Anger as EU gets a ‘better trade deal’ with Australia than Brexit Britain
By a former minister’s own admission, Britain’s flagship post-Brexit trade deal with Australia was a failure. The announcement this week of a free trade agreement between the EU and Australia has twisted the knife.
The first-ever EU-Armenia Summit will be held in Yerevan on 4–5 May
European Council President Costa, European Commission President von der Leyen, and Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan will attend the summit after the European Political Community meeting. Connectivity, security in the South Caucasus, global challenges, and visa liberalisation will be on the agenda
https://newunionpost.eu/2026/03/27/first-eu-armenia-summit-yerevan-2026/
EU’s €1.8 trillion budget talks hinge on Hungarian election
“The Hungarian election will be more important than the French vote” in determining the course of negotiations, said one EU diplomat.
End of “Chat Control”: EU Parliament Stops Mass Surveillance in Voting Thriller
The European Parliament has now definitively rejected the temporary "Chat Control" regime, meaning that from 4 April companies such as Meta, Google, and Microsoft must stop indiscriminately scanning Europeans' private messages. After a dramatic final vote, the proposal failed to win majority support, marking a major victory for digital privacy.
The controversial mass surveillance of private messages in Europe is coming to an end. After the European Parliament had already rejected the indiscriminate and blanket Chat Control by US tech companies on 13 March, conservative forces attempted a democratically highly questionable maneuver yesterda
Today, Iceland and Norway signed an agreement with the EU to join GOVSATCOM and IRIS² to have secure satellite communications
EU Parliament strips Polish far-right leader of immunity to face Holocaust denial charge
The European Parliament has voted to once again strip Polish far-right leader Grzegorz Braun of immunity so that he can face further criminal charges in his homeland, including for Holocaust denial.
Digital euro project clears key hurdle ahead of European parliament vote
MEP in charge of assessing the project is due to circulate a report fully backing an electronic version of the single currency
https://www.ft.com/content/71f8f941-4102-4504-a0be-8fd21176ee4a
(https://removepaywalls.com/https://www.ft.com/content/71f8f941-4102-4504-a0be-8fd21176ee4a)
European NATO defense spending rose by almost 20% in 2025
European NATO members and Canada increased their defense spending by an aggregate of 19.6% in 2025, the second consecutive year at that rate. German defense spending, famously sluggish to rise, reached 2.4% of GDP.
https://www.dw.com/en/european-nato-defense-spending-rose-by-almost-20-in-2025/a-76544678
France offers some hope for defeating populists
France's local elections suggest mainstream parties can still beat populists, winning most major cities while the far right and far left made only limited gains. Although National Rally remains strong nationally, the results offer cautious hope for the political centre.
Germany, Australia Team Up On Space Security, Laser Weapons
Germany and Australia plan to improve space security through a joint network of sensors which will create a global early-warning system for satellite sabotage.
