Amid rising anger about the treatment of Gaza aid flotilla activists by Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, pressure is mounting to prepare fresh EU sanctions that will apply to far-right members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
Ben-Gvir became the focus of intense international uproar following the publication of a video in which he was shown humiliating detained activists, many of them Italian citizens. After Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla, participants were made to kneel with their hands tied behind their backs while the Israeli minister appeared to mock them.
The footage led to strong criticism by Italian politicians, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani lobbying for the issue to be put on the EU’s agenda. The sanctions proposal appears alongside an increasingly critical and detailed assessment of Israeli policy, including its military action in Lebanon.
The draft text rejects Israel’s reported plans to take control of 70% of Gaza, condemns the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, and warns of the legal and reputational risks facing companies involved in settlement construction.
Roundup
Momentum gathers behind budget negotiations – Negotiations about the EU’s 2028-2034 budget are heating up as the Cypriot Council of the EU presidency prepares to release the first ‘nego box’, outlining the key spending figures which will form the basis of talks. These will then be discussed in a high-stakes meeting of EU leaders on 18 June. Get the low-down in Victoria Becker’s Budget Brief.
Parliament ditches Google – The European Parliament will this week replace Google with Qwant – a European alternative search engine – as the default on its computers. Quant is a privacy-focused French search engine designed to avoid tracking users or collecting personal data, explained an internal email seen by Euractiv.
Trade MEPs greenlight EU-US deal – MEPs on the European Parliament’s international trade committee endorsed a political deal to lower tariffs on US industrial and agricultural goods. The vote marks a key step in implementing the EU’s side of the so-called Turnberry deal and easing transatlantic trade tensions before a 4 July deadline imposed by US President Donald Trump. Under the agreement, Brussels will scrap tariffs on hundreds of US products, while accepting a blanket 15% tariff on EU exports to the US.
Across Europe
New Danish government prepares coalition agreement – A new ruling centrist coalition in Denmark will promise to halve the VAT rate on food, free dental care, and cut taxes for the rich. The draft agreement reflects the political priorities of Mette Frederiksen’s third government, spanning her own Social Democrats, Greens, centrist Social Liberals and Moderates.
Europe braces for wildfires – With forest fires starting earlier and growing in scale, the EU executive is putting its largest-ever firefighting force on standby, Hadja Lahbib, the bloc’s crisis management chief, announced on Tuesday. “This spring alone we have already responded to fires in … Czechia, Germany, Italy and Poland,” Lahbib told journalists.
Ireland sets out EU presidency defence priorities – Ireland’s defence priorities for its upcoming presidency of the Council of the EU include strengthening cooperation with third countries and boosting civilian technologies’ access into the sector. Ireland also says active support for Ukraine in its full-scale war against Russia remains a defining priority.
