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Trieste, concentré d'histoires

Le Monde Diplomatique - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 18:04
James Joyce (1882-1941) l'Irlandais y a traîné ses souliers, le romancier Italo Svevo (1861-1928) et le poète Umberto Saba (1883-1957), deux figures majeures de la modernité italienne, y sont nés et y ont toujours vécu. Trieste est un mythe littéraire, cultivé par certains auteurs contemporains, (…) / , ,

European Parliament Plenary Session – June 2026

Written by Clare Ferguson with Áine Feeney.

European Union enlargement and competitiveness are prominent issues on the agenda for the European Parliament’s June plenary session. Jakov Milatović, President of Montenegro is expected to address Parliament in a formal sitting on Tuesday. During the question time session, a European Commissioner will respond to Members’ questions on the state of play on its pledge to reduce the reporting burden, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. The Council and Commission will also make statements ahead of the European Council meeting taking place from 18‑19 June 2026. Andrzej Poczobut, laureate of the 2025 Sakharov Prize for his defence of freedom and democracy in Belarus, is expected to address a formal sitting on Wednesday following his recent release from imprisonment in that country.

The path to accession for[CF1]  new Member States is a key topic at this plenary session, with Members set to debate several own-initiative reports from the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) on enlargement candidates in the Western Balkans on Tuesday. The AFET report on Montenegro welcomes the country’s progress and encourages sustained momentum on accession negotiations. The committee also commends Albania‘s dedication to EU integration, but expresses concern about the impact of corruption and calls for full implementation of anti-corruption reforms. The [AC2] AFET report on Kosovo* reaffirms that the country’s future lies with the EU, and stresses inclusion in EU programmes and policies is vital for gradual integration. AFET’s report on Bosnia and Herzegovina expresses support for EU accession and urges political leaders to renew their commitment to EU membership. Similarly, the AFET report on North Macedonia reaffirms its support for the country’s EU membership aspirations, although it regrets the lack of progress since its 2025 report.

Despite applying for accession as far back as 1999, progress towards Türkiye’s EU membership bid has faced numerous delays since accession talks began in 2005. On Tuesday, Parliament is set to consider an AFET report on Türkiye, which reaffirms Parliament’s appreciation for the majority of Turkish people’s aspiration to EU accession and maintaining Türkiye’s candidate status. It also reiterates Türkiye’s relevance as a NATO ally and a country with which the EU has multi-layered relations. However, AFET regrets that, despite the Turkish government’s repeated statements recommitting to the EU membership goal, serious concerns raised in previous AFET reports regarding shortcomings affecting the accession process remain unaddressed.

On Wednesday, Members are also due to consider an AFET report on the status of Georgia’s EU accession status. The report deplores the continued democratic backsliding in the country and echoes Parliament’s position of non-recognition of the legitimacy of the Georgian parliament. It also reiterates calls for the EU to impose sanctions against key officials and regime enablers.

On Monday evening, Parliament is due to consider the trilogue agreement reached on the proposal for two regulations to implement the EU’s tariff commitments under the EU-US Joint Statement. The Committee on International Trade (INTA) adopted its reports in March 2026. The agreement empowers the Commission to suspend the application of the regulation if the US fails to meet its commitments and introduces additional safeguards, including stronger suspension mechanisms and protections against import surges that could harm domestic producers. If adopted, a comprehensive review of the measures will be conducted in 2029, with the possibility of extension.

Parliament is committed to ensuring that there are robust legal frameworks to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) in the EU. On Monday evening, Members are expected to consider adoption of a provisional text on the ‘Digital Omnibus on AI‘, a set of amendments to the AI Act. Parliament favours fixed deadlines for applying high-risk AI rules, and proposes a ban on AI systems that generate non-consensual sexual content. The co-legislators reached a provisional agreement in May 2026, since approved by the Committees on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) jointly. The agreed text upholds Parliament’s position on the generation of non-consensual sexual content and prohibits AI practices generating child sexual abuse material. If adopted, application of certain parts of the AI Act will be postponed, without impacting the act’s core provisions and risk-based approach.

Despite playing an important role in the food-supply chain, farmers have faced mounting difficulties in recent years. On Tuesday, Parliament is expected to consider a provisional text on a regulation strengthening farmers’ position in the food-supply chain. Based on a report by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI), Parliament reached agreement with the Council in March 2026. The agreed text aims to ensure that food prices better reflect the production costs borne by farmers and includes support for the dairy sector, such as the introduction of mandatory written contracts. It also reinforced the bargaining power of producer organisations and includes clarification on labelling to ensure consumer protection and fair competition.

Similarly, on Wednesday, Members are due to consider regulations on horticulture. A provisional agreement reached with the Council on the Commission’s proposal on plants obtained by new genomic techniques, aims at aligning existing EU legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) with new scientific developments. Parliament’s negotiators supported the simplification of rules for low-risk genetically modified plants (NGT1), provided they are similar to conventionally bred plants and do not have certain excluded traits. The agreement also includes provisions intended to address concerns related to market concentration and access to seeds for breeders and farmers. The Committee on Environment (ENVI) is expected to vote on the provisional agreement on 15 June 2026, which could be put to a plenary vote during the same week if it is approved without amendment.

Water scarcity and water bankruptcy are serious global issues, and mitigating violations of the human right to water remains crucial for regional stability and sustainable development. On Wednesday, Members are set to consider a recommendation to the Council, Commission and High Representative regarding transnational water governance. An AFET committee report notes the importance of transnational water governance for conflict prevention and peace, underscoring the growing political and security dimensions of water issues. The report calls on Parliament to condemn the weaponisation of water in conflicts and urges the EU to increase funding for transboundary water management and to take the lead in advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goal on clean water.

The improper management of end-of-life vehicles can damage the environment and lose millions of tonnes of material that could be recycled to the benefit of the EU economy instead. On Thursday morning, Parliament is due to consider a provisional agreement on circularity requirements for vehicle design and end-of-life vehicles. The agreement sets out requirements for passenger, commercial, and heavy-duty vehicles. Each vehicle type must include recycled plastic, in line with progressively rising targets and minimum recycled content requirements. Manufacturers and producers will also be obliged to clearly label refurbished parts and provide information regarding safe access to, removal, and replacement of parts.

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

Further reading:

European Parliament Plenary Session June 2026 – agenda

Categories: European Union

BERICHT über den Bericht 2025 der Kommission über Bosnien und Herzegowina - A10-0165/2026

BERICHT über den Bericht 2025 der Kommission über Bosnien und Herzegowina
Ausschuss für auswärtige Angelegenheiten
Ondřej Kolář

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

Report on the 2025 Commission report on Kosovo - A10-0166/2026

Report on the 2025 Commission report on Kosovo
Ausschuss für auswärtige Angelegenheiten
Riho Terras

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

Georgia’s Upgraded Partnership With China: A Louder Signal, An Empty Promise

TheDiplomat - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 17:15
The new "comprehensive strategic partnership" between Tbilisi and Beijing tells us more about Georgian Dream's political anxieties than about any genuine deepening of bilateral ties.

Aux confins de la Pologne et de l'Ukraine, l'ombre des minorités effacées

Le Monde Diplomatique - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 17:14
Depuis l'invasion russe, des millions d'Ukrainiens ont trouvé refuge en Pologne. Mais les relations entre les deux pays comportent leur part d'ombre. Leurs déchirements pendant la seconde guerre mondiale avaient contraint les autorités soviétiques et polonaises à procéder à un gigantesque (…) / , , , , , ,

BERICHT über den Bericht 2025 der Kommission über Nordmazedonien - A10-0162/2026

BERICHT über den Bericht 2025 der Kommission über Nordmazedonien
Ausschuss für auswärtige Angelegenheiten
Thomas Waitz

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

« Si j'avais su que la personne que j'épouserais me crèverait l'œil, je ne me serais pas mariée »

BBC Afrique - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 17:01
Rosana dit que son mari lui tenait des propos très durs chaque fois qu’ils se disputaient, mais elle, elle les prenait à la légère.
Categories: Afrique

« Si j'avais su que la personne que j'épouserais me crèverait l'œil, je ne me serais pas mariée »

BBC Afrique - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 17:01
Rosana dit que son mari lui tenait des propos très durs chaque fois qu’ils se disputaient, mais elle, elle les prenait à la légère.
Categories: Afrique

Après les élections, l'Arménie toujours entre Moscou et Bruxelles ?

Le Monde Diplomatique - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 16:53
Le résultat des élections législatives du 8 juin 2026 semble avoir conforté le tournant pro-occidental du premier ministre arménien Nikol Pachinian ainsi que sa politique en faveur de la paix avec l'Azerbaïdjan. / Élections, Ukraine, Géopolitique, Conflit, Caucase, Arménie, Azerbaïdjan, Russie / , , , , , , ,

Press release - EU-US trade: press briefing on tariff legislation and media seminar

European Parliament - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 16:03
MEP Bernd Lange will hold a press briefing on Tuesday at 14.00 on tariff legislation affecting EU-US trade relations, followed by a media seminar on EU trade issues.
Committee on International Trade

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP
Categories: European Union

Press release - MFF negotiations: press conference with lead MEPs on Tuesday at 15.30

European Parliament - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 15:33
Parliament’s co-rapporteurs for the multiannual financial framework (MFF) will brief journalists on their reaction to the Council’s recently-released draft negotiating position.
Committee on Budgets

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP
Categories: European Union

China’s Emergence as a Volumetric State

SWP - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 14:47

The Chinese leadership has implemented various official directives, plans, and poli­cies that are, step-by-step, coalescing into a comprehensive architecture of volumetric statecraft. Volumetric power integrates spaces such as the atmosphere, the deep sea, the polar regions, the (geological) subsoil, or outer space into political governance. Volumetric states develop special economic and techn(olog)ical capacities to gain control of, and even govern, these spaces. Volumetric statecraft implies the Chinese state’s willingness and capacity to integrate various policy dimensions into a set of comprehensive ecosystems. China’s 15th Five-Year Plan specifically manifests the volumetric dimension in Chinese governance. This directly impacts the type of chal­lenge that China will pose to the European Union (EU) in the coming years, and it will force the EU to adapt a volumetric strategy of its own towards China.

Agenda - The Week Ahead 15 – 21 June 2026

European Parliament - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 14:43
Plenary session, Strasbourg

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP
Categories: European Union

Charting the Future of the Indonesian Military’s Involvement in Counterterrorism

TheDiplomat - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 14:01
While TNI’s past counterterrorism involvement has proved beneficial, it is important not to overlook how a further expansion of its role could complicate existing efforts.

European Commission’s draft budget for 2027

Written by Sidonia Mazur.

The proposal sets the 2027 European Union budget commitments at €199.9 billion and payments at €212 billion. The Commission underlined that the ‘next year’s budget will continue to provide crucial funding for established EU political priorities, including major support for Ukraine’.

Background – 2027 budget procedure

The European Parliament is one of the two arms of the European Union’s budgetary authority, the Council being the other. The two institutions, assisted by the European Commission, decide on the budget in the annual EU budget procedure, within the limits of the long-term EU budget – the multiannual financial framework (MFF). It is the European Commission’s task to propose a draft budget each year. The Commission takes into account the views of the two arms of the EU budgetary authority, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) agreed on its guidelines for the 2027 EU budget on 17 February 2026. The European Parliament adopted its guidelines for the preparation of the 2027 budget, Section III on 28 April 2026. Parliament underlined that ‘the final year of the current MFF must focus on delivery for people, the economy and the planet and on providing investments for competitiveness’.

Next steps

On 9 July 2026, the Commission plans to formally adopt the 2027 draft budget and publish it in all official languages. More information on performance will be presented in the Annual Management and Performance Report scheduled for 16 June 2026.

On 16 July 2026, Parliament, Council and Commission will meet for a first budgetary trilogue.

By mid-July 2026, the Committee of the permanent representatives of the governments of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) will approve Council’s draft position on the 2027 draft budget. The Council is expected to adopt its position on the 2027 draft budget in September 2026.

In October 2026, Parliament is due to adopt its position on the 2027 draft budget.

Possible meetings of the Conciliation Committee are likely to take place between 27 October and 16 November 2026.

Further reading Video

Parliament’s role in the annual EU budget

Categories: European Union

South Africa trolled by African fans in wake of World Cup loss

BBC Africa - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 12:52
The taunting reflects anger from parts of the continent over reports of xenophobia in South Africa.
Categories: Africa, Afrique

Un G7 pour quoi faire ?

IRIS - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 12:32

Le G7 s’ouvre le 15 juin prochain à Evian. La France en assure la présidence dans un contexte marqué par les divisions et les incertitudes. Créé en 1975 à l’initiative de Valéry Giscard d’Estaing en réponse à la crise économique, ce groupe des sept pays les plus industrialisés était à l’origine conçu comme un espace de dialogue informel entre alliés. Aujourd’hui, il est souvent perçu comme un club occidental en perte d’influence, où les désaccords l’emportent sur les consensus.

Cette édition est largement dominée par une question : quel sera le comportement de Donald Trump ? Entre ses désaccords avec les Européens sur l’Ukraine, son hostilité envers les institutions internationales et ses divergences sur les questions climatiques, commerciales ou technologiques, sa présence pourrait une nouvelle fois transformer le sommet en exercice d’équilibriste diplomatique.

Les dirigeants des États membres du G7 devraient notamment évoquer la guerre en Ukraine, alors que les Européens souhaitent maintenir la pression sur la Russie et poursuivre leur soutien à Kiev. Mais les divergences apparaissent également sur l’intelligence artificielle, sujet de confrontation croissante entre une Europe attachée à la régulation et une administration américaine qui défend une approche libérale sous l’influence des géants du numérique.

Les conflits au Proche-Orient et la situation en Iran figurent également parmi les dossiers susceptibles d’être abordés. Pourtant, derrière ces discussions se pose une question : le G7 est-il encore capable d’influencer le cours des événements mondiaux ou n’est-il plus qu’un symbole d’un Occident dont le poids relatif ne cesse de diminuer ?

L’article Un G7 pour quoi faire ? est apparu en premier sur IRIS.

Points de passage stratégique en mer : quels scénarios et quels risques pour 2026 ?

IRIS - Fri, 12/06/2026 - 12:32

La fermeture du détroit d’Ormuz a mis en lumière l’importance stratégique des points de passages maritimes et a montré que leur blocage peut avoir des répercussions sur les marchés mondiaux. Cependant, ce détroit n’est pas un cas isolé : d’autres détroits et canaux jouent également un rôle déterminant dans la fluidité des échanges internationaux. Toutefois, ces passages stratégiques sont exposés à divers risques, qu’ils soient géopolitiques, tels que des tensions, des conflits et des rivalités entre États, ou climatiques, susceptibles d’interrompre la circulation maritime.

Quelles sont les normes juridiques auxquelles sont soumis ces détroits et canaux ? En quoi leur fermeture peut-elle perturber les échanges mondiaux ? Quelles sont les vulnérabilités de ces points de passages stratégiques ? Au-delà du détroit d’Ormuz, quelles pourraient être les conséquences d’un blocage d’un autre point de passage sur l’économie mondiale ?

Julia Tasse, directrice de recherche à l’IRIS et responsable du programme Océan, décrypte ces enjeux dans cette nouvelle Chronique Océan.

L’article Points de passage stratégique en mer : quels scénarios et quels risques pour 2026 ? est apparu en premier sur IRIS.

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