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Europe Today: Europe at an economic crossroads as global tensions rise
Christine Lagarde warns Europe must strengthen its economy as renewed tensions in the Middle East add fresh uncertainty to the global outlook. EU finance ministers meet in Brussels as the bloc considers new economic measures, trade restrictions on Israeli settlements and updated crypto rules.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/07/10/europe-today-europe-at-an-economic-crossroads-as-global-tensions-rise
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Christine Lagarde warns Europe must strengthen its economy as renewed tensions in the Middle East add fresh uncertainty to the global outlook. EU finance ministers meet in Brussels as the bloc considers new economic measures, trade restrictions on Israeli settlements and updated crypto rules.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/07/10/europe-today-europe-at-an-economic-crossroads-as-global-tensions-rise
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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00:14Good morning. It is Friday the 10th of July. I'm Maeve McMahon and this is Europe Today.
00:20Your morning roundup of the biggest European stories and the analysis that matters live here
00:25on Euronews. Coming up, Donald Trump says the truce with Iran is quote over as Tehran reports a US
00:32attack near a nuclear plant. With the global economy in flux as the war intensifies, we'll
00:37bring you exclusive insights on how the European economy is faring with the president of the
00:41European Central Bank herself, Christine Lagarde. This as European finance ministers huddle in
00:47Brussels to assess the health of the European economy. On the agenda, a new proposal from Spain
00:53for a common EU borrowing mechanism worth up to ÂŁ850 billion a year. We'll be hearing
01:00exclusively from the French economy minister, Roland Lescour, who will be joining us here
01:04on set. And meanwhile, a sense of déjà vu. France bet Morocco 2-0, the very same scoreline
01:11as their World Cup semi-final meeting in Qatar back in 2022. After a pretty frustrating start,
01:18including a missed penalty, France found their rhythm and ultimately proved too strong for
01:23Morocco. But first, Europe must look at its own weaknesses, but also leverage them in a very
01:28turbulent global scenario. The words of the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde,
01:34in an exclusive interview with Euronews' Europe editor, Maria Tadeo. For more on this wide-ranging
01:40sit-down that touched on an array of issues, I'm joined here in the studio by our very own
01:44Europe editor, Maria Tadeo. Maria, good morning. That was a very long sit-down interview you had
01:48with the president of the ECB. You touched on many issues from the economy to President Donald
01:52Trump to China. Fill us in.
01:54Yes, Maeve. And of course, Christine Lagarde is incredibly powerful, very influential. And this
01:59is now head of the European Central Bank, who if she has something to say, she will say it and
02:03you'll hear it very clearly. In this conversation, we talked about the European economy, as you
02:08pointed out. We also talked about the trajectory of interest rates. This is crucial, of course,
02:12for European consumers. The European Central Bank just had to increase interest rates as a result
02:17of a pickup in inflation because of the instability we see certainly playing out in the energy market
02:22because of the war and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. And then we talked about Europe,
02:26a lot on Europe. She said by now the Europeans have recognized some of their weaknesses and they
02:31have to reform and they have to address those issues. She's a real champion of the Capital Markets
02:36Union, suggesting that the fact that we have billions and billions of euros that will leave
02:41Europe to go and be invested in the U.S. is a total anomaly and this money should stay here.
02:46So the Capital Markets Union continues to be her priority. And then we also talked about this idea
02:51of a European safe asset. Obviously, this is a very technical debate. If you're an EU nerd and here
02:56we are, but you know, this is a really fundamentally a question about creating a sort of, well, instrument,
03:03a tool that would see the Europeans borrow together to fund and pay for common projects for key issues,
03:10including defense, but that also could create a sort of bond market that could rival the U.S.
03:15treasuries. And I asked her this question because this is very much in the side, guys, because the
03:20Spanish have picked up on a proposal initially by Mario Draghi now saying they would like to see about
03:25150 billion euros a year of this funding. They argue that in the end, there is a case that it
03:30could be
03:30cheaper if you reduce interest rates and the payments that individually you have to make by
03:35doing it collectively. I asked this question to Christine Lagarde and she told me, look, put it on
03:40the table, just debate it. Let's take a look. It's pretty obvious that we also need to have a European
03:47asset which can, you know, parallel with the U.S. treasury bonds, for instance. How we go about it,
03:54how the moral hazard is addressed, how it's allocated in terms of results to be decided. And I
04:00think it's great that a country like Spain, for instance, makes a proposal, puts it on the table
04:05for debate. And it's now for the others to say, OK, we like this part. We don't like this. We
04:10can
04:10address it. So when you hear these numbers, 800 billion euros, Mario Draghi echoed that. The
04:15Spanish seem to be putting that on the table. The French president has said in his view, there are no
04:18taboos. That doesn't scare you when you hear 800 billion euros, this kind of money. Remember what we did
04:24for COVID? That was the amount that was actually put on the table for joint borrowing in order to
04:29respond and to produce the recovery and what was it? RRF, the recovery resilience. Yeah, recovery and
04:37resilience fund. That was roughly the amount. And the commission went to market. We helped in the
04:43process because we act as an agent in that respect. And it was widely, you know, broadly subscribed,
04:49oversubscribed. So I'm not saying that this is the amount. I'm just saying that to go with a capital
04:56market, you need depth, you need liquidity and you need to entice the savings of Europe onto that
05:03market. And that is, of course, ahead of the European Central Bank. And Maeve, this is a very hot topic
05:08in
05:09Brussels. And as you know, the question of joint debt is, in essence, very, very political in Europe. It is
05:16interesting, however, that she is saying, let's debate it on merit. You'd have countries like
05:20Germany, the Dutch, too, who'd say, absolutely not. We've said we would not agree. That was a
05:25one-off. We do not want this to become a constant. But the debate is certainly now out there. And
05:30then
05:30the other point, just briefly, we spoke about China. The Europeans have said now, they've set up this
05:34deadline in October, we need to see a rebalancing in the trade relationship between the Chinese and the
05:40Europeans. They have posted a massive trade surplus last year. The Chinese and the European
05:44deficit keeps getting bigger. I asked her what happens if in October there's no deal? This is
05:50a difficult deadline because it could potentially lead to a form of retaliation. And she told me
05:54there now needs to be a serious, quote, conversation among adults when it comes to the subsidies,
06:00when it comes to the prices, when it comes to some of the practices, almost sector by sector
06:04with the Chinese, because they talk, but now they need to really walk the talk when it comes to
06:10a relationship that works for both. And another major topic you dived into, of course,
06:15the upcoming presidential elections in France next year. Look, there's a lot of speculation about
06:19the future of Christine Lagarde. There's really a lot of speculation as to what kind of role she could
06:24play in the campaign, but also what are the implications when it comes to the European Central
06:28Bank, because she will have to leave early, depart early. In theory, her term will end in the fall of
06:342027. But of course, the French election will happen in the spring. I asked her this question.
06:38Some would like to see you be in that European voice. And she told me she's not a candidate for
06:44anything, certainly not for the time being. But she's monitoring this election because she believes
06:48it's fundamental for France, but also Europe. Let's take a look.
06:51As a French, I have my own views. I keep them to myself. But what I very much hope is
06:57that the
06:57democratic process will continue. You know, in politics, the next, you know, eight months is eternity.
07:03So many things can happen. We will be monitoring. We will be looking at the risk level. We will be
07:08looking at all that carefully. And we hope that reason will always prevail and that France will
07:14appreciate whoever is the leader for France, that it is one key member of Europe and that Europe is
07:20the only playground within which member states, nations, even France can actually play a significant
07:27role. I'm not a candidate for anything, but I'm very keen that Europe is protected, that
07:33Europe is the framework within which member states operate, including France.
07:37I'm not a candidate, but I am very keen and may have just briefly on this point. There's a lot
07:41of
07:41speculation also here in Brussels, because let's say if Lagarde does leave the European Central Bank earlier,
07:48there could be a question because this was a package deal. She was put at the European Central Bank.
07:53Ursula von der Leyen of Germany was obviously named head of the European Commission. But this was a package.
07:58If the head of the ECB leaves, would that have a knock-on effect on the Commission? That is a
08:02serious question,
08:03because it created a perfect balance between Germany and France. That could potentially change.
08:07So, of course, in Brussels, everyone monitors the future of Ursula von der Leyen. Some would argue it is connected
08:13in some ways with the future of Christine Lagarde, too.
08:15Okay, Maria, thank you so much for that. And of course, you can catch that full interview with the ECB
08:21president, Christine Lagarde. It'll be broadcast straight after Europe Today, so stay tuned for that.
08:26But now, for another view, coming up, we'll be joined by Roland Lescour, the French economics and finance
08:32minister, an economist by trade and a very close ally of the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
08:37Minister Lescour previously served as industry minister and chaired the National Assembly's Economic Affairs
08:42Committee. He's in Brussels today for talks with finance ministers from all across the block.
08:47So we're thrilled to have you here in the studio to give us a little insight into what's going on
08:51in
08:51that meeting before you head over. I imagine the impact the war in Iran and the Middle East is
08:56having on our economy here is kind of overshadowing the talks today. Are you preparing for a potential
09:01recession? Well, we're not there yet. Both France and in a way, the European economies have proven
09:07quite resilient. As you know, we're not exposed directly to the crisis in the sense that
09:12there was no volume issue. We still got oil, we still got gas, we still got fertilizers. But the
09:18fact that some of the oil that was flowing is not flowing anymore to Asia has risen the prices.
09:23And obviously, this has had an impact on our consumers. You know, the oil tanks have been
09:28more expensive to fill and everything. So we've had a slow first half, for sure.
09:32But you're not in panic mode yet. You're not preparing measures yet.
09:34I mean, panic mode doesn't really serve any purpose. So what we've done is we've targeted measures
09:39that are tailored, temporary, to the people who are in need, the people who are mostly affected,
09:44people who travel a lot for their work, truck drivers, farmers. And we've tailored them. We've
09:50made sure that it didn't have a major impact on public violence, which is my job. And so far,
09:55so good. I think the economy has been resilient. But we need a recovery. I think that hopefully,
10:02the short-term volatility that we've seen over the last couple of days will be over soon. And hopefully,
10:06it will be, again, taken the route towards more negotiations, more peace, and then a better
10:12economy, which is very important.
10:13And as you say, we need a recovery. We've seen some interesting proposals by the Spanish
10:17government this week. They're proposing a new joint EU debt instrument worth up to 850 billion euros
10:23at Carlos Corpo, the Spanish Ministry for the Economy. He's also in Brussels. And he spoke
10:27yesterday to our Maria today. Let's just take a listen to what he had to say. And then I'd love
10:30to get
10:30your reaction. Spain is actually making a pitch or proposal to centralize part of the national
10:38issuances within the commission, within a specific facility that can help without increasing the total
10:44level of debt to reduce fragmentation and therefore reduce costs and integrate further our national
10:50markets, our national financial and capital markets. And that would, at the same time, as I said,
10:56reduce also costs for our firms. So it's a win-win situation, which we hope to discuss with our
11:01colleagues right now.
11:02So what's your view from France here? Is it a win-win situation? Would you support this?
11:06Well, it's an interesting proposal because, as you know, usually people advocate more common debt
11:11on top of national debt. What Carlos Corpo is advocating is for some of the national debts
11:17to be pooled and then auctioned on the market and then lend back to the country. So it's an interesting
11:24proposal that solves some of the issues that usually debt on top of debt can address. There's
11:29one issue that concerns me. I've talked to Carlos about it, and we need to study it further. It's
11:34the moral hazard, you know, the fact that if one country transfers the debt to the whole community,
11:40that might be an incentive for that country to take more debt. So we'll have to see. But one thing
11:45is
11:46for sure, we need euro to be even stronger, even deeper, more liquid than it is today. And the main
11:54factors behind that, to have the euro as a top-of-the-notch global currency, we need more
12:00competitiveness, we need capital market union, we need, you know, we need the whole packet. And it's
12:06not just by transferring debt that we're going to minus that, but we do need a safe asset to
12:10reassure the world that yes, they can safely lend money to the eurozone and get it back.
12:16And you saw we had that interview with the ECB president, Christine Lagarde. I mean,
12:19she's fixated as well with the capital market union. When will we ever have this? When will
12:23it become a reality?
12:24She's fixated and I'm obsessed. I think you're Irish, right?
12:27Yes.
12:28We have a great Irish presidency starting, it started yesterday for the ECOFIN. I mean,
12:32it starts today, actually. And I believe I had talked with Simon Harris, who's now chairing
12:37the ECOFIN Council. He's really willing to nip it in the bud between now and the end of
12:41the year.
12:42Will they manage, though? That's a challenge.
12:44Well, that's what I'm going to say today. We need to do everything we can, both to have
12:47a deal and to have an ambitious deal, because there's no way we should water him down.
12:52And there's a lot they want to get done before next year, because, of course, big elections
12:55taking place in your country. How will they play out?
12:59Tell me. I don't know. It's a year away. There's still a lot of uncertainty. You know,
13:03it's going to be an interesting election. And as you said, very important for France and
13:06for Europe, I started running. I was in a completely different world 10 years ago,
13:11because we had a candidate that put the European flag in all his meetings. I do believe strongly
13:16that Europe is part of the solution, not part of the problem. We have two extremes that think
13:21otherwise.
13:21Could it be up one extreme against the other? Would that be the final ticket?
13:24Everything I can to make sure we avoid that scenario. There's a big central back in France.
13:29We need to find the right candidate to carry the flag. But I'm convinced that the absolute
13:35majority of French people want progress, want order, want unity. And we just have to make
13:41sure we convince them that that's the right person to carry that flag.
13:44And just final, congrats on the football. Who's going to win the World Cup?
13:47Thank you. Well, if I didn't tell you France, you'd be the right. I think we have a great
13:53team. But you know, soccer, football is such that anything can happen between now and next
13:57We're keeping a close eye on it. Minister, thank you so much.
13:59Allez les bleus, allez les bleus.
14:00Thank you so much for coming in to us today.
14:03And another topic on the table at that meeting is crypto. The European Commission has launched
14:07a consultation until the end of September in an effort to come up with new, better rules.
14:12For more on what all that means, here's our Jacobianas.
14:18If you are a crypto investor, you might know that the EU just built a massive financial
14:23fortress to tame the wild part of the markets. Brussels wanted to replace a chaotic patchwork
14:28of 27 national rules with one strict system. But here goes the surprise. The brand new rulebook
14:34might already be obsolete. Look, the entire crypto topic might be a bit complex, so your reporter
14:39will do his best to safely walk you through it. Ready?
14:45On 1st of July, the EU's landmark crypto rules took full effect. And the execution was a total
14:51bust for crypto firms, especially the foreign ones. Fewer than 1 in 5 of Europe's 1200 registered
14:57crypto companies secured a license. And those who did not, had to shut down. But the aim wasn't
15:03to regulate for the sake of regulating. Brussels wanted to stop crypto scams and protect everyday
15:08investors. And big brands like Coinbase cleared the bar. But giants like Binance got kicked out.
15:15And while Brussels was working at domestic markets, Washington rewrote the rules.
15:20Last summer, Donald Trump signed the Genius Act to back stablecoins.
15:24Ha! And if you are a bit unsure what they are, I'm here to help.
15:27They are digital currencies designed to be safe, by pegging their value to the US dollar.
15:33Like for like, but digital. And stablecoins are not a small business. 95% of these tokens
15:40are tied to American currency. And Trump is using this technology to expand American financial power.
15:46After all, money is power. But here goes the plot twist. According to Euronews exclusive report,
15:52the new EU rules failed to regulate companies outside Europe, so foreign companies can bypass
15:57them. And EU diplomats already admit the rules must be changed next year, to better address how tokens
16:03created outside the EU are regulated. Look, I know it all sounds a bit complex, but it's worth knowing
16:09what all this crypto fuss is about. And you know, if you want to keep your money under the bed,
16:14to me it's fine. I won't judge you.
16:20And now moving on to another big story here in Brussels. The European Commission has proposed
16:25banning trade with Israeli settlements as part of a so-called options paper sent to EU capitals
16:31earlier this week. A majority of EU countries had been calling for proposals to restrict trade
16:36with the settlements in response to the deteriorating situation in the occupied West Bank. For more,
16:41I'm joined here in the studio by our correspondent, Marit Gwynne. Thanks for joining us.
16:45Good morning, Maeve. Just tell us, remind us perhaps, why there's been increasing pressure
16:48on Brussels to restrict trade with Israeli settlements.
16:51Well, yes, Maeve, the political pressure has been increasing in recent months,
16:55particularly because of the deteriorating situation in the West Bank, violence against
17:00Palestinians there, and the way the Israeli government has also been expanding these
17:04settlements. Settlements which are of course considered illegal under international law and
17:09by the EU. So calls now on the Commission to really do more, to restrict trade with these
17:14settlements. This is different to the calls to ban trade with Israel, to suspend parts
17:20of the EU's trade deal with Israel, calls that have been existing as well. We've heard plenty
17:24about them on the show, of course. This is about the settlements. So the Commission finally coming
17:29forth with a proposal on Wednesday outlining potential concrete options. We first reported
17:35this on Euronews yesterday, and essentially there are three things on the table now. First would be
17:40to oblige companies in settlements to acquire special exporting licences. Secondly, to place
17:47more punitive tariffs on these products to make it more difficult for them to be imported into the
17:52EU. And finally, and crucially, Maeve, a proposal for a full or partial ban, which is what many
17:58governments have been pushing for for months now. This will be discussed by EU ambassadors here in
18:04Brussels when they gather for closed-door discussions today, and then of course by foreign ministers when
18:08they're here in Brussels next Monday. And the big question, everyone's wondering, how likely is it
18:12that this will pass? Well, this is where it gets tricky, Maeve, because on paper, any trade measures
18:17in the EU should be approved by 15 member states, representing 65% of the EU population. But the
18:24Commission has suggested in this options paper that in fact this is a foreign policy tool and needs the
18:30unanimous backing of all member states, which is obviously a higher bar, a higher threshold to reach.
18:34And many feel that is quite unfeasible because, of course, there are many staunch allies of Israel
18:40within the Council. And this is feeding into the narrative that the Commission might be delaying
18:45or even obstructing a decision. This has been slow coming. And also, although foreign ministers will
18:50have a discussion on this on Monday, we won't hear more until they gather next in October. So don't
18:55expect a decision anytime soon. Okay, we'll keep a close eye on that, Mary Gwynne. Thank you so much
18:59for that. And now it's time for the World Cup.
19:07After France booked its ticket for the semi-final last night with a 2-0 victory over Morocco,
19:13all eyes will be on Spain against Belgium tonight, who go face-to-face at nine local time. Whoever wins,
19:19it's clear now that at least one European team will make it to the big final. And there's more
19:24deja vu ahead. France against Belgium would be a replay of the 2018 World Cup semi-final,
19:31the last time France won the World Cup. And France and Spain, on the other hand,
19:35clashed more recently, remember, in the semi-final of the Euro 2024, with a better end for Spain.
19:40Whatever happens tonight, the mood here in Brussels is electric, with multiple watch parties taking
19:46place tonight. So enjoy the games. But that does bring this edition of Europe Today to an end.
19:51Thank you so much for your company. As always, take care and see you soon on Euro News.
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