Latest news with #MarošŠefčovič
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
EU imposes medical device procurement restrictions on Chinese firms
The European Commission (EC) will restrict Chinese companies from EU government purchases of medical devices exceeding €5m ($5.7m). The move comes after a report found that 87% of public procurement contracts for medical devices in China were subject to 'exclusionary and discriminatory measures' and practices against EU-made medical devices and EU suppliers. In addition, Chinese entities will now be restricted from around 60% of annual spending within the medical device field, with EU contracting authorities now ordered to ensure that up to 50% of a contract's value is subcontracted to Chinese entities or includes Chinese-origin medical devices. Initiated in April 2024 with the findings published in January 2025, the report guiding the EU's decision marked the first investigation under the EU's International Procurement Instrument (IPI) regulation of 2022, a law created to promote reciprocity in access to international public procurement markets. China is the second-largest medtech market worldwide. The EU's investigation concluded that Chinese policies, including its 'Made in China 2025' economic roadmap, favoured domestic medical devices over imported ones by design. The EC also observed that China's volume-based procurement of medical devices forces bidders to offer the lowest possible price, and that the contracting authorities set a maximum reference price and maximum price margins for bid selection. The commission stated that the European procurement market is still one of the most open in the world, highlighting that Chinese medical device exports to the EU more than doubled between 2015 and 2023. The EC stated that it had made repeated efforts to engage with Chinese authorities regarding the lack of reciprocity and to seek a constructive and fair solution that would enable EU companies to access the Chinese market on terms comparable to those enjoyed by Chinese firms in the EU. However, the EC stated that China had 'so far not offered specific commitments that would address the discriminatory measures and practices identified'. The EC backed the restrictions earlier this month. Writing in state news outlet Xinhua, China's Ministry of Commerce (MoC) opposed the plans, branding the EU's move 'protectionist'. The ministry wrote: 'As responsible major economies, China and the EU should adhere to WTO [World Trade Organization] rules, uphold the principles of fairness, transparency and non-discrimination, address challenges through mutual openness, and resolve differences through cooperative dialogue to jointly safeguard the healthy development of China-EU economic and trade relations.' The EC stated that should China offer 'concrete, verifiable, and satisfactory solutions that effectively address the concerns identified', the IPI framework allows for the suspension or withdrawal of measures. Maroš Šefčovič, European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security; Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency, commented: 'Our aim with these measures is to level the playing field for EU businesses. We remain committed to dialogue with China to resolve these issues.' "EU imposes medical device procurement restrictions on Chinese firms" was originally created and published by Medical Device Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
BreakingNews.ie
12 hours ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Europe's Trade Commissioner has ‘productive engagements' over US deal
Europe's Trade Commissioner says he has had a series of productive engagements throughout the week with his US counterpart. On social media, Maroš Šefčovič says no time or effort spared - their focus is on securing a forward looking deal. Advertisement Both sides are under pressure to reach a deal before July 9th, when a series of reciprocal tariffs are due to come into force. A series of productive engagements throughout this week with @USTradeRep Ambassador @jamiesongreer and Secretary @howardlutnick . No time or effort spared - our focus and priority remain clear: securing a forward-looking deal. — Maroš Šefčovič🇪🇺 (@MarosSefcovic) June 20, 2025 It comes as European shares rose on Friday after declining for three straight sessions, as a stall in the United States' involvement in the Middle East conflict helped soothe investor concerns. The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.6 per cent at 538.85 points. The benchmark is set to log a second consecutive weekly fall. Israel and Iran's air war entered a second week and European officials sought to draw Tehran back to the negotiating table. Advertisement The White House said President Donald Trump will decide within the next two weeks about whether to join Israel in the war. That helped improve market sentiment, spurring some interest in risk assets that were sold off earlier in the week on uncertainty around how long the conflict would go on. "The investors are taking a little bit more risk on their shoulders... it is perhaps because the U.S. is now giving itself two weeks and maybe some diplomatic opening window there to resolve the situation in Iran," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank. Banks rose 1.3 per cent, leading broader gains. Travel and leisure stocks SXTP were also up 1.3 per cent, led by a 4.8 per cent gain in Europe's largest travel operator TUI after Barclays upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "underweight". Advertisement Conversely, energy shares SXEP were at the bottom of the index with a 0.3 per cent decline but were headed for a weekly gain. Ireland Tariffs and gender-based violence on agenda for No... Read More Investors also remain wary of the approaching July 8th tariff-pause deadline, with little progress on trade deals with Washington. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is still aiming to reach a deal by July 9th. "Geopolitical tensions are kind of hiding the other worries in the market, which are trade negotiations being delayed with the U.S. occupied with what to do with the Middle East," said Ozkardeskaya. Trump's tariffs have been a source of turmoil and volatility in the last few months, and have already begun to upend global supply chains and threatened economic growth. Additional reporting Reuters
Euronews
12 hours ago
- Business
- Euronews
EU shuts out Chinese medical suppliers from European market
The European Commission has formally introduced restrictions previously reported by Euronews in response to what it describes as discriminatory barriers imposed by China against European medical device manufacturers. Following a detailed investigation, the Commission found "clear evidence" that China had been unfairly blocking EU-made medical devices from its public procurement market. This marks the first countermeasure taken under the International Procurement Instrument (IPI), which came into force in August 2022 to promote fair access for EU firms to procurement opportunities outside the bloc. 'Our aim with these measures is to level the playing field for EU businesses. We remain committed to dialogue with China to resolve these issues,' said Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič. Under the new rules, Chinese companies are barred from bidding on public contracts for medical devices in the EU single market that exceed €5 million. Additionally, successful bids must contain no more than 50% of inputs originating from China. According to the Commission, the measures are proportionate to China's own restrictions and are designed to ensure the continued availability of critical medical equipment for EU healthcare systems. Exceptions will apply in cases where no viable alternative suppliers are available. The Commission pointed out that the decision aligns with international trade obligations, including those under the World Trade Organization (WTO), noting that the EU has no binding procurement commitments with China. EU-based medical device companies have long struggled to access China's procurement market, despite China being one of the bloc's largest export destinations for such products, accounting for 11% of exports in 2022. The Commission's investigation focused on China's government procurement law, which enforces a "Buy China" policy, requiring public institutions to prioritise domestic products and services. The probe identified several barriers faced by EU firms, including opaque approval processes, discriminatory certification practices, ambiguous national interest clauses used to exclude foreign suppliers, and unsustainable pricing requirements. According to a 2025 Commission report, 87% of public procurement contracts for medical devices in China were subject to exclusionary and discriminatory practices against EU suppliers. The new EU measures come at a delicate moment in EU-China relations, which are undergoing a cautious diplomatic reset. Both sides have intensified efforts to manage longstanding disputes amid shifting global dynamics, including the aftermath of the Trump-era trade wars and ongoing US-China tensions. A key milestone in this renewed dialogue is the upcoming EU-China Summit, now scheduled to take place in Beijing in the second half of July 2025. Meanwhile, reciprocal actions continue to define the trade relationship. China has extended its anti-dumping investigation into EU pork imports by six months, while the EU recently imposed tariffs of up to 45% on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), reflecting a strategic pattern of targeting politically sensitive industries ahead of high-level negotiations.
The Guardian
19 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
I grew up on American food. Trust me, it's the last thing Europe needs
All over European media, the take seems to be similar – that the EU is 'under pressure' to conclude some sort of deal with the US in order to avoid Donald Trump's 9 July deadline for the unilateral imposition of broad tariffs. What might be on the table in the attempt to secure that? In early May, the EU trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, was already suggesting that a deal to increase purchases from the US could include agricultural products – a possibility that seems to remain even though Šefčovič later clarified that the EU was not contemplating changing its health or safety standards. Since I have failed to Abba ('Always be boldly acronyming') and don't have anything as good as Taco ('Trump always chickens out') – coined by the Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong – at the ready, I'll simply reach for the easy line: opening the door even slightly to more US food imports into the EU would leave a bad taste in all our mouths. Trump's hostage-taking approach to trade should not be rewarded, certainly not with something that hits as close to home as food does. 'The European Union won't take chicken from America. They won't take lobsters from America. They hate our beef because our beef is beautiful and theirs is weak,' declared the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, in April. Laughter aside, every time I go back to the US I become a vegetarian for the duration of my trip – even though US grocery store vegetables are themselves generally big, blemish-free and bland. Why? Call me paranoid, but I simply don't want to ingest the same growth hormones that Lutnick's 'beautiful' meat probably contains traces of and that are banned in the EU. Growing up in Ohio, I experienced the full force of US food culture. It was the 90s, which meant that margarine was most definitely in and butter was out; an example that highlights how processed everything took root, including – in my vegetarian family – highly processed meat alternatives. The people around me meant well, but how do you fight a system that, from top to bottom, was designed to push high fructose corn syrup into practically everything (and most worryingly into school lunches)? To be fair, all of this has since generated a domestic backlash, but there's an intense amount of momentum behind it still: almost without fail, I find that the standard sugar level in the US soars far beyond what I now find appealing. Even in places I wouldn't expect to find added sugar at all, like pizza. And why would the Trump administration's full-scale savaging of the US government's administrative and regulatory capacity, including the Food and Drug Administration, increase anyone's trust that what US regulation does exist is actually being followed? Some of you are perhaps rolling your eyes, thinking: Alexander Hurst, a naturalised French citizen, has gone full 'chauvin'; converts are the worst. Except it's not just me. There is an entire internet subgenre of content extolling the virtues of French butter, or involving Americans who come to France and realise that this is what peaches, or strawberries, really taste like. Beyond the question of whether or not Europeans want to eat US agricultural output, a hypothetical trade deal would involve hugely negative climate impacts. The distance that food travels already accounts for 20% of global agriculture-related emissions pollution, and Europe's share in imported agriculture emissions is already high. We need to be reducing it, not adding to it through foodstuffs carted unnecessarily across the Atlantic. How can we ask European farmers to accelerate their transition to regenerative agriculture (which offers the potential to drastically reduce agriculture emissions) if, at the same time, they are being undercut by US producers who face far lower regulatory standards? 'Europe already produces and grows everything it could possibly need. The last thing we want to see circulating is hormone-pumped beef or chlorinated poultry,' says Lindsey Tramuta, the author of The Eater Guide to Paris. 'Even beyond the goods themselves, there's the issue of distance: why bring food over from the US if Europeans can get their needs met from much closer to home?' Yannick Huang, who manages the Vietnamese restaurant Loan in Paris's Belleville neighbourhood, agrees. 'At a time when we're trying to do organic, local, it's pointless to want to import anything from the US,' he told me. Huang, who is obsessive about ingredient quality, only serves French beef. To him, US agriculture comes tainted with the connotation of 'GMOs and other problems'. Hold on, you might say. Isn't it inconsistent to oppose Trump's tariffs while also promoting food protectionism? Fair point: it's hard to find a 'one size fits all' approach to globalisation. It has harmed some workers in wealthy economies while also reducing the gap between low-income nations and high-income ones. No country on Earth has a fully self-contained advanced semiconductor manufacturing supply chain, and in sectors where globalisation has become excessive, it might be even more economically harmful to roll back. None of that, though, means that things that have resisted becoming fully global should all of a sudden be opened up – food most of all. Ramzi Saadé is a Lebanese-Canadian chef whose Paris restaurant, Atica, is dedicated to a fiercely regional approach to haute cuisine. But taking his diners on a voyage of discovery doesn't mean his food has to go on one too; despite focusing on first Basque, and now Corsican cuisine, he sources almost all of his ingredients from the area surrounding Paris. For a lamb dish involving 13 different elements, only the nepeta, a Corsican herb, had travelled, he said. 'Is my role today to bring you Japanese culture via wasabi flown to Paris?' Saadé asked. 'No, my role is to explain to you that it's grated this way and put on fish for this reason, and I can do that with wasabi from France.' I couldn't help but think that it's actually far more interesting to do it his way – to interpret a cuisine rather than attempt to transpose it. We are what we eat. A cuisine is a medium of communication; it is, indelibly, tied up with the stories we tell about who we are. Perhaps that's why it's so disturbing to see food held hostage, or weaponised, in the pursuit of economic or geostrategic goals. Europe's intense and varied regionality is an enormous part of how it eats and therefore what it is. Opening the market to mass penetration by US agriculture would, little by little, nibble away at that richness. It's the kind of proposition that, if it ever makes it out of the kitchen, should be sent back straight away. Alexander Hurst is a Guardian Europe columnist
See - Sada Elbalad
a day ago
- Business
- See - Sada Elbalad
EU Considers Raising Entry Fees for Tourists from 61 Countries
Israa Farhan The European Union is reportedly weighing the introduction of increased entry fees for travelers from 61 non-EU countries, in a bid to help repay a €350 billion recovery loan issued in 2021 to counter the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The move, detailed in a report by Politico Europe, could have wide-reaching implications for millions of visitors, particularly British tourists. According to an internal memo seen by Politico, the rotating Polish presidency of the EU Council noted there is a possibility of a gradual increase in fees, which could enhance long-term revenue generation. This potential rise in costs comes on the heels of plans to implement the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) starting in the final quarter of 2026. ETIAS will apply to visitors from 61 visa-exempt countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Under current plans, travelers will be required to pay a €7 fee for entry authorization valid for three years. However, in light of inflation since the €7 fee was established in 2018, the European Commission has confirmed it is reviewing a possible fee adjustment. A spokesperson told Politico that a revision is under consideration to reflect the changing economic climate. If introduced, the updated fees would be a significant burden for British travelers, already facing lengthier passport checks and post-Brexit entry requirements into the Schengen Area. Any increase could also strain the recently improving relationship between London and Brussels, which has seen steps toward easing border formalities for UK nationals. Although the entry fee hike is projected to generate less than €1 billion per year—a small fraction of the EU's projected €25 to €30 billion in annual debt repayments beginning in 2028—it remains a symbolic measure demonstrating the bloc's efforts to seek alternative revenue streams. In addition to the tourist fee increase, EU officials are also exploring a €6 import charge on small parcels shipped by Chinese e-commerce giants such as Shein and Temu. This proposal has received backing from EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, according to another internal Commission document. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks Videos & Features Video: Trending Lifestyle TikToker Valeria Márquez Shot Dead during Live Stream News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan Technology 50-Year Soviet Spacecraft 'Kosmos 482' Crashes into Indian Ocean News 3 Killed in Shooting Attack in Thailand
