French minister delegate for trade Laurent Saint-Martin also criticises “very aggressive and arbitrary” trade measures adopted by US president Donald Trump as he says France “prefers cooperation to confrontation.”
“Our end goal remains the same, to negotiate this escalation and negotiate back to where things were, and if it’s not possible, of course, European Union must react, must react firmly and must react proportionately,” he says.
He also stresses the need for Europe to remain united.
À propos Le Pen’s conviction in French courts and linked protests I reported on earlier today, my colleague Ashifa Kassam looked at how the ruling in this case proved to be fuel for the global right’s attacks on court authority.
The three-word message, launched minutes after the verdict came in, was succinct in its solidarity. “Je suis Marine!” Hungary’s Viktor Orbán posted on social media after Le Pen was found guilty of embezzling European parliament funds and barred immediately from running for public office.
Messages soon came tumbling in from Brazil to Belgium, hinting at how rightwing nationalist and populist leaders had seized on the ruling to push their own narrative.
Most of them paid little heed to the judges’ finding of the key role Le Pen and more than two dozen others had played in a scam that prosecutors alleged had diverted more than €4m (£3.4m) of European parliament funds to benefit the party.
As France reeled from the political upheaval, opponents of liberal democracy jumped at the chance to peddle their claims that some justice systems are being used as a blunt tool to silence the will of the people.
Legal experts pushed back against the claims. “The decision is extremely well reasoned, the court handed down a judgment that seems to me implacable on its merits and without any real possible dispute,” said Mathieu Carpentier, a law professor at Toulouse Capitole University, citing the more than 150-page ruling delivered by the three judges.
“If Madame Le Pen had not broken the law, she would not have been convicted.”
It was a point that leaders in countries such as the US, Russia and Hungary – all of whom have faced accusations of undermining their country’s judiciary – were seemingly content to overlook.
Full story:
Just an update on timings: the press conference after the EU’s trade ministerial meeting is now scheduled for 3.15pm CEST.
I will bring you all the key updates here when it happens.
And now for something truly magical: a replica of the world-famous Orient Express made its debut journey from Rome on Friday, transporting well-heeled passengers into the heart of Tuscany’s wine region.
La Dolce Vita Orient Express, the first Italian-made luxury train, is aimed at reviving the glamour of the classic version as well as the romanticised notion of Italy’s dolce vita, or “sweet life”, all the while promoting slow tourism.
The train, the first of a fleet of six, is made up of 12 refurbished carriages that once chugged along Italian rail tracks in the 1960s and which have been decked out with 18 suites, 12 deluxe cabins, a bar, a lounge and a restaurant serving haute cuisine by the Michelin-starred chef Heinz Beck.
The itinerary is one of eight that collectively cover 14 Italian regions, from Veneto and Liguria in the north to Basilicata and Sicily in the south. On Friday afternoon passengers travelled along the coast, passing the seaside towns of Santa Severa and Santa Marinella before gliding through the countryside of Tuscan, where by early evening they could sip locally made Brunello wine as part of the aperitivo.
As an option, they could disembark and be taken to the hilltop town of Montalcino before returning to the Dolce Vita for their evening meal and entertainment. The train, which also passes through Florence and Pisa, completes its loop back to Rome on Saturday morning.
Full story:
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Spain over the weekend in the latest protest against housing speculation and to demand access to affordable homes.
Organisers claim that up to 150,000 joined the protest in Madrid while smaller demonstrations were held in about 40 cities across the country. Protesters from Málaga on the Costa del Sol to Vigo in the Atlantic northwest chanted “end the housing racket” and “landlords are guilty, the government is responsible”.
Valeria Racu, a spokesperson for the Madrid tenants’ union, called for rent strikes such as those mounted recently in some Catalan coastal towns.
The union says 1.4m Spanish households spend more than 30% of their income on housing, 200,000 families more than 10 years ago.
Housing has become the number one social issue in Spain as a combination of property speculation and tourist apartments have driven the cost of rented housing beyond the reach of all but the most wealthy.
Full story:
The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has told supporters in Paris on Sunday she would fight “a political, not a judicial ruling” that could bar her from the next presidential election, as a rival rally denounced an “existential threat” to the rule of law after her conviction for embezzling public funds.
Speaking from a temporary stage in front of the Hôtel des Invalides with the party’s 120 members of parliament behind her, Le Pen said she would “not give up” and was the victim of a “witch-hunt.”
But speaking at a leftwing rally a few kilometres away on the Place de la République, the Green party leader, Marine Tondelier, said Le Pen’s defence amounted to “a total conspiracy theory” and a full-blown attack on judicial independence.
Police said 7,000 people were at the RN rally – several thousand fewer than the party had hoped for – and about 5,000 at the leftwing rival.
The three-time presidential candidate and frontrunner to succeed Emmanuel Macron was found guilty on Monday of embezzling more than €4m (£3.4m) of European parliament funds to pay RN party workers in France through a vast fake jobs scam.
The Paris appeals court has said it will deliver a verdict on her case by next summer, potentially allowing her to contest the 2027 presidential race if her conviction is overturned, which is seen as unlikely, or the ban on running for public office lifted.
The ruling, which followed a 10-year investigation and a nine-week trial, has dramatically shaken up the political landscape and been fiercely attacked by far-right politicians in France and beyond as politically motivated and anti-democratic.
Full story:
As the ministerial talks continue behind the closed doors, let’s take a look at other events across Europe.
French minister delegate for trade Laurent Saint-Martin also criticises “very aggressive and arbitrary” trade measures adopted by US president Donald Trump as he says France “prefers cooperation to confrontation.”
“Our end goal remains the same, to negotiate this escalation and negotiate back to where things were, and if it’s not possible, of course, European Union must react, must react firmly and must react proportionately,” he says.
He also stresses the need for Europe to remain united.
Ireland’s Harris continues:
“This is a trading relationship that matters, and Europe has been very clear: we’re up for a deal.
President von der Leyen has talked about wanting to address any of the trade barriers that exist, wanting to buy more stuff from the United States and vice versa. We’re up for a deal.
I suppose the outstanding question is, is the United States up for one?”
Irish foreign and trade minister Simon Harris says that it is “becoming abundantly clear now to anybody who was under any illusion in relation to this is that tariffs are really bad” for the US, for Europe and for Ireland.
“We need to find a negotiated way forward,” he says, calling for a “de-escalation.”
“I think the turmoil being seen in global stock markets and global markets is a real indication of the pain that tariffs are causing and will cause, not just to economies in some sort of macro sense, but also to individual citizens in Europe and individual people in the United States of America,” he says.
Harris also very pointedly rejects calls for measures targeting US tech and digital services.
He says that “if you were to get into that space, it would be an extraordinary escalation at a time when we must be working for a de-escalation.”
“The European Commission, and I believe the overwhelming majority of member states [do not want] to get into tit for tat, it’s not to accept that where we are now is the inevitable outcome, and actually seek to engage and I really think economics is on our side here,” he says.
He adds that he will travel to Washington for further talks with US representatives on Tuesday.
Habeck also repeatedly warns against individual countries’ interests overshadowing the need for a united EU response.
He says:
“The stock markets are already collapsing and the damage could become even greater. It is therefore important … to act clearly and decisively and prudently, which means realising that we are in a strong position. America is in a position of weakness …
If every country is counted individually, and we have a problem here with red wine and there with whisky and pistachios, then it will all come to nothing.”
