Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a European Union leaders’ retreat to strengthen the bloc, crucial parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, and severe weather across Western Europe.
‘Made in Europe’ or ‘Made With Europe’?
European Union leaders gathered in the Belgian countryside on Thursday to discuss the biggest threats facing the 27-nation bloc. Set against the backdrop of Alden Biesen castle, heads of state and government tried to present a united front in the face of U.S. trade unpredictability and growing Chinese competition. But deep fissures within the group remained over how best to counter these challenges.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a European Union leaders’ retreat to strengthen the bloc, crucial parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, and severe weather across Western Europe.
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‘Made in Europe’ or ‘Made With Europe’?
European Union leaders gathered in the Belgian countryside on Thursday to discuss the biggest threats facing the 27-nation bloc. Set against the backdrop of Alden Biesen castle, heads of state and government tried to present a united front in the face of U.S. trade unpredictability and growing Chinese competition. But deep fissures within the group remained over how best to counter these challenges.
The gathered leaders appeared to agree on one thing: The EU lacks competitiveness on the global stage. “We all know we must change course, and we all know the direction,” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said ahead of Thursday’s summit. “Yet it sometimes feels as if we’re standing on the bridge of the ship, staring at the horizon, without being able to touch the helm.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has argued that the solution is “Buy European.” Specifically, Macron believes that the EU should place a minimum requirement for European goods purchased with public money, maintaining that EU nations should exclusively buy from European producers whose industries are “under threat,” such as the steel, auto, and defense sectors. In this way, Macron seeks to strengthen the euro and achieve greater economic autonomy.
But not all European leaders are on board. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stressed on Thursday that the best way to counter Europe’s competitors is to prioritize growing the bloc’s trade partnerships. Instead of “made in Europe,” Merz argued, the rules should favor “made with Europe.”
Just last month, the EU inked a massive agreement with South America’s Mercosur bloc, creating one of the largest free trade zones in the world. However, some experts argue that the EU-Mercosur deal will not bring substantial investments into Europe; the European Commission estimates that the agreement will add only 0.05 percent (around $90 billion) to the bloc’s economy by 2040.
“We want to make this European Union faster, we want to make it better, and above all, we want to ensure that we have competitive industry in Europe,” Merz said.
The bloc also discussed strategies to cut high energy costs and remove unnecessary red tape. Macron has proposed promoting European borrowing power to further bolster the euro, whereas Merz and Meloni have suggested revising the bloc’s emissions trading system and improving how the EU’s internal market functions. Initial reactions, though, were not optimistic, with utility and cement stocks tumbling on Thursday over the possibility of such reforms.
“We have to move from 27 to one,” said former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, who pitched a “One Market Act” to attendees on Thursday that would deepen integration among the bloc’s members on multiple fronts, including financial services, energy, and connectivity. “The only effective response to what [U.S. President Donald] Trump is doing to Europe is to integrate the single market and to move from the single market to one market.”
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What We’re Following
Pivotal vote for Dhaka. Initial results show the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) with a commanding lead in the country’s parliamentary elections on Thursday. With only a simple majority needed to govern Bangladesh’s 350-seat parliament, it is a race to see whether the BNP or its Islamist rival, Jamaat‑e‑Islami, will secure the most votes. Final tallies are expected to be announced on Friday.
Whatever the outcome, analysts argue that having a clear winner will be crucial for Bangladesh’s stability. This is the country’s first election since Generation Z-led protests in 2024 ousted then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, forcing her into self-imposed exile in India. Hasina has denounced Thursday’s election as a “carefully planned farce” due to its exclusion of her Awami League, which was banned from this year’s vote.
If the BNP secures a majority, party chair Tarique Rahman is expected to be named prime minister. Rahman spent 17 years in self-imposed exile in London before returning to Bangladesh in December 2025. He has pledged to restore rule of law and democratic institutions as well as bolster the nation’s flagging economy. Both the BNP and Jamaat‑e‑Islami have also backed a referendum on the ballot that, if passed, would pave the way for lawmakers to change the country’s parliament from a single body to a bicameral legislature.
Severe weather alert. Heavy rain and high winds battered Western Europe on Thursday, requiring local authorities to place several regions on high alert. Storm Nils first hit France before moving into northern Spain, bringing wind gusts of more than 100 miles per hour that have disrupted traffic, grounded flights, and left hundreds of thousands of people without power. At least one person has been killed and several others injured from the storm.
Although meteorologists forecast that Portugal will not be directly hit by Storm Nils, fresh downpours are still expected to wreak havoc in the country’s north. Already, around 3,000 people have been forced to evacuate due to flooding, which has damaged massive stretches of the country’s major A1 highway. Extreme weather is expected to continue when Storm Oriana, a separate system, approaches the Iberian Peninsula later this week.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro traveled to the city of Coimbra to oversee the country’s emergency response, warning that officials were “at the limit” of their capacity to contain the flooding. The pressure is high for Montenegro’s government to succeed. Portuguese Interior Minister Maria Lúcia Amaral was forced to resign on Tuesday over the administration’s alleged failure to handle the situation effectively, with at least 15 killed in storms this year so far.
Congress rebukes U.S. tariff policy. The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly voted on Wednesday to rescind a national emergency order that Trump invoked last February to impose sweeping tariffs on Canada. With nearly all Democrats and six Republicans voting in favor, the resolution offers a rare congressional rebuke of White House trade policy. “Canada isn’t a threat. It’s our ally,” said Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, who introduced the resolution.
The resolution has good odds of passing in the Senate as well, as that chamber has also moved to scrap U.S. tariffs in recent months; even so, Wednesday’s vote remains largely symbolic, as Trump is expected to veto the resolution should it come to his desk and there are likely not enough Republicans in either chamber willing to buck Trump to overcome such a veto. “Any Republican, in the House or the Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. In a separate post that same day, Trump accused Canada of having “taken advantage of the United States on Trade for many years,” adding that Ottawa is “among the worst in the World to deal with.”
Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act last year to impose 25 percent tariffs on nearly all Canadian and Mexican imports. Since then, he has issued several other high duties on specific Canadian products, citing Ottawa’s alleged failure to tackle drug trafficking and immigration across the two countries’ shared border. Canada has responded with its own slew of retaliatory tariffs.
Odds and Ends
For those looking to cross between Estonia’s two main islands, GPS has a new option. Bitter temperatures throughout Northern Europe have frozen the 12.5-mile stretch of sea linking the islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, allowing locals to drive across the so-called ice road. Authorities require all vehicles be no heavier than 5,500 pounds and maintain a certain speed to prevent ice-breaking vibrations. Passengers are not allowed to wear seatbelts and must keep their doors open in case of an incident that necessitates a quick exit. Happy off-roading!
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