Europe
Billions for chip industry + Trade critical of Ecodesign Directive + Health data
Dear reader,
It seems like the negotiations between Moscow and Kiev are picking up the pace: Yesterday, Russian negotiator Leonid Sluzki said that both sides could agree on a common position "as early as in the next few days". Ukrainian presidential adviser Mychajlo Podoljak also expects "concrete results in a few days". However, whether such an agreement could mean more than a respite in the war is unclear.
At the same time, Russia is fueling fears of an escalation: Russian missiles struck a Ukrainian military base near Lviv, less than 25 kilometers from the Polish border. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the attack was aimed at "foreign mercenaries" and weapons supplied from abroad. Moscow had already threatened to consider Western arms supplies to Ukraine as a legitimate target for attack, stoking fears of a direct confrontation with NATO. A Pentagon spokesman yesterday reiterated, "An armed attack against one is assessed as an armed attack against all."
Given the threat posed by Russia, Chancellor Scholz announced a special budget of €100 billion for the Bundeswehr. But this does not seem to have emptied the coffers: As we have learned from government circles, German Economics Minister Robert Habeck has announced a double-digit billion euro requirement in the current budget negotiations to promote the domestic chip industry. And he will probably get the funds – at any rate, Scholz is said to support Habeck's request.
