EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič arrived in Beijing for a two-day visit aimed at rebalancing trade relations with China. The talks come just days before the October EU summit, as ties have grown increasingly lopsided over the past decade. Trade policy takes shape in negotiations between institutions and governments; the people affected by those decisions don’t appear in the account of the trip.
Trade at the negotiating table
The visit puts the EU’s trade chief in Beijing as the bloc prepares for its summit. The stated aim is to rebalance EU-China relations, but the account offers no details about proposed measures, sectors under discussion or the people likely to bear the costs of any change. Who gains from a new balance remains unanswered.
The Euronews programme presented Europe’s ties with China, the United States and the United Kingdom as being tested at once. It gave no further detail on trade rules or any agreement under negotiation. The diplomats are clear, though: senior officials conduct the talks across state lines, while the report says nothing about public participation in setting the terms.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Athens for the sixth round of the US–Greece Strategic Dialogue. Security, defence and energy featured on the agenda. The previous night, Rubio said Europe needed to awaken from its “long slumber”. His rebuke came during official government talks. The programme names the subjects under discussion, but gives no detail about decisions or commitments.
People in the streets, officials in the room
In France, students were preparing for another major day of protests after trade unions joined demonstrations across the country on Tuesday. More than 250,000 people took part. The programme account doesn’t state what protesters demanded, but it records both the scale of the mobilisation and the unions’ participation. Students and workers planned to return to the streets as officials elsewhere met over trade and security.
The account gives no further information about the demonstrations or the authorities’ response. It does place mass street protest alongside high-level meetings in the same day’s coverage. One is measured by attendance; the other by the titles and agendas of people in power.
UK Minister for European Relations Hamish Falconer spoke with Mared Gwyn after UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would weigh a “range of options” for the future relationship with the EU, including the possibility of rejoining the bloc. No decision was reported. Political leaders are discussing the possibility, but the programme gives no account of a public vote or other form of public participation.
The electoral spotlight
Belgian MEP Marc Botenga (The Left) discussed a proposal to halve MEPs’ net salaries, from €8,800 to €4,400. Critics called it a populist move to grab public attention. The account doesn’t say whether anyone adopted the proposal or how MEPs responded. It records a debate over elected representatives’ pay, not a policy change.
Euronews’ weekday programme Europe Today is presented live by Méabh Mc Mahon and Stefan Grobe at 8 am Brussels time. The 20-minute programme covers the day’s key events and analysis; viewers can also find it on the Euronews website, YouTube, Facebook, X and Instagram, as well as through a newsletter and podcast. Across these items, officials set the agendas on trade, security and relations with the EU; protesters supplied the clearest reported measure of collective action.