Laura Dubois

EU’s anti-fraud agency set to investigate Peter Mandelson [FREE TO READ] Probe into former commissioner for trade is expected to be wide-ranging

💥 Brussels has requested that the EU’s anti-fraud agency investigate Lord Peter Mandelson’s actions while he was serving the British trade commissioner between 2004 and 2008. 

Scoop w @pickardje.bsky.social & @lauramdubois.ft.com @financialtimes.com

as.ft.com/r/0542a0fa-4...

Two very big things here: 1) since sanctioning of Rosneft and Lukoil, the largest exporter of Russian crude is an entity called "Redwood Global". It SO HAPPENS that they share an e-mail server with a group of Azeri traders who EU sanctions officials believe are pals with the chief exec of Rosneft.

Email blunder exposes $90bn Russian oil smuggling ring Apparent network of companies using same server includes little-known group that has become country’s largest oil exporter

one of the world's largest smuggling networks has accidentally exposed itself because of a stupid e-mail configuration blunder, which has revealed around 50 apparently unconnected companies are all sharing back-office functions: www.ft.com/content/4310...

FT Exclusive: An IT blunder has revealed an apparent smuggling ring that has moved at least $90bn of Russian oil and is playing a central role in funding the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. ft.trib.al/cmcaLCc

Europe builds for war as arms factories expand at triple speed FT radar analysis reveals historic scale of rearmament, stretching over 7mn sq metres of new development

A story from last year that’s more salient than ever by @lauramdubois.ft.com, Davjd Djambazov and me ::: Europe builds for war as arms factories expand at triple speed : www.ft.com/content/ce61...

Has Europe learnt to manage migration? Policymakers say strict new measures have driven down irregular arrivals, but experts say the underlying factors are little changed

Years ago, Denmark's migration minister Rasmus Stoklund was “considered a racist and a controversial figure”, he says.

Today, Copenhagen's hard-line stance has become mainstream, and migration figures have dropped. But at what cost, and are these policies effective?

www.ft.com/content/0bc9...

Putin’s retaliation threat over frozen assets rattles EU capitals Italy, Belgium and Austria worry about Russia moving against their companies

Great piece by @maxseddon.bsky.social @lauramdubois.ft.com @henryjfoy.ft.com laying out the risks of retaliation from Russia if the EU manages to pull off its frozen assets plan -- TBD at a summit today.

www.ft.com/content/616d...

France shielding €18bn Russian asset pot from EU ‘reparations loan’ push Paris guarded names of private banks holding world’s second biggest accumulation of immobilised Russian state funds

We tracked down Russia's central bank assets around Europe - and found that France is holding €18bn mostly at commercial banks and has been shielding them from plans to use the funds for Ukraine. @financialtimes.com

www.ft.com/content/fe30...

Scores of MEPs hold side jobs in sectors where they steer EU laws FT analysis identifies paid work that has not been declared as a potential conflict of interest

For this story, we used AI to read more than 13,000 documents to identify which MEPs declared a conflict of interest. While dozens have side jobs overlapping with their parliamentary duties, only eight declared a conflict of interest.

With @jonathanvincent.bsky.social

www.ft.com/content/0466...

Scores of MEPs hold side jobs in sectors where they steer EU laws [FREE TO READ] FT analysis identifies paid work that has not been declared as a potential conflict of interest

Great work by @lauramdubois.ft.com breaking out just how much European MEPs earn in their side jobs — side jobs that often overlap with policy areas they work on in parliament.

on.ft.com/4okX8MT

EU plans to hand Deripaska-linked assets to Raiffeisen [FREE TO READ] Some European officials worry lifting sanctions would bolster Russian retaliation against western companies

Opposition to the move from capitals that don’t want to reward the oligarch or endorse Russian court rulings could stymie efforts to pass the EU’s next package of sanctions against Moscow

Scoop with @lauramdubois.ft.com & @mjruehl.bsky.social

on.ft.com/4o7M3i9

EU plans to hand Deripaska-linked assets to Raiffeisen Some European officials worry lifting sanctions would bolster Russian retaliation against western companies

EU capitals are discussing a proposal to lift sanctions on assets linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska in order to compensate Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International for damages it had to pay in Russia.

With @mjruehl.bsky.social @henryjfoy.ft.com

on.ft.com/3WmgCo8

Greek customs broker caught with €3mn cash in China-linked fraud probe Bloc’s top prosecutor says investigation highlights ‘massive’ criminal effort to avoid taxes and duties

Law enforcement found €2.7mn in cash at a customs broker's office, plus €300k at his house.

EPPO believes the seized euro are profits linked to Chinese organised crime groups shipping goods into Europe without paying required duties and taxes.

www.ft.com/content/2210...

Why fighting over climate plans risks leaving the EU ‘impotent’ at the UN [FREE TO READ] Also in this newsletter: UN refugee agency warns right to asylum is ‘under threat’

The EU has styled itself as a world leader in climate change policies and human rights. As we report in this morning’s Europe Express with @lauramdubois.ft.com & @andybounds.bsky.social, Brussels is not living up its own standards on both

on.ft.com/4mpUPq9

EU explores using €170bn of Russia’s frozen assets to fund Ukraine Some capitals remain wary over ‘reparation loans’ plan, as US calls on G7 to tap Moscow’s money immobilised abroad

Brussels is preparing ways to use Russia’s frozen assets to back €170bn of “reparation loans” to Ukraine, using cash balances from the matured assets.

With @paolatamma.bsky.social

www.ft.com/content/4585...

Belgium to soften stance on frozen Russian assets if EU shares risk [FREE TO READ] Foreign minister warns bloc not to ‘kill the hen laying golden eggs’

Belgium is open to discuss riskier ways to maximise profits arising from Russian immobilised assets, provided the EU shares the legal risks, its foreign minister told @lauramdubois.ft.com and me - an option just suggested by Ursula von der Leyen in her SOTEU.

on.ft.com/4m5yFt9

Europe builds for war as arms factories expand at triple speed FT radar analysis reveals historic scale of rearmament, stretching over 7mn sq metres of new development

This piece on the massive scale of European rearmament based on satellite images is so good that some readers think we’re doing the GRU’s work for it. on.ft.com/46OwOFn

The two types of reader: those who like the story and those who think we are providing material assistance to the enemy on.ft.com/46OwOFn

We wanted to know if the money that the EU has put into rearmament is turning into production capacity — and the answer is: yes. Industry is rearming.

Europe builds for war as arms factories expand at triple speed FT radar analysis reveals historic scale of rearmament, stretching over 7mn sq metres of new development

Resharing a story we worked on for several months, taking a closer look at the state of Europe’s defence industry.

Our analysis of satellite and radar images shows that Europe’s rearmament is already well under way.

With @chriscook.news and colleagues

on.ft.com/46OwOFn

The UK ditched its Rwanda plan. The EU is reviving it Majority of European capitals now back outsourcing asylum outside the bloc

Three years ago, the EU criticised the UK's Rwanda asylum scheme as inhumane and said it broke international law.

Now, it's resuscitating those plans.

Sending asylum-seekers outside the bloc “has so much traction now”, Danish migration minister Kaare Dybvad told me.

www.ft.com/content/e38a...

Von der Leyen botches €2tn EU budget proposal with chaotic infighting Centralised and chaotic process has compromised launch of commission president’s spending plan, colleagues say

How NOT to prepare and present a budget proposal to ensure buy in from colleagues and eventually EU countries — who will have to foot the bill. With @henryjfoy.ft.com and @bmoens.bsky.social

www.ft.com/content/c88e...

Italy and Spain slam France over proposed migration pact with UK [FREE TO READ] Rome and Madrid fear they will have to take back asylum seekers who cross the Channel

“We take note — with a degree of surprise — of the reported intention of France to sign a bilateral readmission arrangement,” says the letter sent by Spain, Italy & three other Mediterranean countries to @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu’s chief of staff and seen by @lauramdubois.ft.com

on.ft.com/4l0D5BQ

EU to target Nord Stream and Russian oil cap in new sanctions package [FREE TO READ] Commission is due to present its 18th package of measures against Moscow on Tuesday

💥 EU to present 18th Russian sanctions package this afternoon, including measures targeting Nord Stream, lowering the oil price cap, and giving Belgium legal safeguards over the €190bn in frozen Moscow assets held in the country

on.ft.com/3HySGKk w @lauramdubois.ft.com

EU to ‘step up’ on cyber security as dependence on US laid bare Temporary US funding threat to online security programme in April highlighted Europe’s reliance on Washington

Trump’s planned cybersecurity cuts have been a wake-up call to the EU - which, like the rest of the world, has been relying on the US for patching vulnerabilities.

Now, the EU wants to step up, says its cyber chief. @financialtimes.com

on.ft.com/4mVwsSR

Israel’s Gaza aid plan could lead to ‘war crime’, UN agency chief says Philippe Lazzarini says ‘primary intent’ of US-backed proposal is to push population south and even out of strip

Israel’s Gaza aid plan could lead to ‘war crime’, UN agency chief says

https://www.ft.com/content/8f080842-1d45-4c37-8612-bc6e3c7967b1

Deal to let Brits skip EU passport queues would have happened without post-Brexit accord Broader reform of European border checks that has been planned for years would allow use of ‘e-gates’

London's claims that the EU-UK deal paves the way for Brits to use e-gates at airports is not entirely true.

They would have been able to anyway under the bloc's new electronic border system, expected to start in autumn.

Full story with @pickardje.bsky.social here:

on.ft.com/44Nab30

Deal to let Brits skip EU passport queues would have happened without post-Brexit accord [FREE TO READ] Broader reform of European border checks that has been planned for years would allow use of ‘e-gates’

London claimed a deal to let Brits use EU electronic passport gates was a major win from this week's EU-UK Brexit "reset" summit.

That's not true - UK citizens would have got that benefit regardless

Great story from @lauramdubois.ft.com & @pickardje.bsky.social

on.ft.com/4363cRz

Israel’s Gaza aid plan could lead to ‘war crime’, UN agency chief says Philippe Lazzarini says ‘primary intent’ of US-backed proposal is to push population south and even out of strip

„The aid plan which is being proposed is a tool which facilitates the forced displacement of the people,” Philippe Lazzarini said. “And ultimately we know that in [the] context of war, forced displacement of people may constitute [a] war crime.”

With @jamesshotter.bsky.social

on.ft.com/4jm8GN2

The man behind the rise of ‘golden passports’ Christian Kälin of Henley & Partners says landmark court ruling against selling EU citizenship scheme will not stop trend

After the ECJ ruled Malta's "golden passport" scheme is unlawful, @joshspero.ft.com and I spoke to the man who developed it.

"Globally, it doesn’t matter at all,” said Christian Kälin about the ruling.

@financialtimes.com

www.ft.com/content/7bc6...