Weekly report
AI transparency obligations start to apply across the EU · Home affairs ministers hold an emergency video conference on Ceuta · No new EPSO announcements published during the week · Next competition opens 8 September: ICT Experts (AD 8)
New transparency rules took effect on 2 August, requiring that people can recognise when they are interacting with an AI system or looking at AI-generated content — aimed at limiting deception and misinformation.
European CommissionMinisters met informally by video on 4 August to address developments in the Spanish enclave, where the border breach from Morocco has become the EU's most acute migration episode of the year.
Council of the EUPredominantly young men have crossed from Morocco into the enclave, overwhelming reception facilities. The city government has asked Madrid to declare a national emergency.
EuronewsMigration Commissioner Magnus Brunner urged MEPs to move on the pending anti-people-smuggling legislation, casting the Ceuta events as evidence that the current framework is inadequate.
Euronews / European CommissionThe signatories link Spain's mass regularisation scheme to the surge and describe the episode as a threat to the Schengen area — an unusually direct intra-EU rebuke that sets up a difficult September Council.
EuronewsBy 4 August both countries had officers assisting the Spanish National Police in checking travellers boarding ferries to Algeciras — a practical containment measure taken ahead of any formal EU decision.
EuronewsPublished on 6 August at the height of the holiday season, the guidance sets out what the EHIC covers when receiving medically necessary treatment in another member state — and what it does not.
European CommissionStrong winds hampered aerial water drops as Greece fought another large blaze, extending a season in which the area burned across Europe is running far above the long-term average.
EuronewsEurostat's first estimate, published 5 August, put industrial producer prices down 0.3% month-on-month in the euro area and 0.2% in the EU — easing pipeline pressure at a moment when headline inflation is being pushed up by energy.
EurostatJune retail volumes fell 0.3% in the euro area and 0.1% in the EU month-on-month, published 6 August. Against June 2025 the calendar-adjusted index was still 0.7% higher, so the weakness is recent rather than structural.
EurostatPublished 7 August, the May services output figure showed a 0.8% monthly increase across both aggregates — a counterweight to the softer retail and producer-price readings released earlier in the same week.
EurostatEPSO issued no official updates between 31 July and 7 August — the previous item was the AD7 Audit testing date on 29 July. The August pause is consistent with its published calendar: no selection procedure opens during the month.
EU Careers (EPSO)The first launch after the summer break is the ICT Experts competition for artificial intelligence and cybersecurity profiles, opening 8 September with applications closing 13 October. Data Management Experts (AST 3) follows on 6 October.
EU Careers (EPSO)The timetable for the 170,000+ AD5 applicants is unchanged: verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning first, expected as of October/November 2026, with Part 2 in the first half of 2027 for those who pass.
EU Careers (EPSO)The announcement came alongside further US strikes on Iran, with the president also saying the strait would reopen 'soon' — statements that pulled in opposite directions and left shipping and energy markets guessing.
CNNThe claim widened the maritime dimension of the conflict beyond Iranian and US targets, striking at Gulf shipping directly and raising the risk premium on traffic through the Red Sea and Hormuz.
CNNTalks between Iran and Oman produced agreement on navigation coordinates, described as positive — a rare de-escalatory technical step in a week otherwise dominated by escalation.
Al JazeeraHamas said it would proceed only if Israel stops strikes in Gaza and withdraws troops to the line defined in the October ceasefire — attaching concrete preconditions to the disarmament framework announced the previous week.
Al JazeeraOn 6 August Israeli officials publicly objected to the published text, a significant obstacle for a roadmap that had been presented days earlier as close to agreed.
Times of IsraelThe Iranian president made the commitment in a call with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, tying Tehran more openly to the Gaza negotiating track while its own confrontation with Washington escalated.
CNNAttacks on Saudi territory on 7 August pulled the Gulf's largest economy further into a confrontation it had spent weeks trying to stay out of, days after Riyadh launched its Red Sea maritime coalition.
FDD Overnight BriefSaudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Turkey and others issued a joint condemnation of what they described as ongoing violations, singling out attacks on healthcare facilities, medical and civilian infrastructure.
Al JazeeraThe barrage struck multiple regions, continuing the pattern of large combined strikes and keeping pressure on Ukrainian air defences through the summer.
EuronewsThe object disappeared from radar after crossing into NATO territory — the second such incident involving Poland in barely a week, following the missile crater found near Tarnawa Kolonia in late July.
EuronewsDestatis reported real new orders in manufacturing up 3.1% month-on-month in June on a seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis. Strip out large-scale orders and the underlying picture reverses: new orders were 0.5% lower than the previous month.
Destatis (Federal Statistical Office)The rise was largely attributable to manufacture of machinery and equipment (+12.7%) and of computer, electronic and optical products (+22.7%) — a concentration that explains why the headline and the ex-large-orders figures diverge so sharply.
Destatis (Federal Statistical Office)On the less volatile three-month-on-three-month basis, new orders from April to June were 1.3% higher than in the preceding three months — a modest but positive underlying trend beneath the noisy monthly prints.
Destatis (Federal Statistical Office)The provisional May figure was cut to a 0.3% monthly increase from the 1.9% originally published — a reminder that the German orders series is heavily revised and that single months should not carry much interpretive weight.
Destatis (Federal Statistical Office)German exports rose 0.9% month-on-month in June against expectations of 0.2%, reaching a record €139.3 billion of goods shipped — evidence that external demand held up better than the domestic picture suggested.
Destatis (Federal Statistical Office)The June surplus fell to €15.4 billion from €19.3 billion in May. Over the first half of 2026 exports rose 3.7% year-on-year while imports rose 4.4% — imports growing faster is what is compressing the surplus.
Destatis (Federal Statistical Office)Production in manufacturing, energy and construction rose 0.2% month-on-month in June on provisional figures, following a 0.7% gain in May — modest, but a second consecutive monthly increase.
Destatis (Federal Statistical Office)The automotive industry expanded 3.6% on the previous month and was the main positive contributor, while a 3.9% fall in the manufacture of machinery and equipment pulled the other way — the same sector that had led the orders surge.
Destatis (Federal Statistical Office)On the quarterly comparison, output from April to June was 0.7% higher than in the opening quarter of the year — consistent with an industrial sector that is stabilising rather than accelerating.
Destatis (Federal Statistical Office)Em decisão unânime no dia 5 de agosto, o Comitê de Política Monetária reduziu a taxa básica em 0,25 ponto percentual, para 14% ao ano. É o quarto corte seguido do ciclo iniciado em março de 2026, quando a Selic saiu de 15% para 14,75%.
Banco Central / CNN BrasilO comunicado foi lido pelo mercado como neutro: sem compromisso com o ritmo, mas sem fechar a porta a mais uma redução. A sinalização manteve viva a aposta em pelo menos mais um corte até dezembro.
Banco CentralA inflação oficial de julho veio em 0,07%, 0,09 ponto abaixo do 0,16% de junho. No ano o IPCA acumula 3,44% e, em 12 meses, 4,44% — desaceleração que ajudou a sustentar a decisão do Copom.
IBGE / Agência BrasilNa sexta-feira, 7 de agosto, o partido entregou à Justiça Eleitoral o registro da chapa encabeçada por Lula, com Geraldo Alckmin novamente como vice, sob o nome 'Brasil Pronto Pra Mais'.
Agência BrasilJunto com o pedido de registro, a coligação apresentou o programa para um eventual quarto mandato: um documento de 84 páginas dividido em 13 eixos, com ênfase em políticas sociais, educação, saúde e segurança pública.
Agência BrasilLevantamentos divulgados na primeira semana de agosto colocam o presidente em vantagem tanto no cenário de primeiro turno quanto nas simulações de segundo turno, a dois meses da eleição.
Ideia / Quaest via CNN BrasilO ministro da Fazenda destacou que o IPCA acumulado do mandato deve ficar em torno de 19,7%, o menor de um período de quatro anos na série histórica — argumento central da defesa econômica do governo em ano eleitoral.
Ministério da FazendaNo pregão de 7 de agosto o índice cedeu, pressionado pela temporada de resultados do segundo trimestre, enquanto o dólar comercial recuou e rondou os R$ 5,10.
CNN BrasilO banco reportou lucro líquido ajustado de R$ 5,142 bilhões no 2T26, alta de 23% sobre os R$ 4,19 bilhões do mesmo período de 2025, com receitas recordes de R$ 10,3 bilhões (+15,9% na comparação anual).
CNN BrasilO calendário econômico da semana reuniu a divulgação do IPCA e, do lado americano, o CPI, além da ata do Copom detalhando o comunicado neutro — combinação que manteve o câmbio e a curva de juros sensíveis a cada indicador.
Banco Central / Agência BrasilPractise with a full EPSO-format set — verbal, numerical, abstract reasoning and EU knowledge.
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