The Brief – 17 April 2025: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Source: Euractiv
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Daniel Eck here, Euractiv’s news editor in Paris. This is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of this week in news – where you decide which is which.
Before I begin, we’ll be taking a short break over the long Easter weekend and be back in your inboxes as usual on Tuesday, 22 April.
Read on to see what we have in store for our Good Friday edition.
A dampener on Easter
After weeks of being sidelined from Ukraine-Russia peace talks by Donald Trump, European officials met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff for surprise pre-Easter peace talks on Thursday.
This might suggest that the US is warming up to the idea of Europe having a seat at the table. But despite promising “some very good proposals” to end the war in Ukraine “very soon” earlier this week, Trump and his team remain light on details, and Rubio warned the president will walk away “within days” if there’s no movement.
While Western leaders scramble to come up with a peace deal, Ukraine is preparing for the fighting to continue for its fourth Easter since Russia’s full-scale invasion. That’s as Moscow showed no signs it would abide by a 30-day moratorium.
Getting out the big guns
This week NATO officials confirmed plans for a record €1 billion spend offensive … on comfort.
The alliance’s main headquarters in north Brussels is getting a full upgrade, including a gym and a shopping centre. With perks like that, those wanting to experience the Brussels intern life might just abandon their Commission dreams and go straight for the NATO gold.
On a more cosmic front, our very own Joshua Posaner broke the story of Europe’s space agency announcing plans to pitch a record €21 billion budget spend to member countries at a summit in Bremen later this year. That will also include funding for a military-grade reconnaissance satellite network.
Meloni or Mitsotakis?
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis were vying this week for the same role – as Europe’s Trump’s whisperer.
Meloni landed in Washington on Thursday as the first EU leader to meet Trump since last week’s tariff meltdown. The two shmoozed, as expected, with Trump calling Meloni “a fantastic woman” and saying he likes her “very much.”
But behind the flattery, there was at least a hint of progress on trade. Trump said he’s in “no rush” and both sides said they “fully expect” an EU-US trade deal before the 90-day pause elapses – though coming from Trump, this should be taken with a grain of salt.
Over in sunny Greece, our Sarantis Michalopoulos looked at what the political future holds for Trump’s other new friend. He’s called Mitsotakis “a good man” – hardly shocking, given his recent rightward drift and his post-2023 crusade against so-called woke culture. Though his dwindling popularity might end up being his Achilles’ heel.
Is it safe?
The big Brussels story this week was on migration. Our resident expert Nicoletta Ionta broke news of the Commission’s ‘safe seven’ list on Monday. These include Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and Georgia. Migrants arriving from these countries will face a fast-track procedure so that they may be “quickly” returned there.
Pharma brain drain
This week, CEOs of European pharmaceutical companies urged the European Commission to act fast in case of a possible industry exodus. Fearing a brain drain to more innovation-friendly countries like the US and China, they warned that without a serious shot in the arm, the sector could soon be on life support.
Sarantis, who’s had his stethoscope pressed to this story from the start, was first to break it.
Stick to store-bought
Attention, Easter egg hunt planners: rethink where you get your eggs this year.
According to the Dutch health agency, there’s a good chance your home-grown eggs contain ‘forever chemicals’ (now also on the mind of German insurers).
As the agency recommends, just stick to store-bought. Or chocolate ones, obviously.
Europe’s big bad wolf
Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed our extensive coverage on bears and wolves this week, but now it seems like it’s a pretty done deal for the latter, as EU countries decided on Wednesday to downgrade their protection status.
While the capitals left it at wolves, our reporter Barbara Machado found out that the European Parliament could give the go-ahead next month for more of our fur-coated friends to be culled.
Maybe the Easter bunny is next?
The original article: belongs to Euractiv .
