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☆ Europe Seeks Exemption From U.S. Rules on EV Tax Breaks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Kim Mackrael | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The task force is being led by the cabinet of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the U.S. National Security Council. BRUSSELS—U. S. and European Union environmental policies are on a collision course, prompting an urgent meeting to defuse rising tensions over clean-technology subsidies that threaten to upset a trade relationship that leaders had pledged to rebuild. A new task force focused on clean-energy tax credits that were included in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act will hold its first in a series of weekly meetings on Friday, an EU official said. The task force, which is being led by the U.S. National Security Council and the cabinet of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen , is meant to address EU concerns that many European-made products won’t qualify for the credits because of where they were made.

But even if the bloc's 27 member countries reach agreement on the plan, to enforce it they must overcome rising costs and uncertainties linked to power market reforms triggered by the price surge linked to war in Ukraine. As energy prices have increased all costs, including of the materials needed for renewable infrastructure, investment models built on low prices for renewably-produced electricity are in doubt. RECORD PRICES, EXTREME UNCERTAINTYFar-reaching inflation, driven by expensive energy, has led governments to seek to cap wholesale energy costs and consider reforming markets after years of stability. The wholesale benchmark German baseload front year electricity price hit a record above 1,000 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) on Aug. 29. Beyond the short-term fixes, the EU plans a major overhaul of its electricity market to decouple the price of electricity from the price of gas.

It wants 3.8 billion pounds ($4.4 billion) to build a gigafactory in northern England but its plans are hanging by a thread as it struggles to lure enough investment. French battery startup Verkor, for example, announced on Wednesday that it had raised 250 million euros ($249 million) to fund a megafactory. The European Battery Alliance (EBA) acknowledges Asian firms, and Chinese companies in particular, are likely to increase their market share in the coming years, helped by their track record and offtake agreements. "Even if we have the production in Europe, it doesn't mean we have the know-how or the control," she said. The EU has approved 6.1 billion euros since 2019 in funding by member states for battery research and innovation while Britain has a 1 billion pound fund to support investments in EV supply chains.

☆ Europe warms more than any other continent in last 3 decades
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Gloria Dickie | Isla Binnie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Europe has warmed more than twice as much as the rest of the world over the past three decades and experienced the greatest temperature increase of any continent, according to a report by the World Meteorological Organization. The report on the state of the climate in Europe follows a summer of extremes. "Europe presents a live picture of a warming world and reminds us that even well prepared societies are not safe from impacts of extreme weather events," WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas said in a statement. For example, fewer clouds over Europe during the summer has meant more sunlight and heat now reaches the continent, said Freja Vamborg, senior scientist with the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Some scientists have called Europe a "heatwave hotspot" as the number of heatwaves on the continent have increased faster than in other regions due to changes in atmospheric circulation.

☆ Europe's militaries have been working together for years to keep an eye on what Russia is up to at sea
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Nord Stream pipeline sabotage in September drew new attention to maritime threats in Europe. European militaries have already been working on new ways to protect undersea infrastructure. Although the pipelines were not in use— Nord Stream 1 was shut down in March by EU sanctions against Russia, and Nord Stream 2 wasn't yet operational—the incident highlights the risks to underwater infrastructure. Even before the war in Ukraine, Western officials had grown worried about increasing activity by Russian ships and submarines around underwater cables crossing the Atlantic. "Russia is clearly taking an interest in NATO and NATO nations' undersea infrastructure," the admiral said at the time.

☆ U.S., EU launch formal group to discuss conflict over EV subsidies
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Trevor Hunnicutt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - U.S. and European Union officials will formally launch a task force next week to discuss new American laws that Europeans fear will discriminate against foreign electric car makers, according to a statement on Tuesday. Among the law's provisions are requirements that EVs be assembled in North America to qualify for tax credits. The law also ends subsidies for other EV models and requires that a percentage of critical minerals used in those cars' batteries come from the United States or an American free-trade partner. The task force would "promote deeper understanding" on the "opportunities and concerns for EU producers," Watson said, and comes after high-level meetings between Biden administration officials and allied countries angered over the new law. Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ France enters 'white gold' rush as top producer aims to supply Europe with lithium
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The EU is looking to increase the number of electric vehicles on its roads in the coming years. Alongside its use in cell phones, computers, tablets and a host of other gadgets synonymous with modern life, lithium — which some have dubbed "white gold" — is crucial to the batteries that power electric vehicles. "So we will identify strategic projects all along the supply chain, from extracting to refining, from processing to recycling," she added. The construction capital expenditure of the proposed lithium project is estimated to be around 1 billion euros (roughly $980 million), Imerys added. "In May 2022, lithium prices were over seven times higher than at the start of 2021," it added.

☆ Russia has destroyed over a third of Ukraine's energy sector - President Zelenskiy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

KYIV, Oct 25 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a conference on Ukraine reconstruction on Tuesday that Russian rockets and Iran-made drones had destroyed more than a third of his contry's energy sector. Zelenskiy also told the conference in Berlin via video link that Ukraine had yet to receive "a single cent" towards a fast recovery plan worth a total $17 billion. "Russia is destroying everything so that it is harder for us to get through the winter," Zelenskiy told the conference, which was attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and other senior politicians and officials. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Max Hunder and Pavel Polityuk Writing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ France's Imerys wants to become leading lithium producer in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Oct 24 (Reuters) - French minerals company Imerys (IMTP.PA) said on Monday it wanted to become the leading supplier of lithium in Europe through a mining project in France. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe company's shares rose by 5% in early Paris trade. Almost all the critical minerals currently come from outside the continent, with China dominating the global supply chain. Various miners are exploring domestic European lithium projects including in Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Tassilo Hummel and David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine needs Marshall Plan approach to rebuild, says German lobby
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, Oct 24 (Reuters) - A German lobby group representing companies with interests in eastern Europe has called for a plan to rebuild Ukraine that would mirror the Marshall Plan that helped Europe recover from World War Two, the media group RND reported. The 20-page "Rebuild Ukraine" dossier covering topics from industry to agriculture and energy will be discussed at a Ukraine-Germany business forum in Berlin on Monday, attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal. In an opinion piece in German business newspaper FAZ on Sunday, Scholz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a similar call for a "new Marshall Plan for the 21st century" for Ukraine. The lobby group's dossier called for each European country involved in efforts to rebuild Ukraine to nominate a coordinator to an advisory board to liaise with Ukraine's government. German companies should be given incentives to invest in Ukraine just as the Marshall Plan, which was a U.S. initiative, encouraged investment in West Germany after World War Two, the lobby group's chair Michael Harms said.

Luckily, there are two ways to reset an iPhone without the password so you can access it. How to reset an iPhone using Finder or iTunesYou can use a computer to access recovery mode and reset your iPhone to get in without the password. The exact way to do this will depend on what kind of iPhone you have:iPhone model How to turn off iPhone 13, iPhone 12s, iPhone 11s, iPhone X/XR/XS, iPhone 8s, and iPhone SE (second generation) Press and hold the Lock and Volume Down buttons until the power slider appears on screen, then swipe it. To do this, you'll need to press a certain combination of buttons:iPhone model Buttons to press for recovery mode iPhone 13, iPhone 12s, iPhone 11s, iPhone X/XR/XS, iPhone 8s, and iPhone SE (second and third generations) Press and hold the side button. How to reset an iPhone using Find MyIf you have an Apple ID account, your iPhone is probably connected to Find My, Apple's global device tracking network.

☆ EU price cap on gas used for power worth considering, von der Leyen says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, Oct 19 (Reuters) - A scheme used in Spain and Portugal to cap the price of gas used to generate electricity is worth considering for implementation across the European Union, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday. "It really merits to be considered at EU level. There are still questions to be answered but I want to leave no stone unturned," von der Leyen told a meeting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Kate Abnett, Marine StraussOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russian attacks on Ukraine infrastructure are war crimes - EU's von der Leyen
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Russia's missile and drone attacks on power stations and other infrastructure in Ukraine are "acts of pure terror" that amount to war crimes, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday. "Yesterday we saw again Russia's targeted attacks against civilian infrastructure. These are war crimes," von der Leyen said in a speech to lawmakers in the European Parliament. "Targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure with the clear aim to cut off men, women, children of water, electricity and heating with the winter coming, these are acts of pure terror and we have to call it as such." Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Marine Strauss and Philip BlenkinsopOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU leaders still eyeing multiple gas price caps - document
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A revised draft of their summit conclusions said EU leaders would broadly endorse the proposals - including plans to launch an alternative price benchmark for liquefied natural gas and start joint gas buying among EU countries. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe proposals each need support from a reinforced majority of EU countries - at least 15 members representing at least 65% of the bloc's population. EU leaders look set to back that idea, asking Brussels to examine a "temporary dynamic price corridor" on gas transactions, according to their draft conclusions. The conclusions may struggle to win support from all leaders, since countries are split over the Iberian mechanism. The draft conclusions said a price cap on gas used for power generation must avoid increasing gas consumption.

☆ EU seeks to boost infrastructure protection after Nord Stream blasts
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies Nord Stream AG FollowBRUSSELS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Tuesday proposed stepping up measures to protect its critical infrastructure, with energy among its chief areas of focus following the possible sabotage last month of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The Commission says EU members should prioritise energy, digital, transport and space infrastructure and accelerate work to improve preparedness for and responses to attacks and to increase international cooperation. In the recommendation, which seeks to guide but does not bind EU countries, the EU executive encourages the bloc's 27 members to accelerate stress tests of entities operating critical infrastructure, particularly related to energy. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterEuropean states have raced to protect energy infrastructure ranging from Norwegian energy installations to German power lines after blaming the Nord Stream pipeline leaks on sabotage after they were discovered on Sept 26. EU executive chief Ursula von der Leyen will present the proposal to EU leaders at a two-day summit in Brussels that begins on Thursday.

☆ The EU wants to limit spiking gas prices after 'excessive' moves this summer
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The EU is working on new measures to mitigate gas prices. The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, proposed Tuesday setting a limit on daily gas trading levels. European natural gas prices were trading around 120 euros per megawatt hour Tuesday. A second EU official also told reporters that the commission wants to do "something meaningful, but not harmful" to the market. The EU used to import about 40% of its natural gas from Russia; that number is now at around 7%.

☆ ‘Radicalized teenager’ killed two outside Slovakia gay bar, prime minister says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — A “radicalized teenager” shot dead two people outside a gay bar in Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, Prime Minister Eduard Heger said. The gunman killed two people and wounded another near the Teplaren bar in the city center Wednesday evening, police said. “I strongly condemn a murder of two young people shot dead in Bratislava last night by a radicalized teenager,” Heger wrote on Twitter. Jaroslav Novak / APSlovak media reported the main suspect had posted messages with the phrases “hate crime” and “gay bar” hashtagged on Twitter. It is hate that does not belong in Slovakia,” she told reporters after visiting the scene of the attack.

☆ Europe is still quietly importing Russian nuclear energy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

On presenting its latest sanctions package, the European Commission did not propose targeting the trade of Russian nuclear fuel. Hungary and Bulgaria were the most vocal in opposing sanctions on Russian uranium and other nuclear tech last week, according to Rodrigo. "Russian nuclear terror requires a stronger response from the international community - sanctions on the Russian nuclear industry and nuclear fuel," Zelenskyy said via Twitter at the time. Mikhail Metzel | Afp | Getty ImagesThere are 18 Russian nuclear reactors in Europe, in countries including Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. How 'green' is nuclear energy?

☆ 'Radicalised teenager' killed two outside Slovakia gay bar - PM
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

People embrace one another near the site of a shooting in Bratislava, Slovakia October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Radovan StoklasaBRATISLAVA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A "radicalised teenager" shot dead two people outside a gay bar in Slovakia's capital Bratislava, Prime Minister Eduard Heger said. A gunman killed two people and wounded another near the Teplaren bar in the city centre on Wednesday evening, police said. "I strongly condemn a murder of two young people shot dead in Bratislava last night by a radicalised teenager," Heger wrote on Twitter. Slovak media reported the main suspect had posted messages with the phrases "hate crime" and "gay bar" hashtagged on Twitter.

☆ Europe has enough energy to survive the winter. Next year might be different
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Cornelius Poppe/NTB/AFP/Getty ImagesBut success has come at a heavy cost to the economy: the scramble for alternative sources has sent energy prices soaring. Alexei Miller, CEO of Russian state energy giant Gazprom, said on Wednesday that there was “no guarantee” that Europe would survive the winter with its current reserves. “Adopting policies that prevent the pass-through of high energy prices to consumers is an expensive gamble that is doomed to fail if wholesale energy prices will stay high in the future,” he added. Carlos Torres Diaz, head of power analysis at Rystad Energy, told CNN business that Europe’s energy transition “has been put on hold” as it prioritizes energy security. “These sources of energy also help reduce the dependency on energy imports,” Torres Diaz added.

☆ Europe didn't want to believe Russia would actually invade Ukraine even as the US kept warning it was coming, top EU diplomat says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Europe didn't think that Russia would actually invade Ukraine, the EU's top diplomat revealed. But despite these warnings from the US that war was on the horizon, Europe didn't want to believe that Russia would actually attack its eastern European neighbor, the European Union's top diplomat revealed on Tuesday. The Americans were telling us, 'They will attack, they will attack,' and we were quite reluctant to believe it," Borrell said. The next day, Russian forces invaded, with Russian leadership under the impression that Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops would achieve a quick and decisive victory. Borrell also said on Tuesday that Europe didn't anticipate how well Ukraine would defend itself against the invading Russian forces.

☆ Pfizer exec denies CEO negotiated EU COVID vaccine contract via text message
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Oct 10 (Reuters) - A Pfizer (PFE.N) executive with a lead role in negotiating a COVID-19 vaccine bulk supply agreement with the European Commission "categorically" ruled out that the U.S. drugmaker's chief executive agreed the contract via mobile phone text messages. She added that such talks involve far too many people on both sides and take far too long to be conducted via mobile phone texts. The Commission said in June this year that it no longer had the texts, which later drew criticism from the European Union's ombudswoman. The contract signed last year was the biggest ever sealed for COVID-19 vaccines, with the EU committing to buy 900 million Pfizer-BioNTech (22UAy.DE) shots, with an option to buy another 900 million. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Jan Harvey and Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Rocketing energy costs are savaging German industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“We don’t need a crystal ball to see a further weakening of German industry in the coming months. The full impact of higher energy prices will only be felt in the last months of the year,” he said. Energy prices started rising last fall, and then shot even higher when Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, sparking an energy standoff between Europe and Moscow. Energy costs at Prysmian’s six German factories are expected to soar to €20 million ($20 million) this year from just €5 million ($5 million) in 2021. “German industry, the so-called ‘Mittlestand’, the small and medium [sized] companies, are quite resilient and adaptable,” he said.

REUTERS/Francois LenoirWASHINGTON/BRUSSELS, Oct 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order to implement a European Union-United States data transfer framework announced in March that adopts new American intelligence gathering privacy safeguards. Judges with experience in data privacy and national security will be appointed from outside the U.S. government. European privacy activists have threatened to challenge the framework if they did not think it adequately protects privacy. Austrian Max Schrems, whose legal challenges have brought down the previous two EU-U.S. data flow systems, said he still needed to analyze the package. "At first sight it seems that the core issues were not solved and it will be back to the CJEU (EU court) sooner or later," he said.

Swedish Coast Guard/Handout via TT News Agency/via REUTERSBRUSSELS, Sept 29 (Reuters) - EU leaders will discuss next week what the bloc has denounced as sabotage on the subsea Nord Stream gas pipelines, an EU official said on Thursday, adding that the incident had changed the nature of the conflict in Ukraine fundamentally. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"The attack on strategic infrastructure means that the strategic infrastructure in the entire EU has to be protected," an EU official in Brussels said. The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were not supplying gas to Europe when the leaks were first detected on Monday but still had gas in them. Russia had halted deliveries via Nord Stream 1, saying Western sanctions had hampered operations. Nord Stream 2 had not started commercial operations.

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