Two of the world’s largest cryptocurrency companies are poised to secure licences granting them access to operate across the European Union, as a rift grows among regulators over the speed and rigour of some countries' approvals, Reuters reported. Under the EU’s new Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which came into force earlier this year, member states can issue licences that allow crypto companies to operate throughout the 27-nation bloc, but some have raised concerns in closed-door meetings about the speed with which licences are being granted.

The European Commission on Thursday said it would delay the implementation of new, global rules governing banks' trading by a year, until Jan 1, 2027. Sources told Reuters last month that the EU would delay the implementation of the rules as it waits for more clarity about the U.S. administration's plans to deregulate its financial sector. The so-called Fundamental Review of the Trading Book is a key part of the Basel III package, devised in the wake of the global financial crisis, but not yet implemented by Britain or the United States, two of the world's key financial centres.

The European Commission has proposed an 18th package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, aimed at Moscow's energy revenues, its banks and its military industry, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The new package proposes banning transactions with Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines, as well as banks that engage in sanctions circumvention.

Canada prepared possible reprisals while the European Union reported progress in trade talks on Wednesday as new U.S. metals tariffs triggered more disruption in the global economy and added urgency to negotiations with Washington, Reuters reported. President Donald Trump's doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports kicked in on Wednesday, the same day his administration sought "best offers" from trading partners to avoid other punishing import levies from taking effect in July. The move will hit the closest U.S. trading partners - Canada and Mexico - especially hard.

The European Commission has reprimanded Austria and Romania for breaking European Union limits on government spending — as Austria deals with the financial fall-out of months of political deadlock and Romania's long-running fiscal problems drag on, Politico reported. Under EU fiscal rules, a country's deficit — the difference between a government’s revenues and expenditures — cannot exceed 3 percent of the country's gross domestic product. Both countries went through a long period of political crisis this year. But their situations are very different.

The European Commission said on Saturday that Europe was prepared to retaliate against President Donald Trump's plan to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, raising the prospect of an escalating trade fight between two of the world's largest economic powers, Reuters reported. Trump's announcement on Friday that he would increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50% from 25%, intensifies his global trade war and came just hours after he accused China of violating an agreement with the U.S. to mutually roll back levies and trade restrictions for critical minerals.

The European Union has gained leverage in trade talks with the United States after a U.S. court cast doubt on the legality of Washington's "reciprocal" tariffs, EU officials said on Friday, Reuters reported. A U.S. federal appeals court temporarily reinstated President Donald Trump's tariffs on Thursday, a day after a U.S. trade court ruled that Trump had exceeded his authority in imposing the duties and ordered an immediate block on them. "The uncertainty as to the legality of the 'reciprocal' tariffs certainly gives us extra leverage," one EU official close to the talks said.