70 percent of Europeans regularly buy products online. All too often, they discover after buying that their supposed bargain is of poor quality or even counterfeit. Today, Digital Commissioner Henna Virkkunen intends to present a communication on e-commerce. In it, she wants to present a comprehensive toolbox on how to overcome the challenges posed by growing online trade.
And that is sorely needed. Because while platforms such as Temu, Shein, and AliExpress deliver millions of parcels a day in Europe, the EU often lags behind in enforcing its own rules. The Commission’s thrust is clear: more control, more fairness, more enforcement of existing laws. The digital market economy should not be a legal vacuum in which cheap importers from third countries have a competitive advantage while European companies groan under ever-new regulations.
In the communication, which Table.Briefings was able to view, the Commission sets out its priorities. It also proposes measures to improve the resilience and effectiveness of customs authorities. For example, a customs reform is planned. The current exemption from import duties for goods under EUR 150 is to be dropped. This will primarily affect Chinese platforms, which have benefited from this rule to date. The Commission also wants to make online retailers and marketplaces more accountable in order to ensure that only compliant products are placed on the market. It is also relying on closer cooperation between customs, consumer protection, and market surveillance authorities in order to detect infringements more quickly.
The proposals are less a radical new start than a declaration of determination: Brussels wants to crack down.
I wish you a successful day.
The EU and the UK want to strengthen their bilateral relations again. To this end, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President António Costa on May 19. It is the start of “annual summits” to realign relations between London and the EU, announced Starmer’s office in London.
Starmer had already traveled to Brussels for the special EU summit on Monday. It was the first time a British head of government had attended an EU summit since Brexit five years ago. The meeting in May will provide the opportunity to “make further progress in areas that will bring tangible benefits to the people of the UK and the EU“, it was said in London.
From an EU perspective, this is good news. Brussels has long been seeking a “reset”, i.e. a fresh start with London. The EU wants “the closest relationship we can have together”, Costa declared after Starmer’s visit to Brussels late on Monday evening. Von der Leyen also spoke out in favor of closer cooperation.
Initially, the main topics are likely to be armaments and defense. Both sides had already discussed this at the special summit on Monday. At the dinner with the 27 heads of state and government in the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels, Starmer called for his country to be more closely involved in European armaments cooperation.
This is not without a certain irony. After all, the UK did everything it could to block a European defense union while it was still a member of the EU. There should be no duplication with NATO, London was told at the time. Now Starmer would like to be there when a common arms market is created.
He also wants to make a name for himself – like former Prime Minister and Brexiteer Boris Johnson – as Ukraine’s closest ally and Russia’s toughest opponent. He is in favor of tougher sanctions against Russia and is seeking to close ranks with the Eastern Europeans. On other issues, however, he is very cautious.
Starmer blocked a European push for more freedom of movement. A “mobility agreement“, which Brussels had proposed for British students and young professionals to make it easier to travel and work in the EU, was “definitely not the right starting point for us”, explained Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
London has other priorities. Alongside armaments and defense, the dismantling of trade barriers is at the top of Starmer’s wish list. For example, the British government is interested in a deal to standardize veterinary controls, which could facilitate trade in food, which has become more difficult since Brexit.
London would also like to expand cooperation on asylum and migration. By leaving the EU, the UK has lost access to the Schengen Information System as well as the Eurodac database. It stores fingerprints and helps to identify (irregular) asylum seekers. London would like to regain access here.
The EU is not averse to this, but it sees these and other British wishes as part of an overall package. London cannot cherry-pick, but must be prepared to expand cooperation in other areas too, according to Brussels. One example is the fisheries agreement, which expires in 2026.
The different expectations and approaches make rapid progress unlikely, especially as there is no common perspective. Starmer rejects a departure from Brexit and a new EU membership. He has ruled out a return to the customs union as well as re-entry into the European single market.
In contrast, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk dreams of a “Breturn” – the return of the British to the EU. Germany would also prefer to strengthen relations with the UK sooner rather than later, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz made clear during a visit to London last weekend.
But first, there is the threat of a new test. It is not coming from Berlin or Brussels, but from Washington: US President Donald Trump could try to divide Germany, the EU, and the UK. The means of his choice are punitive tariffs. According to Trump, they are as good as certain in the EU, but not yet in the UK.
If the unpredictable Republican punishes the Europeans but spares the British, this is likely to make the planned “reset” much more difficult. “We don’t want to choose between the US and the EU,” explained Starmer when asked what the consequences of a potential transatlantic trade war would be.
When in doubt, however, the UK has often sided with the USA. Starmer is also under pressure from the opposition. Right-wing populist Nigel Farage accuses him of being a “rejoiner at heart” – in other words, a European at heart. According to Farage, London should aim for a free trade agreement with the USA rather than negotiating with the EU. Because the Union is becoming “weaker every year”.
Trump’s threats against the EU were the dominant topic at the joint Jumbo Council meeting of industry and trade ministers in Warsaw. Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said that he would prefer to start talks with his US counterpart as soon as possible. According to EU diplomats, however, the Commission is still struggling to find contacts in the Trump administration.
In Warsaw, the ministers showed varying degrees of conciliation with the USA. “If you are weak, it will eat you”, warned Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel. Others, such as Finnish Trade Minister Ville Tavio, emphasized above all that a trade war should be avoided. The ministers seem to have learned from Canada’s and Mexico’s experience that it pays to remain tough on Trump. No minister suggested concrete concessions with which the EU could accommodate Trump – the US President’s goal seems too unclear.
One of the points of conflict with the US administration will be the steel industry. The temporary suspension of EU tariffs on US products, which the EU originally imposed in response to Trump’s steel tariffs during his first term in office, expires at the end of March. EU diplomats assume that the EU will extend the temporary suspension as long as Trump does not strike with tariffs before then.
Trade Commissioner Šefčovič also announced that the Commission is in the process of tightening trade defense measures for the steel industry. The Commission will soon submit such a proposal, which will also include an extension of the safeguard measures that expire in 2026.
The desire for a united approach was expressed by almost all sides at the Council meeting in Warsaw, although this is not entirely straightforward in concrete terms. Central and Eastern European member states are more dependent on the US security guarantee than Western European states.
Poland has a special role to play here. As the Council Presidency, the country must play a unifying role. At the same time, the Polish government is under domestic political pressure from the PiS, which is close to Trump. Marek Wąsiński, Head of the Global Economy Department at the Polish Economic Institute think tank, assumes that the Polish government will focus on a joint EU approach.
“Poland’s integration into the EU internal market means that Poland has an economic interest in the entire internal market being spared from US tariffs, not just Poland,” said Wąsiński in talks with Table.Briefings. The Polish economy is mainly exposed to the US market through indirect exports, for example as a supplier for German exporters, rather than through direct exports. “We Europeans must stick together,” said the Polish Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Krzysztof Paszyk, during the press conference.
However, cohesion is also being put to the test in industrial policy. Estonia’s Deputy Secretary-General for Economic Affairs and Innovation, Sandra Särav-Tammus, warned that the increasing tendency to use state aid could undermine unity. “Some peripheral countries like Estonia will never be competitive in the car industry or other large industries,” she explained her reluctance. “If Europe is to remain united, we cannot simply favor industries that are only relevant to some of the member states.”
And: as soon as things get concrete, unity becomes more difficult. The new French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin reiterated France’s opposition to the free trade agreement with the Mercosur states, while speaking out in favor of the recently completed negotiations to update the agreement with Mexico.
Šefčovič, on the other hand, praised the progress made in the negotiations on free trade agreements. He announced that, in addition to the intensified negotiations with Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, Gulf states are also very interested in closer trade relations with the EU.
The Polish Council Presidency also brought up trade relations with Ukraine for discussion. Ukraine’s preferential EU market access expires on June 5. The timing is politically explosive, as the Polish presidential elections are scheduled for May 18 and June 1 and Ukraine’s simplified market access is meeting with increasing resistance in Poland.
This is one of the reasons why the EU will expect concessions from Ukraine for an extension of facilitated market access. Šefčovič explained that the EU wants to ensure that EU companies can benefit from public contracts in Ukraine in view of the very costly reconstruction of the country.
Aleksandar Vučić has experienced numerous demonstrations over the past eleven years as head of government and president. However, his power has never been shaken as much as it has been by the student protests since the beginning of November.
The collapse of a recently completed canopy at Novi Sad station triggered the movement. Fifteen passers-by lost their lives in the disaster. “Corruption kills!” has been the students’ slogan ever since; a red hand is their symbol. It stands for “the blood on the hands of the rulers”.
The activists are calling for a full investigation into the Novi Sad tragedy by publishing all construction documents and punishing those responsible for the tragedy. The renovation of the station was part of the modernization of the Belgrade-Budapest line under Chinese construction management.
Over the past three months, they have demonstrated for their demands in around two hundred Serbian cities, forcing the mayor of Novi Sad and Prime Minister Miloš Vučević to resign. The fact that their wave of protest has long since spilled over from the academic milieu into the rest of the population was demonstrated last weekend by the blockades of the three Danube bridges in Novi Sad by tens of thousands of people. Farmers also took part with their tractors.
In his reaction to the protests, President Vučić vacillates between threats of repression and a willingness to engage in dialog – for many a sign of his insecurity. He seems to sense that power is slipping away from him. In a servile tone, he invited the rectorate of Belgrade University for talks on Wednesday in order to achieve the resumption of teaching, “as the current situation is not only damaging teaching and science, but society as a whole”, said Vučić.
At the same time, however, officials serving him and media close to him are inflaming the situation by accusing foreign states such as Croatia of staging the protests in order to bring about a regime change along the lines of so-called colorful revolutions.
However, the student-led protest movement emphasizes its apolitical character and also keeps its distance from opposition parties. Their fight is directed exclusively against corruption, mismanagement, and abuse of power. This apolitical stance earns it sympathy and support, but is also a reason why it is difficult to foresee what consequences their protest will have.
The fragmented and weak political opposition is calling for the formation of a representative transitional government, which alone could organize fair parliamentary elections. President Vučić rejects this, promising instead that a decision will be made within ten days as to whether there will be a government reshuffle or new elections.
Meanwhile, activists in the protest movement are criticizing the conspicuous silence of European Union representatives on the political situation in Serbia. Is it because the EU has a strong interest in mining a highly controversial lithium deposit in the country? Or whether it does not want to jeopardize the normalization of Serbia’s relations with Kosovo by interfering in its internal affairs? There is plenty of room for speculation.
In an open letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other EU representatives, several dozen intellectuals and artists from the Balkan state complain that Serbia’s “undemocratic system of rule would not be possible” without the “inconsistent policy” of the EU, “which in recent years has often amounted to open support for Aleksandar Vučić’s government“.
According to the signatories, Europe seems to be “systematically averting its gaze from the unpleasant and essentially anti-European traits of the Serbian government“. For example, “activists, students, professors, journalists and members of opposition parties are being arrested, detained, persecuted and eavesdropped on”, and yet “key players in European politics are publicly supporting Aleksandar Vučić’s government”.
This is “in complete contradiction to fundamental European values”, according to the open letter. The EU considers the regime’s complete control over the media with national distribution, the paralyzed judicial system, the falsified voter lists, and even the terrorist attacks in Kosovo to be a secondary problem. Suspected perpetrators are also people who are under the protection of the state in Serbia and earn millions.
70 percent of Europeans regularly buy products online. All too often, they discover after buying that their supposed bargain is of poor quality or even counterfeit. Today, Digital Commissioner Henna Virkkunen intends to present a communication on e-commerce. In it, she wants to present a comprehensive toolbox on how to overcome the challenges posed by growing online trade.
And that is sorely needed. Because while platforms such as Temu, Shein, and AliExpress deliver millions of parcels a day in Europe, the EU often lags behind in enforcing its own rules. The Commission’s thrust is clear: more control, more fairness, more enforcement of existing laws. The digital market economy should not be a legal vacuum in which cheap importers from third countries have a competitive advantage while European companies groan under ever-new regulations.
In the communication, which Table.Briefings was able to view, the Commission sets out its priorities. It also proposes measures to improve the resilience and effectiveness of customs authorities. For example, a customs reform is planned. The current exemption from import duties for goods under EUR 150 is to be dropped. This will primarily affect Chinese platforms, which have benefited from this rule to date. The Commission also wants to make online retailers and marketplaces more accountable in order to ensure that only compliant products are placed on the market. It is also relying on closer cooperation between customs, consumer protection, and market surveillance authorities in order to detect infringements more quickly.
The proposals are less a radical new start than a declaration of determination: Brussels wants to crack down.
I wish you a successful day.
The EU and the UK want to strengthen their bilateral relations again. To this end, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President António Costa on May 19. It is the start of “annual summits” to realign relations between London and the EU, announced Starmer’s office in London.
Starmer had already traveled to Brussels for the special EU summit on Monday. It was the first time a British head of government had attended an EU summit since Brexit five years ago. The meeting in May will provide the opportunity to “make further progress in areas that will bring tangible benefits to the people of the UK and the EU“, it was said in London.
From an EU perspective, this is good news. Brussels has long been seeking a “reset”, i.e. a fresh start with London. The EU wants “the closest relationship we can have together”, Costa declared after Starmer’s visit to Brussels late on Monday evening. Von der Leyen also spoke out in favor of closer cooperation.
Initially, the main topics are likely to be armaments and defense. Both sides had already discussed this at the special summit on Monday. At the dinner with the 27 heads of state and government in the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels, Starmer called for his country to be more closely involved in European armaments cooperation.
This is not without a certain irony. After all, the UK did everything it could to block a European defense union while it was still a member of the EU. There should be no duplication with NATO, London was told at the time. Now Starmer would like to be there when a common arms market is created.
He also wants to make a name for himself – like former Prime Minister and Brexiteer Boris Johnson – as Ukraine’s closest ally and Russia’s toughest opponent. He is in favor of tougher sanctions against Russia and is seeking to close ranks with the Eastern Europeans. On other issues, however, he is very cautious.
Starmer blocked a European push for more freedom of movement. A “mobility agreement“, which Brussels had proposed for British students and young professionals to make it easier to travel and work in the EU, was “definitely not the right starting point for us”, explained Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
London has other priorities. Alongside armaments and defense, the dismantling of trade barriers is at the top of Starmer’s wish list. For example, the British government is interested in a deal to standardize veterinary controls, which could facilitate trade in food, which has become more difficult since Brexit.
London would also like to expand cooperation on asylum and migration. By leaving the EU, the UK has lost access to the Schengen Information System as well as the Eurodac database. It stores fingerprints and helps to identify (irregular) asylum seekers. London would like to regain access here.
The EU is not averse to this, but it sees these and other British wishes as part of an overall package. London cannot cherry-pick, but must be prepared to expand cooperation in other areas too, according to Brussels. One example is the fisheries agreement, which expires in 2026.
The different expectations and approaches make rapid progress unlikely, especially as there is no common perspective. Starmer rejects a departure from Brexit and a new EU membership. He has ruled out a return to the customs union as well as re-entry into the European single market.
In contrast, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk dreams of a “Breturn” – the return of the British to the EU. Germany would also prefer to strengthen relations with the UK sooner rather than later, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz made clear during a visit to London last weekend.
But first, there is the threat of a new test. It is not coming from Berlin or Brussels, but from Washington: US President Donald Trump could try to divide Germany, the EU, and the UK. The means of his choice are punitive tariffs. According to Trump, they are as good as certain in the EU, but not yet in the UK.
If the unpredictable Republican punishes the Europeans but spares the British, this is likely to make the planned “reset” much more difficult. “We don’t want to choose between the US and the EU,” explained Starmer when asked what the consequences of a potential transatlantic trade war would be.
When in doubt, however, the UK has often sided with the USA. Starmer is also under pressure from the opposition. Right-wing populist Nigel Farage accuses him of being a “rejoiner at heart” – in other words, a European at heart. According to Farage, London should aim for a free trade agreement with the USA rather than negotiating with the EU. Because the Union is becoming “weaker every year”.
Trump’s threats against the EU were the dominant topic at the joint Jumbo Council meeting of industry and trade ministers in Warsaw. Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said that he would prefer to start talks with his US counterpart as soon as possible. According to EU diplomats, however, the Commission is still struggling to find contacts in the Trump administration.
In Warsaw, the ministers showed varying degrees of conciliation with the USA. “If you are weak, it will eat you”, warned Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel. Others, such as Finnish Trade Minister Ville Tavio, emphasized above all that a trade war should be avoided. The ministers seem to have learned from Canada’s and Mexico’s experience that it pays to remain tough on Trump. No minister suggested concrete concessions with which the EU could accommodate Trump – the US President’s goal seems too unclear.
One of the points of conflict with the US administration will be the steel industry. The temporary suspension of EU tariffs on US products, which the EU originally imposed in response to Trump’s steel tariffs during his first term in office, expires at the end of March. EU diplomats assume that the EU will extend the temporary suspension as long as Trump does not strike with tariffs before then.
Trade Commissioner Šefčovič also announced that the Commission is in the process of tightening trade defense measures for the steel industry. The Commission will soon submit such a proposal, which will also include an extension of the safeguard measures that expire in 2026.
The desire for a united approach was expressed by almost all sides at the Council meeting in Warsaw, although this is not entirely straightforward in concrete terms. Central and Eastern European member states are more dependent on the US security guarantee than Western European states.
Poland has a special role to play here. As the Council Presidency, the country must play a unifying role. At the same time, the Polish government is under domestic political pressure from the PiS, which is close to Trump. Marek Wąsiński, Head of the Global Economy Department at the Polish Economic Institute think tank, assumes that the Polish government will focus on a joint EU approach.
“Poland’s integration into the EU internal market means that Poland has an economic interest in the entire internal market being spared from US tariffs, not just Poland,” said Wąsiński in talks with Table.Briefings. The Polish economy is mainly exposed to the US market through indirect exports, for example as a supplier for German exporters, rather than through direct exports. “We Europeans must stick together,” said the Polish Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Krzysztof Paszyk, during the press conference.
However, cohesion is also being put to the test in industrial policy. Estonia’s Deputy Secretary-General for Economic Affairs and Innovation, Sandra Särav-Tammus, warned that the increasing tendency to use state aid could undermine unity. “Some peripheral countries like Estonia will never be competitive in the car industry or other large industries,” she explained her reluctance. “If Europe is to remain united, we cannot simply favor industries that are only relevant to some of the member states.”
And: as soon as things get concrete, unity becomes more difficult. The new French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin reiterated France’s opposition to the free trade agreement with the Mercosur states, while speaking out in favor of the recently completed negotiations to update the agreement with Mexico.
Šefčovič, on the other hand, praised the progress made in the negotiations on free trade agreements. He announced that, in addition to the intensified negotiations with Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, Gulf states are also very interested in closer trade relations with the EU.
The Polish Council Presidency also brought up trade relations with Ukraine for discussion. Ukraine’s preferential EU market access expires on June 5. The timing is politically explosive, as the Polish presidential elections are scheduled for May 18 and June 1 and Ukraine’s simplified market access is meeting with increasing resistance in Poland.
This is one of the reasons why the EU will expect concessions from Ukraine for an extension of facilitated market access. Šefčovič explained that the EU wants to ensure that EU companies can benefit from public contracts in Ukraine in view of the very costly reconstruction of the country.
Aleksandar Vučić has experienced numerous demonstrations over the past eleven years as head of government and president. However, his power has never been shaken as much as it has been by the student protests since the beginning of November.
The collapse of a recently completed canopy at Novi Sad station triggered the movement. Fifteen passers-by lost their lives in the disaster. “Corruption kills!” has been the students’ slogan ever since; a red hand is their symbol. It stands for “the blood on the hands of the rulers”.
The activists are calling for a full investigation into the Novi Sad tragedy by publishing all construction documents and punishing those responsible for the tragedy. The renovation of the station was part of the modernization of the Belgrade-Budapest line under Chinese construction management.
Over the past three months, they have demonstrated for their demands in around two hundred Serbian cities, forcing the mayor of Novi Sad and Prime Minister Miloš Vučević to resign. The fact that their wave of protest has long since spilled over from the academic milieu into the rest of the population was demonstrated last weekend by the blockades of the three Danube bridges in Novi Sad by tens of thousands of people. Farmers also took part with their tractors.
In his reaction to the protests, President Vučić vacillates between threats of repression and a willingness to engage in dialog – for many a sign of his insecurity. He seems to sense that power is slipping away from him. In a servile tone, he invited the rectorate of Belgrade University for talks on Wednesday in order to achieve the resumption of teaching, “as the current situation is not only damaging teaching and science, but society as a whole”, said Vučić.
At the same time, however, officials serving him and media close to him are inflaming the situation by accusing foreign states such as Croatia of staging the protests in order to bring about a regime change along the lines of so-called colorful revolutions.
However, the student-led protest movement emphasizes its apolitical character and also keeps its distance from opposition parties. Their fight is directed exclusively against corruption, mismanagement, and abuse of power. This apolitical stance earns it sympathy and support, but is also a reason why it is difficult to foresee what consequences their protest will have.
The fragmented and weak political opposition is calling for the formation of a representative transitional government, which alone could organize fair parliamentary elections. President Vučić rejects this, promising instead that a decision will be made within ten days as to whether there will be a government reshuffle or new elections.
Meanwhile, activists in the protest movement are criticizing the conspicuous silence of European Union representatives on the political situation in Serbia. Is it because the EU has a strong interest in mining a highly controversial lithium deposit in the country? Or whether it does not want to jeopardize the normalization of Serbia’s relations with Kosovo by interfering in its internal affairs? There is plenty of room for speculation.
In an open letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other EU representatives, several dozen intellectuals and artists from the Balkan state complain that Serbia’s “undemocratic system of rule would not be possible” without the “inconsistent policy” of the EU, “which in recent years has often amounted to open support for Aleksandar Vučić’s government“.
According to the signatories, Europe seems to be “systematically averting its gaze from the unpleasant and essentially anti-European traits of the Serbian government“. For example, “activists, students, professors, journalists and members of opposition parties are being arrested, detained, persecuted and eavesdropped on”, and yet “key players in European politics are publicly supporting Aleksandar Vučić’s government”.
This is “in complete contradiction to fundamental European values”, according to the open letter. The EU considers the regime’s complete control over the media with national distribution, the paralyzed judicial system, the falsified voter lists, and even the terrorist attacks in Kosovo to be a secondary problem. Suspected perpetrators are also people who are under the protection of the state in Serbia and earn millions.
