Von der Leyen turns up the pressure on China over the trade deficit
Reported 27 August: the Commission President escalated her language on the EU's commercial imbalance with Beijing, ahead of a negotiating deadline later this year.
EuronewsEuropean Union
EU officials to travel to China as the October rebalancing deadline looms
Euronews exclusive, 25 August: a Commission delegation is heading to Beijing for talks on structural trade imbalances before the October deadline — the practical follow-through on the political pressure above.
EuronewsFour member states renew the push to use €210bn in frozen Russian assets for Ukraine
Reported 27 August: Sweden and three other member states are campaigning to redirect frozen Russian sovereign assets toward Ukraine's reconstruction — a recurring proposal that has so far failed to clear legal objections.
EuronewsEastern-flank commissioners press von der Leyen to appoint a Russia coordinator
Reported 27 August: commissioners from the eastern member states asked for a dedicated coordinator role for the security situation on the EU's eastern borders.
EuronewsCosta tours capitals before the MFF crunch, aiming for a year-end deal
Reported 25 August: the European Council President began a four-week round of member-state consultations to test appetite for a compromise on the next multiannual financial framework, targeting agreement by the end of the year.
EuronewsEPP and Renew push to freeze €770 million in Romanian recovery funds
Reported 25 August: conservatives and liberals in the Parliament joined forces to urge the Commission to withhold €770 million from Romania over disputed integrity legislation affecting a municipal official.
EuronewsEnlargement Commissioner Kos sets out a four-pillar path to break the accession impasse
Reported 25 August: the plan pairs internal EU reforms and safeguards with gradual, phased integration of candidate countries rather than a single accession moment.
EuronewsEU faces nearly €41bn in extra fossil-fuel costs as the Hormuz crisis bites
Reported 26 August: analysis puts the additional import bill for EU countries at close to €41 billion as a result of the Strait of Hormuz crisis, renewing arguments for accelerating the phase-out of fossil imports.
EuronewsMember states urged to close a €65bn annual gap in nature-restoration funding
Reported 27 August: environmental authorities put the annual shortfall in financing the bloc's nature-restoration plans at €65 billion, as member states prepare their national implementation plans.
EuronewsIreland keeps the nuclear option open as data-centre demand surges
Reported 26 August: Dublin is reconsidering its restrictions on nuclear power as electricity consumption from data centres climbs — a live example of the energy-versus-digital-growth tension across the bloc.
EuronewsEPSO & EU careers
ICT experts competition EPSO/AD/430/26 opens in 11 days
Publication is set for 8 September with an application deadline of 13 October, for administrators at grade AD 8 in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. It is the only competition opening in the next month, and the only entry on EPSO's 2026 planner whose dates are NOT marked 'to be confirmed'.
EPSO / EU Careers (planner)No competitions are open for application right now
As of 28 August the EPSO portal states plainly that there are no open competitions. The next window is EPSO/AD/430/26 on 8 September. This is a state-of-play note, not an announcement.
EPSO / EU CareersEPSO reminds candidates to check the website and Single Candidate Portal regularly
Published 26 August: EPSO asked candidates to check competition pages and their Single Candidate Portal account regularly for updates and time-sensitive information. Routine in substance, but it is the office's only substantive candidate-facing notice this week.
EPSO / EU CareersData Management experts (AST 3) — planned for 6 October
EPSO/AST/158/26 is planned for publication on 6 October with a deadline of 11 November, covering data processing/analytics/statistics, librarianship and information science, and records and archives management. The only AST-grade competition on the 2026 planner. Dates to be confirmed.
EPSO / EU Careers (planner)Lawyer-linguists for the Court of Justice (AD 7) — planned for 21 October
EPSO/AD/431/26 is planned for 21 October with a deadline of 25 November, for Bulgarian, German, Greek, Spanish, Irish, Maltese, Dutch and Romanian. Dates to be confirmed.
EPSO / EU Careers (planner)Lawyer-linguists for Parliament, Council and Commission (AD 7) — planned for 4 November
EPSO/AD/432/26 is planned for 4 November with a deadline of 8 December, covering Spanish, Finnish, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Maltese, Portuguese and Swedish. With EPSO/AD/431/26 that makes sixteen language profiles open for lawyer-linguists this autumn. Dates to be confirmed.
EPSO / EU Careers (planner)Lawyers (AD 7) — planned for 9 December, deadline in January 2027
EPSO/AD/433/26 closes the 2026 planner: publication 9 December, deadline 20 January, in AI law, criminal law, procurement law and litigation. The AI-law field is new to the EPSO catalogue. Dates to be confirmed.
EPSO / EU Careers (planner)World
At least 270 dead and more than 800 missing in Nepal-Tibet flash floods
Reported 27 August. The toll rose sharply through the day — BBC's own feed carried "at least 160" in the morning before revising to at least 270 dead and over 800 missing by mid-morning GMT.
BBC NewsScientists point to a collapsed glacier as the cause of the Nepal-Tibet floods
Reported 27 August: preliminary investigations attribute the disaster to a collapsed glacier, putting the rapid melting of Himalayan ice at the centre of the analysis.
BBC NewsRatko Mladić, convicted of the Srebrenica genocide, dies aged 84
Reported 27 August: the Bosnian Serb commander, jailed for life in 2017 for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 1992-95 wars in the former Yugoslavia, died in UN detention.
BBC NewsCIA director makes a secret return trip to Moscow
Reported 27 August: BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner writes that there is nothing routine about John Ratcliffe making a secret 10,000-mile return journey to Moscow.
BBC NewsGaza envoy warns that a collapse of the ceasefire would be 'a point of no return'
Reported 27 August: Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace's Gaza envoy, criticised both Israeli strikes and Hamas actions, warning that the failure of last October's ceasefire would be irreversible for the region.
BBC NewsIran and Qatar hold Hormuz talks as hopes rise for renewed US dialogue
Reported 27 August: Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the Strait of Hormuz crisis — the same crisis now costing EU importers close to €41 billion.
Al JazeeraRussian serviceman killed by car bomb in St Petersburg
Reported 27 August: a vehicle explosion in Saint Petersburg killed a Russian military serviceman.
Al JazeeraIsraeli strike kills a woman in southern Lebanon during ceasefire talks
Reported 27 August: an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon killed a newly married woman and wounded others, despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations.
Al JazeeraNorway's King Harald in 'extremely serious' condition as crowds gather
Reported 27 August: Norwegians laid flowers at the palace as the 89-year-old monarch's condition worsened and family members visited him in hospital.
BBC NewsJellyfish shut down part of a French nuclear plant for the second year running
Reported 27 August: jellyfish forced a partial shutdown at the Gravelines station in northern France — the second consecutive year the same cause has closed the plant, and a small but concrete example of climate-linked operational risk in EU energy infrastructure.
BBC NewsGermany
German GDP up 0.3% in Q2, driven almost entirely by exports
Destatis published the detailed Q2 breakdown on 25 August: GDP rose 0.3% on the quarter and 1.0% on the year. Exports grew 2.0% (goods +2.6%) and manufacturing value added 0.9%, while construction was flat at −0.1%.
DestatisGerman households are not spending their income gains — savings ratio rises to 9.6%
From the same 25 August release: household consumption grew just 0.1% year-on-year against income growth of 3.1%. The gap pushed the savings ratio from 9.5% to 9.6% — the recovery is being driven by foreign demand, not domestic.
DestatisEmployment down 212,000 year-on-year — first service-sector fall since the pandemic
Also from the 25 August national-accounts release: employment fell by 212,000 persons (−0.5%) on the year, and the service sector recorded its first decline since the pandemic. Gross fixed capital formation fell 0.2%, with machinery and equipment down 1.4%.
Destatisifo Business Climate rises to 88.8 points in August
Published 25 August: the index climbed from 86.7 in July to 88.8. Companies rated their current situation better and revised expectations significantly upward; ifo notes uncertainty continued to decline despite a further rise in energy prices.
ifo InstituteGerman export expectations swing from −2.8 to +9.6 in a single month
Published 26 August: ifo Export Expectations jumped to plus 9.6 points in August from minus 2.8 in July. "The export industry is picking up speed," said ifo's Klaus Wohlrabe — consistent with the export-led GDP figure Destatis reported the day before.
ifo Instituteifo Employment Barometer up to 94.8 — companies cutting fewer jobs
Published 27 August: the barometer rose to 94.8 points from 93.0 in July. "The labour market is showing a slight upward trend," said ifo's Timo Wollmershäuser — a softer reading than the Destatis employment fall, because it measures hiring intentions rather than headcount.
ifo InstituteAlmost a quarter of German companies report a shortage of skilled workers
Published 21 August: 23.2% of companies reported skilled-worker shortages in July, up from 21.1% in April. The share is rising again even as employment falls — a mismatch, not a general labour surplus.
ifo InstituteAgeing and health costs drive Germany's social budget to a record high
ifo reported on 24 August that spending on old age and illness now accounts for around 70% of total social spending, pushing the social budget to a record. It is the structural counterpart to the demographic squeeze visible in the labour figures.
ifo InstituteTwo killed at a school near Berlin; 19-year-old arrested
Reported 27 August: police arrested a 19-year-old man after an incident described as domestic violence at a school near the German capital, in which two people were killed.
BBC NewsThe two German data sets disagree, and both are worth reading
This week produced an unusual split: Destatis measured employment down 212,000 on the year, while ifo's forward-looking barometer rose and export expectations swung 12 points positive. Backward-looking headcount is still falling; forward-looking intentions have turned. Candidates following the German economy should quote which of the two they mean.
Destatis / ifo InstituteBrazil
Desemprego cai para 5,3%, o menor já registado para o trimestre até julho
Divulgado a 27 de agosto pelo IBGE: a taxa de desocupação recuou para 5,3% no trimestre encerrado em julho, o menor patamar da série histórica para esse período. O resultado consolida a sequência de mínimos registada ao longo de 2026.
IBGE / Agência BrasilPrévia da inflação fica em −0,40%, a menor desde agosto de 2022
O IPCA-15 de agosto, divulgado a 26 de agosto, registou deflação de 0,40% — o resultado mais baixo para o indicador desde agosto de 2022. É o sinal mais forte até agora de arrefecimento de preços neste ciclo.
IBGE / Agência BrasilDívida Pública Federal sobe 0,22% em julho e ultrapassa R$ 9,2 trilhões
Dados do Tesouro Nacional divulgados a 26 de agosto: o estoque da Dívida Pública Federal subiu 0,22% em julho e passou de R$ 9,2 trilhões.
Tesouro Nacional / Agência BrasilAté 53% da Dívida Pública Federal poderá ser corrigida pela Selic
Publicado a 26 de agosto: o Plano Anual de Financiamento admite que até 53% do estoque da dívida passe a ser corrigido pela taxa Selic, o que aumenta a sensibilidade das contas públicas à política monetária.
Tesouro Nacional / Agência BrasilReceita arrecada R$ 3,1 bilhões com Imposto de Renda sobre dividendos
Divulgado a 26 de agosto: a tributação de dividendos rendeu R$ 3,1 bilhões à Receita Federal, uma das primeiras leituras concretas do efeito da medida na arrecadação.
Receita Federal / Agência BrasilFila de espera do INSS cai para 1,2 milhão de requerimentos
Anunciado a 25 de agosto: o estoque de pedidos pendentes no INSS recuou para 1,2 milhão de requerimentos, depois de anos de acumulação.
INSS / Agência BrasilPrevisão de gastos do INSS em 2027 é reduzida em R$ 5 bilhões
Divulgado a 25 de agosto: a projeção de despesa do INSS para 2027 foi cortada em R$ 5 bilhões, alívio relevante para o desenho do orçamento do próximo ano.
Ministério da Previdência / Agência BrasilVendas do Tesouro Direto registam o melhor julho da história
Publicado a 25 de agosto: julho foi o melhor mês de julho já registado em vendas do Tesouro Direto, sinal da procura de investidores individuais por títulos públicos no atual nível de juros.
Tesouro Nacional / Agência BrasilSetor de serviços ocupou 15,9 milhões e pagou em média 2,2 salários mínimos em 2024
Divulgado a 27 de agosto: a Pesquisa Anual de Serviços do IBGE mostra que o setor empregou 15,9 milhões de pessoas em 2024, com remuneração média de 2,2 salários mínimos.
IBGE / Agência BrasilImazon aponta desmatamento zero em 60% das terras indígenas na Amazónia
Estudo divulgado a 27 de agosto: o Imazon identificou desmatamento zero em 60% das terras indígenas amazónicas, reforçando o papel destes territórios como barreira à derrubada da floresta.
Imazon / Agência BrasilPreparing for an EPSO competition?
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