The EU has raised protests with the US, fearing that Washington’s latest green energy package is freezing European businesses out of the world’s richest market.
Brussels made a number of demands for changes in a submission to the US administration last week and the showdown will top the agenda at a meeting of EU finance ministers on Tuesday.
European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said that European finance and economy ministers would discuss Washington’s “discriminatory” green energy incentives amid heightened fears of an economic contraction gripping the continent this winter.
Approved by US politicians in August, the Inflation Reduction Act invests hundreds of billions of dollars into fighting climate change and includes a $10 billion investment tax credit for clean energy products such as electric vehicles.
The Inflation Reduction Act has provoked fury in Europe, where countries like France and Germany fear that it would block non-US electric vehicles from its markets and further weaken the competitiveness of European companies that are already suffering from sky-high energy prices.
The European Commission on Friday sent a document to the US Treasury detailing its preliminary views on the act, which it said contains “problematic elements”. The document is expected to be published soon on the US Treasury’s website.
The commission called on the US to remove “all discriminatory content and production requirements affecting the EU and its economic operators and products” and ensure “that the level and structure of subsidisation does not create adverse effects on the EU”.
The document also asked the US to ensure that EU companies were treated “no less favourably than other trading partners of [the] US” and to build “transparency provisions into subsidies to be granted through tax credits and other programmes” under the Inflation Reduction Act.
The commission’s spokeswoman for trade and agriculture, Miriam Garcia Ferrer, told The National that the EU reserves the right to complement its views at a later stage. She said that the EU hoped to find “constructive and amicable solutions”.
Negotiations are continuing within an EU-US task force which met for the first time last Friday. Ms Garcia Ferrer described the task force as a “clear, senior-level commitment by the US to address the serious concerns raised by the EU” related to the act.
But some European countries have taken a more aggressive stance than the commission, with France’s Energy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire calling for a formal complaint at the World Trade Organisation.
“Europe must defend its interests. No one will give it any favours, neither China nor the US,” he said in an interview to several European media outlets published on Monday.
Quoted by French newspaper Les Echos, Mr Le Maire said that he expected a “firm” reaction from the European Commission, including for example “European preferential schemes”.
Mr Le Maire claimed that the Inflation Reduction Act discouraged international companies that were previously interested in working in Europe and that they are considering moving to the US instead.
The value of subsidies offered by the US administration is in certain cases four to 10 times higher than the maximum authorised by the commission, Mr Le Maire said.
“In France, our preliminary estimates show that €10 billion [$9.9 million] in investments and thousands of jobs are at stake,” he said.
INFO
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Short-term let permits explained
Homeowners and tenants are allowed to list their properties for rental by registering through the Dubai Tourism website to obtain a permit.
Tenants also require a letter of no objection from their landlord before being allowed to list the property.
There is a cost of Dh1,590 before starting the process, with an additional licence fee of Dh300 per bedroom being rented in your home for the duration of the rental, which ranges from three months to a year.
Anyone hoping to list a property for rental must also provide a copy of their title deeds and Ejari, as well as their Emirates ID.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
more from Janine di Giovanni
Race results:
1. Thani Al Qemzi (UAE) Team Abu Dhabi: 46.44 min
2. Peter Morin (FRA) CTIC F1 Shenzhen China Team: 0.91sec
3. Sami Selio (FIN) Mad-Croc Baba Racing Team: 31.43sec
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The Bio
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Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
Abu Dhabi card
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,400m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 2,200m
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
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7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
The National selections:
5pm: Valcartier
5.30pm: AF Taraha
6pm: Dhafra
6.30pm: Maqam
7pm: AF Mekhbat
7.30pm: Ezz Al Rawasi
Scores
New Zealand 266 for 9 in 50 overs
Pakistan 219 all out in 47.2 overs
New Zealand win by 47 runs
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
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The specs
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
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Power: 905hp
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Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
