The UK and the European Union signed a long-awaited memorandum of understanding on financial services on Tuesday, marking a moment of accord amid years of wrangling over post-Brexit co-operation, Bloomberg News reported. Jeremy Hunt approved the memo with Commissioner Mairead McGuinness during the first visit to Brussels by a UK chancellor in more than three years.

The European Union is due on Wednesday to publish draft rules that give legal underpinnings for a digital euro, if the European Central Bank decided to issue one in coming years, Reuters reported. Central banks across the world, from China and Japan to Brazil, Britain and Canada are looking into digital versions of their currencies to avoid a gap in faster payments being filled by the private sector as the use of cash dwindles.

The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled a new trade doctrine aimed at curbing China’s ability to squeeze Europe’s economy, and at preventing European companies from exporting sensitive, military-linked technology that could give China an edge, the New York Times reported. The policy, still in its early stages, highlights how the European Union is seeking to align itself with the United States in limiting China’s access to sensitive markets and industrial secrets. It also reflects growing concerns about Beijing’s deepening alliance with Moscow.

The European Union's powerful lending arm, the European Investment Bank, expects to back its first 'debt-for-nature' swap this year as it bolsters efforts to stem biodiversity loss, Reuters reported. Debt-for-nature swaps, which help countries cut their debt in return for conservation commitments, are attracting growing interest after Ecuador's record $1.6 billion deal last month to protect the Galapagos Islands. "We are working with a number of countries," Maria Shaw-Barragan, a Director of Lending at the 'EIB Global' arm of the bank that lends outside the EU, told Reuters.

The European Union was set to unveil on Tuesday an aid package for Ukraine worth 50 billion euros ($55 bln), two officials said ahead of a formal announcement, Reuters reported. The figure - due to be unveiled by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen - comes after a review of the bloc's 2021-27 budget and ahead of an international conference in London on Wednesday and Thursday on raising funds to rebuild Ukraine from a war Russia unleashed on it a year and a half ago.

The European Commission asked EU governments on Tuesday to come up with an extra 10 billion euros for 2024-27 to leverage a total of 160 billion euros worth of investment in key technologies, including renewable energy, Reuters reported. The call comes as the European Union executive is reviewing the bloc's long-term budget that totals around 1% of the EU's GDP and pays for various joint European policies.

The European Union took an important step on Wednesday toward passing what would be one of the first major laws to regulate artificial intelligence, a potential model for policymakers around the world as they grapple with how to put guardrails on the rapidly developing technology, the New York Times reported. The European Parliament, a main legislative branch of the European Union, passed a draft law known as the A.I. Act, which would put new restrictions on what are seen as the technology’s riskiest uses.

EU tech chief Margrethe Vestager said on Wednesday she believed a draft code of conduct on artificial intelligence (AI) could be drawn up within weeks, allowing industry to commit to a final proposal "very, very soon," Reuters reported. Policymakers and many in industry have expressed concern about AI, and particularly content-creating generative AI such as ChatGPT, with some equating it to the risks posed by pandemics or nuclear war. Vestager said the U.S. and European Union should push a voluntary code of conduct to provide safeguards while new laws are developed.

European Union governments decided on Tuesday to nearly double the amount of EU financial support to Moldova to a total of 295 million euros ($324.74 million), the Swedish presidency of the EU said, Reuters reported. The decision comes just days before a meeting of the European Political Community in Moldova on June 1, as the EU seeks to quell pro-Russian sentiments in parts of Moldova. "Moldova can continue to count on the EU. We will continue to support Moldova, also financially.