP, but it gives a really strong boost to international discussions around what we know we need to do.”
Sara Schonhardt and Zack Colman reported, and Phelim Kine contributed reporting, from Washington, D.C.
This article is part of the Road to COP special report, presented by SQM.The article is produced with full editorial independence by POLITICO reporters and editors. Learn more about editorial content presented by outside advertisers.
If Donald Trump were to be elected president in 2024, what would it mean for U.S. tax policy and the national debt?
There are growing expectations that he could deliver another round of big tax cuts, with the reductions coming right as those enacted in 2017’s Tax Cut and Jobs Act are due to expire in 2025.
U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as they meet on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Bali, Indonesia, November 14, 2022.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
BEIJING — After another rocky year of U.S.-China tensions, the two countries’ presidents are set to meet this week in person for the second time since Joe Biden took office.
It will be a rare summit before the U.S. presidential election cycle kicks off in earnest. Taking a tough stance on China, the second-largest economy in the world, has become one of the few areas of bipartisan agreement. Biden plans to run for reelection.
“The focus will be on expanding dialogue in order to low[er] tail risks in the relationship and prevent a crisis that neither leader is looking for,” said Michael Hirson, head of China Research at 22V Research.
“Flashpoints such as Taiwan and the South China Sea need to be managed carefully,” he said. “For that reason the meeting is still important, especially ahead of a politically charged 2024 that will begin with an important presidential election in Taiwan in January and end with the U.S. presidential election.”
U.S.-China tensions have escalated over the last several years, beginning with tariffs under the Trump administration and spilling over into broader tech restrictions under the Biden administration.
In April, during that period of estrangement, Washington, D.C.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies published a report that described U.S.-China relations as seemingly “caught in a worsening vicious cycle.”
“This translates into a stalemate—and, in fact, spiraling tensions—that go even further than the typical ‘security dilemma,’ in which each side takes steps to defend itself which in turn generate insecurity for the other, who then responds in kind,” the report said.
The immediate aftermath of the [Biden-Xi] meeting is likely to mark a cyclical high point for bilateral relations
Sentiment began to improve over the summer after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken finally made a high-stakes visit to Beijing in June, followed by visits from several other senior officials.
In early October, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and five other U.S. senators representing both the Republican and Democratic parties had an 80-minute meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
But both sides are still waiting for more action.
“The current trend in China-U.S. relations is one of easing,” said Shen Yamei, director of the department for American Studies and an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies.
“This easing is a relaxation of the atmosphere,” she said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. “No actual changes have occurred.”
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in a trip in August had “said no” to China’s requests to reduce the controls and called the them “matters of national security.”
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng also raised the issues during preparatory meetings with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in San Francisco on Nov. 10, according to state media.
“Aside from Taiwan, export controls are Beijing’s top concern, but there is no political space in Washington roll back existing controls,” Gabriel Wildau, managing director at consulting firm Teneo, said in a note.
“The immediate aftermath of the [Biden-Xi] meeting is likely to mark a cyclical high point for bilateral relations,” he said. “The key question is whether this high point extends into a plateau or whether political pressures trigger a new cycle of deterioration,” he said. “As previously discussed, the period since June has offered a window of opportunity to stabilize relations; following the meeting, this window may close.”
Taiwan is set to hold its presidential election in January, and a more pro-independence winner could stir more of Beijing’s ire.
Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory, with no right to independently conduct diplomatic relations. The U.S. recognizes Beijing as the sole government of China but maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan, a democratically self-governed island.
While speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in August 2021, Nancy Pelosi became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Taiwan in 25 years. The trip prompted Beijing to suspend talks on climate with the U.S., one of the few areas of potential cooperation.
The Biden administration has said the U.S. is in competition with China, while looking to ensure that it “does not veer into conflict.”
“The Biden-Xi meeting might include a pledge to cooperate or establish a new formal bilateral working group on safe use of artificial intelligence,” Teneo’s Wildau said.
He added that “the two leaders may pledge to cooperate and coordinate on providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, ensure smooth passage of grain through the Black Sea, and support postwar reconstruction in Gaza and Ukraine.”
The U.S. remains China’s largest trading partner on a single-country basis.
However, Shen pointed out that trust between the U.S. and China is still quite low.
“No one believes what [the other] says now,” she said.
For example, more direct flights between the U.S. and China are resuming from a low base.
Chinese commodity importers in October signed the first agreements since 2017 to buy U.S. agricultural products in bulk, according to a release from the U.S. embassy in Beijing.
China’s Ministry of Commerce last week announced it was gathering information in an effort to address unequal treatment of foreign businesses in China versus domestic ones — a longstanding business complaint.
However, on the cultural front, the three remaining giant pandas in the U.S. on loan from Beijing returned to China last week due to an expiring contract. China has lent pandas to countries around the world as a diplomatic tool.
And in a rather dramatic buildup to this week’s high-level meeting, China only confirmed Xi’s forthcoming travel plans on Friday night — just as the Philadelphia Orchestra was wrapping up a performance in Beijing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its concert in the country in 1973.
That was a period during which the U.S. started to formalize its relationship with Communist-run Beijing. The two normalized relations in 1979.
Biden and Xi both sent letters for the 50th anniversary concert, which were read ahead of the performance.
“Despite all the ups and downs, the Philadelphia Orchestra continues to come to China,” Matias Tarnopolsky, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra, told reporters after the concert on Friday.
“Even in the worst of times the Philadelphia Orchestra came and in the best of times the Philadelphia Orchestra came,” Tarnopolsky said. He said the orchestra plans to return to China in 2024, and in the years following.
BRUSSELS — When EU digital chief Věra Jourová sat down in Beijing with a senior Chinese official in September, her complaint list was as long as the 11-course dinner her host had prepared.
Sore points included Beijing’s disinformation campaigns, electoral interference, state control over Artificial Intelligence development, and ties with Russia.
Predictably, Jourová didn’t get many straight answers from her counterpart, Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing. It’s a nail-biting time to be a politician in China, as major figures such as Qin Gang and Li Shangfu have recently been purged as foreign and defense ministers, and no one wants to be accused of making big concessions to the West.
Then, in a sudden surprise initiative, Zhang said he was ready to offer a goodie to European businesses facing an increasingly hostile political environment in President Xi Jinping’s China. He explained Beijing was willing to move on data flows — a sphere where China has been trying to curb the ability of foreign companies to export data generated within the country. All that data is a goldmine for European business, but China guards it zealously.
A deal on data flows was a big call from Zhang, but can be explained by China’s growing fears about its precarious economy. While security is front-and-center to Chinese policymakers, they also know they have to offer some big carrots to keep foreign investors onside.
“You could feel that something clicked on the spot,” said an EU official with knowledge of the discussion, recalling the heated debates on data over Chinese delicacies like beef in lotus leaves and dim sum.
Although the dinner happened in September, three officials with knowledge of China’s switching tack have only now explained how the change of heart in Beijing came about.
“The vice-premier told her he understood the proposal makes sense, and asked the relevant authorities to take the matter forward,” the first official said. Zhang immediately turned to his junior colleagues from the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. “You had a feeling that that was the moment the big guy gave the go-ahead.”
According to another official, when Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis visited Beijing shortly after Jourová, he received the final confirmation of the changes to the data laws from his counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, an influential economic aide to President Xi Jinping.
Shortly afterward, China agreed to reverse the burden of proof under the relevant laws, allowing most data stored in China to be transferred out of the country unless expressly excluded by the authorities. EU officials, though, cautioned that they’ll still wait to see how Chinese authorities at all levels implement the new provision.
Special gift to Europe
Even though U.S., Japanese and other companies had also been pushing for this kind of measure from Beijing on data, China offered the diplomatic win to the EU.
The European Union Chamber of Commerce, among the first to be notified when Beijing made the legal revision, sent Jourová a congratulatory letter, seen by POLITICO.
China’s Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing | Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
“Make no mistake, China is merely fixing a problem of its own making,” the second official noted. “It’s not an act of benevolence. It’s an act of self-correction.”
Still, that self-correction is far from a given under a nationalistic government facing stiff competition from the U.S.
Increasingly, China’s uncompromising ideological focus is forcing many companies to adjust their business strategies, including by taking their new investments out of China. Indeed, the EU and the rest of the G7 rich democracies are calling on their companies to “de-risk,” as Russia’s war against Ukraine prompts concerns about a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
According to a report issued Wednesday by Penta, a business research group, one in five EU policymakers considers China to be the most pressing issue facing the bloc — while only 16 percent of people say they’re open to working with companies from China, bottom of the list.
It’s against this backdrop that Beijing wants — and needs — to throw some bones to the EU.
“For sure there’s a lot of self-interest for China [to give EU the data deal], where there’s a sharp drop of foreign direct investment which China desperately needs,” the first official said.
European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
Over the past three months, Beijing has welcomed a long line of EU officials in a thaw from the 2021 low point where China’s sanctions on EU politicians and intellectuals were followed by an indefinite freeze of a massive EU-China trade deal, which remains unratified.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her European Council counterpart Charles Michel are expected to attend an EU-China Summit in December and meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
EU officials should use China’s underperforming economy — most specifically in the real estate sector — as leverage, according to Luisa Santos, deputy director of BusinessEurope, a Brussels-based lobby group, who is currently visiting China.
Speaking before her trip, Santos described the Chinese economy as “not in a great situation,” adding that EU officials should seize this opportunity to convince Beijing to open up further.
“China needs to recognize that what is happening in our bilateral relationship is something that is not sustainable,” she said.
On an episode of Suburban Parents Talk, we discussed things to do in November. There’s just something usually dreary about this month – it’s sandwiched between Halloween and the holidays, the weather is unpredictable, it feels too late to do fall stuff but too early to do Christmasey stuff. It made me think of some easy, fun things to do during this blah-ish month – here are 5 places to go in November.
Markets. We love fruit and veggie markets. We live on the South Shore where there are a lot of cute little one-off shops in farming areas, but we also love Atwater and Jean-Talon markets. It’s a great opportunity to pick up fresh, delicious produce and homemade goods, plus it’s always wonderful to support local too.
Mall walking. We hit Promenades Saint-Bruno this week and all the holiday decorations are up, sales are happening, but there aren’t any crowds (yet). Take advantage of this quieter shopping time to wander the mall, get an ice cream or a cappucino, and maybe even get a headstart on holiday shopping.
Hikes. November always has its random warmer days, so soak them in by going on a nice family stroll. There are lots of parks, both big and small, to explore. Seek out a new one you’ve never been to: Beaver Lake, Lakeshore, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Mont Saint-Hilaire, etc.
Last picking of the season. Yep- there’s still fresh produce out there to be picked and enjoyed. So, don’t let them spoil – get your hands on the last of the apples, pumpkins, squash, and cauliflower.
Library. Reading is a great way to pass the time when it’s cold and blustery outside, and what better time to get back into the habit than now? Frequent your local library and keep a rotating collection of great titles at-hand.
A full-time work-from-home mom, Jennifer Cox (our “Supermom in Training”) loves dabbling in healthy cooking, craft projects, family outings, and more, sharing with readers everything she knows about being an (almost) superhero mommy.
ACK! Halloween is here and you still don’t have a costume (or maybe your child doesn’t). Don’t fret – we have some great suggestions for shopping for last-minute Halloween costumes.
Make a hybrid costume. Found only odds and ends left at the store? Why not be a zombie witch, a haunted fairy, a rabid cat, or some kind of alternative character that can be created from different costumes?
Social media is everywhere, so why not make it your costume? Just print out the logo of your favourite social media website (i.e., Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) and wear the colours in the logo. Attach the logo to your shirt and voila! #tooeasy
Twin-sies! You and your spouse, and even your little ones, can all don the same outfit.
Balloons are a great item to use to make a myriad of costumes. Attach a bunch of purple or green balloons to your body (you’re grapes), use rainbow-coloured balloons (you’re a gumball machine!), or put a box around your body to act as a basket and use helium balloons floating overhead (you’re a hot-air balloon!).
Use some face paint. A little bit of face paint can go a long way, from creating a Cheshire cat grin to a scarecrow face to something a bit more ambitious, like a skeleton or zombie. You can find lots of options at the dollar store.
Melany xx
Married with three kids, MList’s Melany is a jack-of-all-trades. Not only is she a hardworking mom but she’s a serial saver (she loves her MList Card!), she loves to cook, she is very spiritual, and she is very organized. She is also chronically busy. Get her take on what to see, do and buy in Montreal and beyond.
The eagerly awaited game, Ghostrunner 2, developed by One More Level, is set to hit the market on October 26, 2023. The trade press has recently published reviews, confirming the high quality of the new game, which has received positive votes.
Critical Reception on Metacritic
Metacritic, a renowned ratings aggregator, currently shows an average Metascore of 80 for the PlayStation 5 version of Ghostrunner 2. This score is based on 32 reviews at the time of writing.
Excerpts from Trade Press Votes
Here are some excerpts from the trade press votes for Ghostrunner 2:
Dual Shockers – 9.5
IGN – 9
Finger pistols – 9
VideoGamer – 9
Noisy pixel – 9
CGM Magazine – 9
MP1-9
WhatifGaming – 9
Game Informer – 8.5
Hey poor player – 8
District Jugones – 8
Prima Games – 8
PSX Brazil – 8
Eurogamer – 7
Click Start – 6.5
Press Square – 6
Positive Reviews for Gameplay and Art Direction
Most of the trade press reviews for Ghostrunner 2 have praised the game’s gameplay. Additionally, many reviewers have commended the game’s art direction, noting that it is consistently captivating without being cliché.
Highlight on Motorcycle Usage
One of the standout features identified by several editors is the use of motorcycles in Ghostrunner 2. Critics consider it to be one of the most significant additions in the new game.
Reminders and Demo Version
Ghostrunner 2 is set to release on October 26, 2023, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S consoles, and PC. Don’t forget that a demo version of the game is available for those interested in trying it out.
I am grateful. I am soooo grateful. I have a warm and wonderful home, and a partner to share my life with, and I have a beautiful and healthy little boy who literally makes my heart sing every single day. I was thinking about a church homily I heard once about planning for the future but also finding a balance living in the present as well, and taking stock in what you do have in your life. I try to do that every day, numerous times a day. And I want to teach my son gratitude.
That entails being observant. When we’re surrounded by his toys and books and things, we often stop to look around us and pause to see how lucky we are that we have so many toys. I want my son to realize how much we have (and it’s too much, really).
We also look at what’s going on around us, and we talk about how can we help these people in any way possible (we recently gathered loads of clothes and toys for donation). We reflect on our own blessings and, again, how lucky we are to have a roof over our heads, food on the table, etc.
We acknowledge when we receive gifts by writing thank-you cards or even making artwork for the person. My son is quite popular with the church-goers of my parish, and they would frequently pick up little cars and trucks for him. And we would always go home and make them something for the following Sunday to thank them. We’d talk about how nice it was for that person to stop and take time to think about our bean. And I think he genuinely feels lucky to receive these little gifts.
We buy for others, together. If we know it’s someone’s birthday, the bean always helps me choose the gift. Yes, I may encounter the requests to buy him something too, but I’m adamant about not doing so, because he has to learn that we do for others. And he’s usually very good about it.
We stop and thank people. Food vendors and store employees. We hold doors for people. We wave “thank you” when cars let us cross the street. If there’s one way to raise a conscientious, thoughtful child, it’s by teaching gratitude. Every day.
How do you teach your child gratitude?
A full-time work-from-home mom, Jennifer Cox (our “Supermom in Training”) loves dabbling in healthy cooking, craft projects, family outings, and more, sharing with readers everything she knows about being an (almost) superhero mommy.
U.S. President Joe Biden makes a statement to the news media ahead of a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S.
Leah Millis | Reuters
The Biden administration warned Beijing of its plans to update rules that curb shipments of AI chips and chipmaking tools to China as soon as early October, a U.S. official said, a policy decision aimed at stabilizing relations between the superpowers.
The Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, is working on an update of export restrictions first released last year. The update seeks to limit access to more chipmaking tools in line with new Dutch and Japanese rules, other sources said, and to close some loopholes in export restrictions on artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
“The PRC has been expecting an update around the one year anniversary, based on conversations with administration officials,” the U.S. official said, using the abbreviation for People’s Republic of China. The original rules were published Oct. 7, 2022.
U.S. officials provided the information to Chinese counterparts in recent weeks, the official said, which Reuters is reporting for the first time. The official declined to disclose details on the particular conversations.
Providing China with a heads up about the rules is part of a broader bid by the Biden administration to stabilize relations with Beijing. The outreach comes after a decision by the U.S. to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon sharply escalated tensions in February.
The Biden administration has also sent a series of high-level officials to China, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in August. Additionally, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in September.
CNBC Politics
Read more of CNBC’s politics coverage:
The restrictions released last October sought to prevent U.S. technology from being used to strengthen the Chinese military by cutting off its access to advanced AI chips and curbing its ability to import the most sophisticated chipmaking tools from the United States.
The Department of Commerce declined comment, while a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington had “nothing to offer,” when asked for comment on the warning.
“China firmly opposes the U.S.’s overstretching of the national security concept and abuse of export control measures to wantonly hobble Chinese enterprises,” said spokesperson Liu Pengyu.
Former White House official Peter Harrell stressed that he did not know if the administration had warned China about the new rules, but said, if they did, it would represent “a bit of an inflection point” for the administration as it tries to avoid sending misunderstood signals.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also gave Chinese officials a warning in July about restrictions on U.S. investment in China released in August.
The Biden administration is hoping to clinch Chinese President Xi Jinping’s attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco in November, too, an effort which also has weighed on the timing of the upcoming export rules’ release.
Officials have sought to avoid publishing them in the immediate lead-up to the summit, which they saw as potentially jeopardizing Xi’s attendance, sources said. Any rules not ready for publication by early October would likely be held until after the summit to avoid antagonizing China, they noted.
“The Administration narrowed in on or near the one-year anniversary for a number of reasons – including to establish a clear cadence,” the official said.
But, the official added, the technical work needed to finalize the restrictions was not yet complete. “As of this moment, final plans are not in place,” the official said on Friday.
Biden and Xi have not met in person since a G20 summit on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali in November last year after Xi shunned the G20 meeting in India last month.
The United States, the Netherlands and Japan, which together control the world’s top chipmaking equipment, agreed to coordinate efforts earlier this year.
The upcoming U.S. rules could hit ASML, the world’s leading chip equipment maker and Netherlands’ largest company, because its systems contain U.S. parts and components, as Reuters exclusively reported in June.
A spokeswoman for ASML declined comment.
It is not unusual for the U.S. to modify proposals before clearing regulations, so the restrictions, like the timing, could change.
Nicole Scherzinger takes Cannabidiol gummies to help her sleep.
The former Pussycat Doll, 45, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Britain, and takes them to help her wired brain sleep after starting her days at 6.30am with exercise and maybe not getting to bed until 4am.
She told The Sunday Times: “CBD gummies are legal in LA. They work for me.”
Despite millions of users hailing CBD for helping them with everything from pain to anxiety, CBD can cause side effects, such as dry mouth, diarrhoea, reduced appetite, drowsiness and fatigue.
It can also interact with other medications such as blood thinners, with experts also warning about the unreliability of the purity and dosage of CBD in products.
Nicole gets up 6.30am, takes a sauna “to sweat out toxins”, and works out with her trainer before rehearsing from 10am – six days a week – for her role as Norma Desmond in the play ‘Sunset Boulevard’, which is running on London’s West End until January 2024.
The cast of the show tease her for always working through lunch break and at 6pm she goes home for a shift of phone calls to her team in LA and makes notes before getting to bed “at 12, if I’m doing good” and “if I’m not, more like 4”.
Nicole – whose therapist once told her “I lash myself forward”, added about her relentless work ethic: “My mentality is: if…
LONDON — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s trade deal with India will not include legally enforceable commitments on labor rights or environmental standards, five people briefed on the text have told POLITICO.
British businesses and unions now fear the deal’s already-finalized labor and environment chapters will undercut U.K. workers’ rights and efforts to combat climate change.
Sunak’s government is racing to score a win with the booming South Asian economy ahead of the 2024 election. His plans for a return trip to India in October with the aim of sealing the pact are still on track.
Sunak and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi added impetus to negotiations when they met on the sidelines of the G20 in New Delhi early this month. The 13th round of talks continues in London this week.
Just days after Sunak’s meeting with Modi, Badenoch’s team shared the deal’s labor and environment chapters with businesses, unions and trade experts on a September 13 briefing call.
Key enforceable dispute resolution powers which the U.K. set out to negotiate are missing from those chapters, said the five people briefed on the text. It means neither London nor New Delhi can hold the other to their climate, environmental and workers’ rights commitments.
Businesses, unions and NGOs now fear the deal could undercut British firms because Indian firms operate to less stringent and expensive environmental and labor standards. Firms and unions say their access to the negotiations was curtailed earlier this year as talks progressed.
“Industry also wants binding commitments — partly for greater certainty, partly because businesses are made up of people who themselves want to be properly treated and to avoid climate catastrophe,” said a senior British businessperson from the services sector briefed on the chapters. They were granted anonymity to speak candidly about the negotiations.
“Suppression of trade unions, child labor and forced labor are all widespread in India,” said Rosa Crawford, trade lead at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) — the largest coalition of unions in Britain. “But the labor chapter that the U.K. government has negotiated cannot be used to clamp down on these abuses and could lead to more good jobs being offshored to exploitative jobs in India.”
The Department for Business and Trade said it does not comment on live negotiations and that it will only sign a deal that benefits the U.K. and its economy.
‘Everyone was deeply unhappy’
At the outset of the talks, the British government committed to negotiating enforceable labor and environment chapters as it laid out its strategic approach. “We remain committed to upholding our high environmental, labour, food safety and animal welfare standards in our trade agreement with India,” the government said in January 2022.
Indian and British officials say the labor and environment chapters are now closed and are not up for discussion. The U.K.’s first post-Brexit trade pacts with Australia and New Zealand have dispute settlement mechanisms in both these chapters. Three people POLITICO spoke to for this piece said it was an achievement in itself that Britain was able to get such chapters in a deal with India.
Businesses, unions and NGOs have all been concerned after Kemi Badenoch closed the key forums in February to carry out a required review of their activities | Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
But, as the U.K.-India deal stands, if either country were to weaken its environmental standards or workers’ rights “the other party would not have recourse to initiate consultations on changes in laws,” said a person familiar with the content of the chapters. “There is no dispute settlement in the environment and labor chapters.”
British firms and unions are also concerned that the pact the EU is negotiating with India has enforceable chapters “bound by sanctions in case the parties don’t comply,” the same person said. Those EU-India chapters are not yet finalized.
British stakeholders “are totally up in arms,” said a former trade department official familiar with the briefing. “Everyone was deeply unhappy.”
Adding enforceable chapters would only slow down negotiations, said an Indian government official. “If you put in too much of these things into a trade deal, then it delays the process.” The U.K. and India are already “bound by” their international commitments on labor and climate, they added.
The deal “is dire for working people because trade unions were excluded from the trade talks,” said the TUC’s Crawford. Nearly three years ago, ministers pitched the idea of involving unions in 11 influential Trade Advisory Groups (TAGs) that gave input on ongoing trade negotiations.
Businesses, unions and NGOs have all been concerned after Britain’s trade chief Kemi Badenoch closed the key forums in February to carry out a required review of their activities. International Trade Minister Nigel Huddleston received officials’ recommendations to restructure the groups in mid-August. A final decision is expected before the end of the year.
With 40-50 people on the U.K. government’s current briefing calls about the India trade deal there’s little businesses or unions can do to feed into negotiations. Officials can “only really be in transmit mode,” said a business representative familiar with the briefings.
“What this means in real terms is that decisions are being made about the future of people’s livelihoods, people’s health, and the environment we all depend on without any input from those who will be impacted,” said Hannah Conway, trade and agriculture policy advisor at the NGO Transform Trade.
“It’s crucial,” she said, “that the government addresses its democratic deficit on trade policy by undertaking meaningful consultation with civil society and businesses.”
“It’s high time the government rethinks its approach,” said the TUC’s Crawford, “and includes unions in trade talks — that’s how you get trade deals that work for working people.”
Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath ripped Wilson in a radio interview on the heels of the Jets’ dreadful 15-10 loss against the Patriots. Namath also took shots at Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas.
“I don’t believe in him, I don’t believe he has a future as a good player, and I think they made the wrong choice when they drafted him, I feel that way,” Namath said about Wilson on the Michael Kay Show on Monday.
Namath’s comments came on the same day Saleh told reporters that Wilson is his “unquestioned quarterback.” Saleh also said “That’s a Joe [Douglas] question,” when asked if the Jets would sign another quarterback before Sunday’s matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Namath, who led to the Jets to its only Super Bowl title in 1968, believes another quarterback should suit up for Gang Green while Wilson is sent out of town.
“Send him to Kansas City to back up someone like Mahomes, maybe he’d learn something. I wouldn’t keep him. I’ve seen enough of Zach Wilson,” Namath said.
“I’ve seen enough. He has quick feet, he can throw a little bit, but I don’t believe what’s going on up there,” the Hall of Famer added while pointing towards his head.
The two-time MVP recommended that the Jets’ organization “need to make major changes, from top to bottom.”
“These guys aren’t picking the right players. They aren’t doing a good job of coaching. It’s evident. I mean, you’ve got to look and see. If you have an eye for football at all you see things are haywire. It’s too crazy. They need to fix it and that’s getting rid of a lot of people and bringing new ones in,” he said.
In Sunday’s loss, Wilson completed 18 of 36 passes for 157 yards. He was sacked three times and led an offense that had seven three-and-outs.
The first sack particularly bothered Namath, when Wilson went down to the turf without being touched by a defender.
“You sit down? You sit down on a play? You go right down? What happened?” Namath said. “I thought you’re trying to win and make plays. You quit on a play? What is going on? It’s disgusting.”
LONDON — It was the gleaming smiles and mutual backslapping of two 40-something banker bros which signalled a new era of U.K.-EU relations.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron looked like natural bedfellows as they riffed off one another at a friendly Paris press conference in March, announcing a sizeable £478 million package to deter migrant crossings through the English Channel.
The contrast with the petty name-calling of the Boris Johnson and Liz Truss eras was clear to see.
Sunak’s warm and productive summit with Europe’s most high-profile leader confirmed a more collaborative relationship with the EU and its national capitals after the turmoil of the Brexit era. Less than two weeks earlier, the British PM’s landmark Windsor Framework agreement with Brussels had finally resolved post-Brexit trading issues in Northern Ireland.
“My hope is that [theagreement] opens up other areas of constructive engagement and dialogue and cooperation with the EU,” Sunak told POLITICO en route to the Paris summit.
Six months on, his words have been borne out.
In addition to the Windsor Framework and English Channel agreements, Britain has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Brussels on regulatory cooperation in financial services, and this month rejoined the EU’s massive €96 billion Horizon and Copernicus science research programs — a major result for the U.K.’s research and university sectors after two years of uncertainty.
Next on the agenda is a cooperation deal between the British government and the EU’s border protection agency Frontex — another move that brings Britain closer to the EU in a small but meaningful way.
The deal, confirmed by the Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Tuesday, is expected to be similar to other deals Frontex has with non-EU countries, like Albania, which allow the sharing of data on migration flows.
“We have seen concrete steps created by a new climate of good faith,” said a London-based European diplomat, granted anonymity — like others in this article — to speak candidly about diplomatic relations.
“We missed that before, and so that’s the Sunak effect. I wouldn’t say he’s done an amazing job, but he’s changed the state of mind — and therefore he has changed everything.”
A new hope
In addition to a renewed focus on relations with fellow leaders, Sunak has impressed EU diplomats with his willingness to face down the vocal Brexiteer wing of his own party, which has long seemed — to European eyes — to hold outsized influence over successive Tory prime ministers.
Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak proclaimed a “new chapter” in post-Brexit relations with the European Union after securing a breakthrough deal to regulate trade in Northern Ireland | Pool photo by Dan Kitwood/AFP via Getty Images
Earlier this year Sunak enraged Tory right-wingers by abandoning a controversial pledge to scrap or rewrite thousands of EU-era regulatory laws which remain on the British statute book by the end of this year, to the delight of EU capitals.
“The improving relationship is built on the fact there’s now a willingness to find solutions and engage in a way that wasn’t there in the previous administrations,” a second London-based European diplomat said.
Negotiations continue between Sunak’s government and Brussels over other outstanding areas of dispute — chief among them tough new tariffs due to be imposed in January on electric vehicles (EVs) being shipped in and out of the U.K. which do not conform to strict sourcing requirements for electric batteries.
On Wednesday the U.K.-EU Trade Specialised Committee will meet to discuss the issue, with British ministers increasingly hopeful Brussels will agree to scrap the end-of-year deadline after heavy lobbying from German automakers and its own European Commissioner for trade, Valdis Dombrovskis.
Catherine Barnard, a European law professor at Cambridge University, said overall Sunak had overseen a “much more positive relationship” with Europe, albeit one conducted on a “pay-as-you-go basis.”
“This is looking much more positive and it’s putting some meaning on dealing with our European neighbors as friends, rather than as foes,” she said.
“But equally, we’re not talking about a comprehensive and thorough renegotiation — quite the contrary.”
No. 10 Downing Street agrees the shift is less profound than some media observers — or grumbling Tory MPs — would like to think.
A No. 10 aide said Sunak sees his diplomatic efforts as “normal government,” noting that “we’ve just forgotten what it looks like” after the turmoil of the post-Brexit era.
“I know it’s following Brexit and all that nonsense we’ve seen over the last few years, and it’s nice to see any small win or small argument to bridge that divide, but this is just normal government relations,” the aide said.
But his opponent, U.K. Labour leader Keir Starmer, has made clear he too wants closer cooperation with Europe should he seize power.
A senior moderate Tory MP said that despite the attacks on Starmer, Sunak is “not overly ideological when it comes to the EU” | Kiran Ridley/Getty Images
Starmer said this month a future Labour government would use the upcoming review of the post-Brexit trade deal, expected in 2025 or 2026, as a chance to reduce border checks through the signing of a veterinary agreement and to increase U.K.-EU mobility for some sectors of the economy.
And he told a conference in Montreal last weekend that that “we don’t want to diverge from the EU” in areas such as working conditions or environmental standards.
These comments were seized upon by Tory ministers as evidence that Starmer would bring the U.K. even further into the EU’s orbit than he has publicly admitted — something the Labour leader denies. Tory campaigners hope to use such comments in campaign attacks painting Starmer as an anti-Brexit europhile.
But some observers suggest such political attacks are ironic, given Sunak’s own direction of travel. Barnard, quoted above, says that “what Keir Starmer was saying in Canada last week is pretty much a description of where we’re at at the moment.”
A senior moderate Tory MP said that despite the attacks on Starmer, Sunak is “not overly ideological when it comes to the EU.”
“There’s always been a belief in Brussels that we would inevitably come crawling back to them, and we’re seeing that a bit now,” they said.
Nevertheless, it is unclear how much closer Britain and the EU can get without a fundamental renegotiation of the terms of Brexit — something all sides insist is off the table.
One area for agreement is the need for enhanced security and defence links, with next year’s European Political Community Summit in Britain providing a potential opportunity for further announcements.
Some in Westminster speculate that this could come in the form of Britain joining individual projects of the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation — a body which coordinates the bloc’s security and defence policy. The European Council invited Britain to join its “military mobility project” alongside Canada, Norway and the U.S. in November 2022.
Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe think tank , said he’s “not convinced” of the potential benefits for Britain, considering the U.K.’s existing position in NATO and other organizations.
He believes the British government will run out of road in finding mutually beneficial areas of cooperation with Brussels.
“The EU is relatively happy with the status quo,” Menon said. “It’s only in the U.K. where people say we need to move closer … There are so many bigger fish to fry for the EU.”
WARSAW — Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party is in the fight of its political life ahead of next month’s general election — and in its scramble for votes it’s taking aim at the country’s alliance with Ukraine.
The latest blow came from Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who on Wednesday said that Poland has halted shipments of its own armaments to Ukraine.
“We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons,” Morawiecki told Poland’s Polsat television.
It’s true that Poland has sent most of its Soviet-era tanks, fighters and other weapons to Ukraine and doesn’t have much left in its stocks. Warsaw will also continue allowing arms shipments from other allies to pass through its territory.
“Poland still functions as a hub for international aid,” said government spokesperson Piotr Müller, adding that the country is fulfilling its existing military supply contracts with Ukraine.
But Morawiecki’s comments come at a time when relations between Warsaw and Kyiv are the frostiest since Russia’s invasion a year and a half ago, and add to the impression that the nationalist party is undermining its alliance with Ukraine for electoral gain.
“Morawiecki wasn’t saying anything that wasn’t obvious … but to say such a thing at such a time escalates the conflict,” said Marcin Zaborowski, a director with the Globsec think tank.
The catalyst is grain.
Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have closed their markets to Ukrainian grain imports, in violation of the rules of the European Union’s single market, arguing they need to protect their farmers from price drops.
Ukraine has retaliated by filing a lawsuit against them at the World Trade Organization. It has also threatened to block some Polish agricultural exports to Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took a swipe at those countries at the United Nations this week, saying: “Alarmingly, some in Europe play out solidarity in a political theater — turning grain into a thriller … they’re helping set the stage for a Moscow actor.”
Polish President Andrzej Duda scrapped a meeting with Zelenskyy in New York due to a scheduling conflict, and the Ukrainian ambassador to Warsaw was summoned to the foreign ministry to explain. Morawiecki characterized relations with Kyiv as “difficult.”
Political calculation
In Poland, the core reason for the move is PiS’s need to shore up its support among rural voters and also to peel away supporters from the far-right Confederation party, many of whose backers are skeptical about helping Ukraine.
The Polish government sent tanks and jet fighters to Ukraine at a time when many other countries were balking at sending such equipment to Kyiv | Omar Marques/Getty Images
“Ukrainians ruthlessly took advantage of the Polish government being a sucker, emphasized their sympathy, which of course was not there, took the cash, and now they will declare a trade war on us,” Confederation leader Sławomir Mentzen told the Polish press.
Jacek Kucharczyk, head of the Institute for Public Affairs, a Warsaw-based think tank, characterized the shift in tone by the ruling party as “a desperate electoral ploy.”
In POLITICO’s poll of polls, PiS has the support of 38 percent of voters while Civic Coalition, the leading opposition party, is at 29 percent. If that holds, Law and Justice won’t have enough seats in parliament to rule on its own and so will have to try to form a coalition; Confederation is the likeliest target, although the party says it won’t join forces with PiS.
But the trends look worrying for PiS.
The government has been hit with a growing visas-for-bribes scandal that now has the European Commission asking for explanations. A new poll by United Surveys shows that if the main opposition parties join together, they would be able to cobble together a majority government after the October 15 election.
Shifting narrative
The U-turn on Ukraine may help shore up some of PiS’s electoral base. But it could cause other problems.
It undermines the government’s main foreign policy win. After years of bitter conflicts with the European Union and other key allies over rule of law, media freedom and backsliding on democratic standards, Poland’s strong support for Ukraine changed the narrative in Brussels and in Washington.
Millions of ordinary Poles helped Ukrainian refugees fleeing across the border in the immediate aftermath of the Russian attack. The Polish government sent tanks and jet fighters to Ukraine at a time when many other countries were balking at sending such equipment to Kyiv, fearing Russian retaliation. Warsaw also took delight in pointing out the shortcomings of European countries like Germany and France.
Zelenskyy even called Poland a “sister.”
In an address to the Polish nation made last year in Polish, he said: “I will remember how you welcomed us, how you help us. Poles are our allies, your country is our sister. Your friendship forever. Our friendship forever. Our love forever. Together we will be victors.”
Opinion polls show there is still strong support for helping Ukraine, with about three-quarters of Poles wanting to accept refugees.
Millions of ordinary Poles helped Ukrainian refugees fleeing across the border in the immediate aftermath of the Russian attack | Omar Marques/Getty Images
“The risk is that PiS voters broadly support the pro-Ukraine policy, and such a rapid policy change could be difficult to explain,” said Kucharczyk.
PiS has toyed with skepticism about Ukraine in the past — raising the issue of wartime massacres of Poles by Ukrainian nationalist guerrillas — but the overarching message was that Poland is Ukraine’s firmest friend.
The narrative shift is being welcomed in Moscow.
In New York, Duda compared Ukraine to a desperate, drowning person.
“A drowning person is extremely dangerous, he can pull you down to the depths … simply drown the rescuer,” Duda said.
That got a thumbs-up from the Kremlin.
“Never before did I agree with Duda as strongly as I did after this statement. Everything he said is correct,” said Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
The Polish opposition is also going on the attack.
Radosław Sikorski, a former Polish foreign minister and now a member of the European Parliament for the Civic Coalition, called Morawiecki’s comments “criminally stupid.”
“Even if we don’t have much more to give then why is he saying this in public! Does he really want [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to calculate that one or two more pushes and Ukraine will fall?” he tweeted.
Kyiv is now trying to downplay any rift with Warsaw.
Oleksandr Merezhko, head of Ukraine’s parliament committee on foreign relations, said he felt Morawiecki’s weapons comments weren’t linked to the growing trade fight.
“Like every politician, I know that during an election campaign, rhetoric can be quite emotional,” he said.
Bartosz Brzeziński and Veronika Melkozerova contributed reporting.
WARSAW — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tried to rebuild bridges with Poland late on Saturday, seeking to take the sting out of a political dispute with Warsaw by giving awards to two Polish humanitarian volunteers on his way back from a trip to the U.S. and Canada.
Although Poland was a die-hard ally of Ukraine in the early days of the Russian invasion, the conservative, nationalist government of the Law and Justice (PiS) party has taken an unexpectedly hard line against its war-torn neighbor in the past days, largely for reasons related to the impending election on October 15.
In order to protect Polish farmers — crucial to the ruling party’s electoral prospects next month — Warsaw has blocked agricultural imports from Ukraine, in a protectionist move that Kyiv says is illegal and has referred to the World Trade Organization. Amid this dispute over food products, Warsaw made the shock announcement it would no longer send arms to Ukrainian forces fighting the Russians.
Over recent days, Zelenskyy has been keen to avoid venturing into Polish electoral politics, but has instead tried to play up the importance of direct relations between ordinary Poles and Ukrainians. In that vein, Marcin Przydacz, head of the office of international policy at the presidency, told the Onet news platform that Zelenskyy had simply visited Poland in transit on his way home to Kyiv and had not met politicians.
Instead, Zelenskyy presented decorations to two Poles involved in helping Ukraine. Zelenskyy said journalist Bianka Zalewska from the U.S.-owned television network TVN had helped provide humanitarian aid to Ukrainians and transport wounded children to Polish hospitals. Combat medic Damian Duda had gathered teams to treat wounded soldiers near the front line and set up a fund to assist medics and provide them with training, he said.
“I would like to thank all of Poland for their invaluable support and solidarity, which helps to defend the freedom of our entire Europe!” Zelenskyy said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Duda explained to Onet that he was awarded the presidential order “For Meritorious Service” Third Class for his work since 2014 as a battlefield medic.
“I work in the Ukrainian trenches, saving Ukrainian soldiers,” he said. “I was there until the end [of the Ukrainian defense] in Bakhmut, in Soledar, in Zaporizhzhia,” he said. “Our work is voluntary, our work is cost-free and I am glad that risking our lives to help another human being has been noticed by President Zelenskyy,” the medic said.
Kamil Turecki is a journalist with Poland’s Onet, a sister publication of POLITICO, also owned by Axel Springer.
