Australia and the European Union signed a free trade agreement on Tuesday after eight years of negotiations, removing tariffs on almost all goods and potentially easing EU access to Australian critical minerals, Reuters reported. However, some Australian agricultural exports, including beef and ‌sheep meat, will face quotas. Australian farmers criticised the pact for offering what they called "subpar" access to the bloc, while French farmers argued the ‌quotas were too generous. The deal follows intensified talks amid sharply higher U.S.

U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Andrew Puzder warned the bloc should expect more tariffs if it doesn’t approve a stalled trade deal with Washington, Bloomberg reported. “If the trade deal goes away, you guys get hit with the increased tariffs, and for us, nothing changes,” Puzder told Bloomberg News on Monday. “It’s economic malpractice not to pass this,” he added.

The European Commission has put forward changes that would “harmonise” some national rules around tax and insolvency as part of a much hyped plan to allow businesses to quickly incorporate a new company on an European Union-wide basis, The Irish Times reported. The proposal, drafted by European Union (EU) commissioner for justice Michael McGrath, is intended to make it easier for new companies to expand, and raise investment cash across the EU beyond national borders.

MEPs voted on Wednesday to support the 267 workers made redundant after Tupperware Belgium closed down following bankruptcy, according to a European Parliament press release. A Commission proposal to mobilise €1.6 million from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF) to support 267 workers laid off following the bankruptcy and closure of Tupperware Belgium in February 2025 won Parliament’s support on Wednesday. The decision was adopted by 562 votes in favour and 53 against, with 19 abstentions.

The European Union should only accept new U.S. ​tariffs that recreate the ‌substance of the deal agreed between the two sides in Scotland ​last year, the chair of ​the European Parliament's trade committee ⁠said on Thursday, Reuters reported. Bernd Lange ​said that Washington's launch of new 'Section 301' investigations ​into unfair trade practices had been expected, but they provided no clear ​commitment from the U.S. ​administration to uphold the terms of the ‌agreement ⁠struck at U.S. President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course.

Wall Street stocks declined on Monday after the European Union delayed a trade deal with the U.S. after Donald Trump said he would impose new blanket 15pc global tariffs, The Telegraph reported. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both shed 1.2pc, while the Dow Jones industrial Average fell 1.5pc. The European Parliament’s trade committee had been due to vote on Tuesday about whether to adopt a deal that would have lowered duties on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the plan has been thrown into disarray after the Supreme Court struck down swathes of the U.S.

The European Commission demanded on Sunday that the United States stick to the terms of an EU-U.S. trade deal reached last year, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump's global tariffs and he responded with new levies across the board, Reuters reported. The Commission, which negotiates trade policy on behalf of the 27 EU member states, said Washington must provide "full clarity" on the steps it intends to take following the court ruling. After the court struck down Trump's global tariffs on Friday, the U.S.

Business registrations in the EU rose by 0.5% in the final quarter of 2025 compared with the previous quarter, while bankruptcy declarations increased by 2.5%, the Brussels Times reported. The figures cover the fourth quarter of 2025 and compare it with the third quarter, Eurostat reported on Monday. Registrations increased in five of eight parts of the “business economy” — a broad grouping of non-financial market sectors.

The European Parliament gave its first major backing to the digital euro on Tuesday, endorsing the European Council's negotiating stance for a central bank digital currency with both online and offline functionality, Reuters reported. The endorsement matters because the European Central Bank needs Parliament's legislative approval before it can issue a digital euro, meaning its goal of a 2029 launch depends on lawmakers signing off.