The 27 Member States are narrowing down the list of new own resources that could be used to fund the common budget, and the Irish Presidency of the Council considers, in a note addressed to the governments, that two options stand out. The first is the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, known as CBAM, which taxes imports of polluting products. The second is a levy on uncollected electronic waste.
Of all the European Commission’s proposals on new own resources, the CBAM enjoys the broadest consensus amongst Member States, many of which say they are open to an increase in the rate, writes the Irish Presidency. Member States currently transfer 75 per cent of CBAM revenue to the EU budget and retain the remaining quarter, with the Commission estimating this will generate €1.6 billion per year – or approximately €11.5 billion over the entire seven-year budget cycle. The tax on electronic waste, which enjoys broad support, would in turn generate 17.9 billion a year, with criticism focusing mainly on statistical issues.
The remaining proposals are stalling. Last year, the Commission proposed five levies – on carbon imports, the carbon market, electronic waste, corporate profits and tobacco – totalling €66 billion a year, each of which would need to be adopted unanimously. A group of Member States remains opposed to a tax on the carbon market, including Poland and Hungary, which are major emitters. A majority of governments have rejected the corporate levy, deeming it detrimental to competitiveness.
In the spring, the European Parliament had put forward its own proposals on online gambling, cryptocurrency companies and digital giants. The Irish Presidency dampened these proposals, noting that most Member States had doubts about their implementation by 2028, and that the digital services tax was a cause for concern, with some citing the threat of US retaliation. France has led the charge to increase European taxes and, correspondingly, reduce each Member State’s national contributions to the EU budget. The President of the European Council, António Costa, has asked leaders to focus on several avenues of inquiry as they prepare for their meeting on 15 October in Brussels, less than four months before the informal deadline. Politico
Europe
🇺🇸 United States - 🇷🇺 Russia - 🇺🇦 Ukraine • On Saturday in Moscow, Vladimir Putin met with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for over three hours, a meeting that Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov described as “very useful”, with the Russian president referring to “real progress” on the ground and the need to address the root causes of the conflict. The two men then met Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday, alongside French, British and German advisers, and presented proposals described by the Ukrainian presidency as “more effective”. Steve Witkoff reported today that there had been “substantial progress” and steps towards tripartite talks, a possibility the Kremlin has not ruled out, though it has not set a date. The Élysée Palace reports a renewed willingness on the part of Russia to negotiate following the Duma elections, due to take place from 18 to 20 September. Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, maintains that the territorial issue can only be resolved between heads of state, and fears a winter of war.
🇩🇪 Germany • The AfD, a far-right party with neo-Nazi leanings, won 43.8 per cent of the vote on Sunday in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, compared with 17.2 per cent for the conservative CDU, whose share of the vote has almost halved. The AfD secured 39 of the 83 seats in the regional parliament, falling three seats short of an absolute majority, and its lead candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, has begun talks to win over conservative MPs. No German region has been governed by the far right since 1945. Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was “deeply shocked” and acknowledged his share of responsibility, whilst insisting that he would not change his policy “by a single millimetre”. The French Minister for the Economy, Roland Lescure, described the result as a “very, very worrying” signal, a view shared by the Polish Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski. Two further regional elections are scheduled for 20 September.
🇩🇪 Germany – 🇷🇺 Russia • Sergey Lavrov stated yesterday that Western accusations against Russia regarding an attempted drone attack on Leipzig Airport in early August amounted “in general terms to the outbreak of a full-scale war”, according to the TASS news agency.
🇺🇦 Ukraine • A local ceasefire negotiated by the International Atomic Energy Agency came into force on Saturday around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which is controlled by Russia and has been without an external power supply since 20 August. Ukrainian technicians were due to clear the area of mines before repairing the line from Ferosplavna; the plant is currently running on diesel generators, whose fuel is running low.
🇬🇱 Greenland – 🇪🇺 European Union • Ursula von der Leyen today concluded a two-day visit to Nuuk by announcing a €200 million package for connectivity, clean energy and access to critical raw materials, accompanied by a joint declaration between the EU and the territory. “It is up to the people of Greenland and Denmark to decide Greenland’s future. No one else,” she said, without naming Donald Trump, who has never completely relinquished control over this island of 57,000 inhabitants. The head of the Greenlandic government, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, and the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, accompanied her by boat amidst the icebergs.
🇷🇸 Serbia • Thousands of people attended the funeral today in Belgrade of Ratko Mladic, who died at the end of August aged 84 in The Hague, where he was serving a life sentence for the Srebrenica genocide. The ceremony took place in the small Church of St Luke, attended by several Serbian ministers, the Russian ambassador and the former President of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik. The European Union’s diplomatic service reiterated that the glorification of war criminals and the denial of genocide have no place in countries applying for EU membership (as has been the case for Serbia since 2012).
Middle East
🇮🇱 Israel - 🇱🇧 Lebanon • At least twelve people were killed by the Israeli army today in Kfar Remmane, in southern Lebanon, including two children and four women in a residential building destroyed without prior warning, as well as an 18-year-old rescue worker targeted by a drone. Eleven people had already been killed yesterday in the Nabatiyeh region, where strikes destroyed a former hospital and damaged administrative buildings. Lebanon’s Ministry of Health has recorded 27 deaths since Friday. President Joseph Aoun denounced a “dangerous escalation” and called on Washington to take action. Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for any operations since 20 June. Israeli retaliatory strikes have claimed more than 4,300 lives since March, whilst further talks are expected this month.
🇮🇱 Israel – 🇵🇸 Palestine • The Israeli army killed two Palestinians today in the occupied West Bank, during separate incidents near settler outposts. In Hajja, a 19-year-old man was killed and three others wounded when settlers and soldiers opened fire on villagers. Near Qusra, a 34-year-old Palestinian stabbed and seriously injured a 20-year-old settler before being shot dead. Benjamin Netanyahu is reported to have ordered, under pressure from Washington, the dismantling of some of these unauthorised outposts. In Gaza, an airstrike yesterday killed a father and his eight-year-old daughter; the army claimed it was targeting a member of Hamas. More than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since the October 2025 ceasefire.
🇺🇸 United States - 🇮🇷 Iran • Tehran is set to announce in the coming days a new restricted zone in the Gulf, which will extend from the line of the US naval blockade; any vessel entering it will be placed on a sanctions list, said Mohsen Rezaï, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. Iran is also due to publish charts showing a navigation corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, in Iranian and Omani waters. On Saturday, the US military bombed three oil tankers it claims are linked to the Revolutionary Guards, including one near Kharg Island, following ballistic missile strikes against two US Navy vessels. The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has promised “faster, more intense and more painful” retaliatory strikes. Only around ten ships now pass through the strait each day, compared with 130 to 140 before the war.
🇸🇾 Syria • Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, stated today that the nuclear reactor built in Deir Ezzor under Bashar al-Assad was “nearly complete”, and that all that remained was to load the fuel. The facility is said to have been highly efficient at producing fissile material suitable for use in weapons. The site, which was bombed by Israel in 2007, has been closed for 18 years. A draft resolution provides for the Syrian dossier to be closed this week.
Asia-Pacific
🇰🇵 North Korea - 🇷🇺 Russia • The two countries today inaugurated their first road bridge via videoconference – a one-kilometre structure spanning the Tumen River, built in 16 months. The Khassan border crossing, constructed as part of the same project, will be able to handle 300 vehicles and 2,325 people per day. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin spoke of an unprecedented comprehensive strategic partnership and an expected boost to trade, scientific and cultural exchanges, whilst his counterpart Pak Thae-song hailed a friendship destined to last. The two capitals have grown closer since 2022, with Pyongyang having sent soldiers to the Russian region of Kursk.
🇰🇵 North Korea • Kim Jong-un commissioned the “Kang Kon” yesterday in Wonsan, a 5,000-tonne destroyer presented by the state media as part of a nuclear response system capable of “devastating retaliatory strikes”. Deployed off the peninsula’s east coast, it succeeds the “Choe Hyon”. Seoul, Washington and Tokyo began their joint military exercises, Freedom Edge, today; these are scheduled to run until Friday.
