Category: Eurozone

MIL-OSI Europe: REPORT on electricity grids: the backbone of the EU energy system – A10-0091/2025

Source: European Parliament

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on electricity grids: the backbone of the EU energy system

(2025/2006(INI))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 194 thereof,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 8 July 2020 entitled ‘Powering a climate-neutral economy: An EU Strategy for Energy System Integration’ (COM(2020)0299),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 28 November 2023 entitled ‘Grids, the missing link – An EU Action Plan for Grids’ (COM(2023)0757),

– having regard to the Commission report of January 2025 entitled ‘Investment needs of European energy infrastructure to enable a decarbonised economy’[1],

– having regard to the Commission communication of 26 February 2025 entitled ‘Action Plan for Affordable Energy – Unlocking the true value of our Energy Union to secure affordable, efficient and clean energy for all Europeans’ (COM(2025)0079),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 26 February 2025 entitled ‘The Clean Industrial Deal: A joint roadmap for competitiveness and decarbonisation’ (COM(2025)0085),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 5 March 2025 entitled ‘Industrial Action Plan for the European automotive sector’ (COM(2025)0095),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/1153 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 July 2021 establishing the Connecting Europe Facility and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1316/2013 and (EU) No 283/2014 [2] (the CEF Regulation),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2022/869 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2022 on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure, amending Regulations (EC) No 715/2009, (EU) 2019/942 and (EU) 2019/943 and Directives 2009/73/EC and (EU) 2019/944, and repealing Regulation (EU) No 347/2013 [3] (the TEN-E Regulation),

– having regard to Directive (EU) 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU [4],

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the internal market for electricity [5],

– having regard to Directive (EU) 2023/2413 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 October 2023 amending Directive (EU) 2018/2001, Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 and Directive 98/70/EC as regards the promotion of energy from renewable sources, and repealing Council Directive (EU) 2015/652 [6] (the Renewable Energy Directive),

– having regard to Directive (EU) 2024/1275 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 April 2024 on the energy performance of buildings [7],

– having regard to Directive (EU) 2024/1711 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 amending Directives (EU) 2018/2001 and (EU) 2019/944 as regards improving the Union’s electricity market design [8],

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2024/1747 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 amending Regulations (EU) 2019/942 and (EU) 2019/943 as regards improving the Union’s electricity market design [9] (Electricity Market Design (EMD) Regulation),

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, amending Regulations (EC) No 663/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Directives 94/22/EC, 98/70/EC, 2009/31/EC, 2009/73/EC, 2010/31/EU, 2012/27/EU and 2013/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 2009/119/EC and (EU) 2015/652 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council [10], which reflects the EU’s electricity interconnection targets,

– having regard to the Council conclusions on ‘Advancing Sustainable Electricity Grid Infrastructure’, as approved by the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council at its meeting on 30 May 2024,

– having regard to its resolution of 10 July 2020 on a comprehensive European approach to energy storage [11],

– having regard to its resolution of 19 May 2021 on a European strategy for energy system integration [12],

– having regard to the report of January 2023 by the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) on electricity transmission and distribution tariff methodologies in Europe,

– having regard to the report of 19 December 2023 by ACER entitled ‘Demand response and other distributed energy resources: what barriers are holding them back?’,

– having regard to the report of April 2025 by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) entitled ‘Bidding Zone Review of the 2025 Target Year’[13],

– having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (A10-0091/2025),

A. whereas electricity grids are essential for the Union to achieve its clean energy transition and to deliver renewable energy while supporting economic growth and prosperity; whereas inefficiencies and lack of full integration negatively impact energy prices for consumers and companies;

B. whereas in light of the growing demand for electricity, significant investments and upgrades are required, along with regulatory oversight, to increase cross-border and national-level transmission capacity and modernise infrastructure, ensuring a decarbonised, flexible, more decentralised, digitalised and resilient electricity system;

C. whereas poor connectivity and grid bottlenecks are among the main reasons the EU cannot fully benefit from the significant installed capacities of wind and solar energy, thereby ensuring affordable prices for households and industry; whereas the lack of strong interconnection between regions with different natural and climatic characteristics leads to the overproduction of energy and administrative limitation on renewable production in some regions, while other regions are struggling with insufficient supply and high prices;

D. whereas transmission system operators (TSOs) are essential for integrating offshore renewable energy into the EU grid, in particular for those connected to more than one market; whereas, if TSOs fail to provide the agreed grid capacity, compensation should be paid to developers for lost export capacity, funded by congestion income; whereas such compensation should be shared fairly among TSOs and align with principles of non-discrimination and maximising cross-border trade; whereas this highlights the importance of maintaining a functioning interconnector backbone, as failures in interconnector capacity may result in costs for both producers and TSOs;

E. whereas Europe will only reach its decarbonisation objectives if there is a coordinated, pan-European approach to electricity system planning, connecting borders, sectors and regions;

F. whereas the planning of electricity transmission and distribution networks must be coordinated to ensure the effective development of the EU electricity system;

G. whereas the EU electricity grid was built for a 20th century economy based on centralised, fossil fuel-fired electricity generation, and must be modernised to meet the demands of a digitalised economy with increased levels of electrification and a higher share of decentralised and variable renewable energy sources;

H. whereas cross-border interconnectors, transmission and distribution grid infrastructure are critical for integrating renewables, reducing costs for European consumers and increasing the security of energy supply;

I. whereas distribution level grid projects are already eligible for funds under the Connecting Europe Facility – Energy (CEF-E); whereas, however, only a small share has been allocated to distribution grids under the most recent Projects of Common Interest (PCI) list; whereas CEF-E should better reflect the role of distribution grids for the achievement of EU energy and climate targets;

J. whereas ENTSO-E has calculated that cross-border electricity investment of EUR 13 billion per year until 2050 would reduce system costs by EUR 23 billion per year;

K. whereas the ‘energy efficiency first’ principle is a fundamental principle of EU energy policy and is legally binding; notes that the correct implementation of this principle will significantly reduce energy consumption, thereby lowering the need for investment in electricity grids and interconnectors;

L. whereas keeping the EU energy policy triangle of sustainability, security of supply and affordability in balance is key to a successful energy transition and to a reliable European energy system;

M. whereas energy network planning is a long-term process closely linked to investment stability;

N. whereas energy system flexibility needs are expected to double by 2030, in light of an increased share of renewables; whereas demand-side flexibility is therefore crucial for grid stability; whereas individual citizens, businesses and communities participating in the electricity market may bring manifold benefits to the grids, such as enhanced system efficiency, resilience, investment optimisation, improved social acceptance and lower energy costs; whereas serious delays and inconsistencies in implementing existing EU provisions on citizens’ energy, demand flexibility and smart network operations remain a concern;

O. whereas although recycling meets between 40 % and 55 % of Europe’s aluminium and copper needs, further measures to extend recycling capacity, waste collection and supply chain efficiency must be considered;

P. whereas the Commission and High Representative’s joint communication entitled ‘EU Action Plan on Cable Security’ highlights the importance of ensuring the secure supply of spare cable parts and the stockpiling of essential material and equipment;

Q. whereas the electricity system blackout experienced in the Iberian Peninsula and parts of France on 28 April 2025 illustrated how important it is to increase the energy grid’s resilience by ensuring that it is well maintained, protected and balanced at all times, including through flexible system services and enhanced cross-border interconnections, to allow for an agile recovery in the event of system failure;

R. whereas national and regional level system operators hold important responsibilities, particularly in the area of energy supply security; whereas all tasks of a regulatory nature should be performed by regulatory agencies acting in the public interest; whereas, however, alongside these responsibilities, a strengthened role for regulators and ACER in the planning processes can contribute to addressing shortcomings, such as ENTSO-E’s current 10-year network development plan (TYNDP) grid planning, as identified in the grid monitoring report; whereas, while acknowledging the TSOs’ responsibilities in drawing up these scenarios, ACER’s early involvement in the drawing-up process could help to ensure that the guidelines for the drawing-up of the scenarios are followed in accordance with the TEN-E Regulation;

S. whereas interconnection development will contribute to further integrating the EU electricity market, which not only increases system flexibility and resilience, but also unlocks economies of scale in renewable electricity production;

T. whereas the energy workforce will need to increase by 50 % to deploy the requisite renewable energy, grid and energy efficiency technologies [14];

U. whereas small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the EU’s economy, entrepreneurship and innovation, comprising 99 % of businesses, providing jobs to more than 85 million EU citizens and generating more than 58 % of the EU’s GDP;

V. whereas increasing decentralised electricity generation and demand response are important to reduce reliance on centralised production, which may be easily targeted by physical threats or cyberthreats, or compromised by climate-related events;

1. Calls on the Member States to fully explore, optimise, modernise and expand their electricity grid capacity, including transmission and distribution; considers electricity grids to be the central element in the EU’s transition to a competitive, net zero economy by 2050, one that is capable of accommodating high volumes of variable renewable energy technologies and/or evolving demand sources driven by increased levels of electrification and the advancement of digital technologies; notes the Member States’ prerogative to determine their own energy mix;

2. Calls on the Commission, the Member States, ACER, EU DSO Entity [15] and ENTSO-E [16] to implement the actions of the EU grid action plan, the action plan for affordable energy, the reform of the EU’s electricity market design and the Renewable Energy Directive without delay;

3. Points out that the completion of the EU’s energy market integration will save up to EUR 40 billion annually, and that a 50 % increase in cross-border electricity trade could increase the EU’s annual GDP by 0.1 %[17];

Relevance of electricity grids for the European energy transition

4. Welcomes the Commission’s communication on grids [18]; underlines the expected increase in electricity consumption of 60 % by 2030, the rising need to integrate a large share of variable renewable power into the grid, and the need for grids to adapt to a more decentralised, digitalised and flexible electricity system, including the optimisation of system operations and the full utilisation of local flexibility resources, demand response and energy storage solutions to complement wholesale markets and enhance grid resilience, resulting in an additional 23 GW of cross-border capacity by 2025 and a further 64 GW of capacity by 2030; notes that over 40 % of the Union’s distribution grids are over 40 years old and need to be updated [19];

5. Reiterates that, by 2030, the Union needs to invest around EUR375 to 425billion in distribution grids, and, overall, EUR 584 billion, in transmission and distribution electricity grids [20], including cross-border interconnectors and the adaptation of distribution grids to the energy transition;

6. Notes with concern that in 2023 the costs of managing transmission electricity grid congestion in the EU were EUR 4.2 billion [21] and continue to rise, and that curtailment is an obstacle to increasing the share of renewable energy sources; notes that this figure does not include the distribution electricity grid; stresses that in 2023 nearly 30 TWh of renewable electricity were curtailed across several Member States due to insufficient grid capacity; further notes the sharp increase in annual hours of negative electricity prices, rising from 154 in 2018 to 1 031 as of September 2024 [22], largely driven by grid congestion at borders, and the lack of sufficient storage, flexibility and demand response in the electricity market to temporally match variable renewable electricity supply with electricity demand; stresses that addressing these issues could help to absorb surplus supply, thereby maximising the use of existing grid infrastructure, but that existing market and regulatory frameworks often fail to provide adequate incentives for achieving this;

7. Highlights that a failure to modernise and expand the EU’s electricity grid, alongside the rapid deployment of the high volumes of variable renewable energy required to deliver on its targets, has and will continue to result in high levels of dispatch-down (instructions to reduce output); believes that the dispatch-down of renewables, caused by grid congestion and curtailment, represents an unacceptable waste of high-value renewable electricity and money; calls on the Commission, as part of its forthcoming European Grids Package, to set out an EU strategy to vastly reduce the dispatch-down of renewable electricity;

8. Highlights the role of smart grids in improving congestion management and optimising the electricity distribution of renewables; stresses their contribution to network flexibility by integrating digital tools that facilitate demand-side response and collective self-consumption; underlines that better grid management enhances energy resilience, reduces curtailments and secures supply during peak demand periods;

9. Highlights that the electricity grid infrastructure is a priority for achieving the EU’s strategic autonomy and its climate and energy targets; notes the Clean Industrial Deal’s commitment to electrification with a key performance indicator of a 32 % economy-wide electrification rate by 2030, which would necessitate a significant and continuous update and deployment of grids; regrets that delays in responding to requests for connection to grids result in a slower pace of electrification, even in Member States where generation from renewables is rapidly increasing;

10. Highlights, in particular, the crucial role that energy communities can play in supporting local economies; regrets that energy communities and smaller operators face disproportionate barriers to grid access and grid funding access due to regulatory hurdles and resource constraints; calls, therefore, on the Member States that are lagging behind in this regard to fully implement the Clean Energy Package, Fit for 55 and Renewable Energy Directive provisions, empowering citizens, municipalities, SMEs and companies to actively participate in the electricity market, in particular by developing enabling frameworks for renewable energy communities and the promotion of energy-sharing schemes; calls for grid-related EU and national level funding to take into account the specific needs of projects promoted by energy communities;

Regulatory situation and challenges

11. Is convinced that regulatory stability is a key condition for unlocking private investments in the electricity grid and, where feasible, enabling the affordable electrification of the EU’s economy, and reiterates the need to implement already adopted legislation before assessing potential new reviews;

12. Underlines that integrated grid planning across sectors at local, regional, national and EU levels will lead to increased system efficiency and reduced costs; calls, therefore, on the Commission and on the Member States to work towards integrated planning and to ensure that electricity network development plans are aligned with the 2021-2030 national energy and climate plans (NECPs) for all voltage levels; notes that a strengthened governance framework would help to ensure alignment between grid development plans and national and EU level policy objectives; recognises that, while the Member States are required to report on their contributions to EU targets through the NECPs, there is currently no equivalent obligation on TSOs to systematically report at EU level;

13. Underlines that the TEN-E Regulation and the Projects of Common Interest (PCI) and Projects of Mutual Interest (PMI) are powerful tools in the development of the Union’s cross-border energy infrastructure; regrets the shortcomings in the current TYNDP for European electricity infrastructure, which results in investment interests falling short of cross-border needs [23], and that grid planning does not fully leverage cross-border and cross-sectoral savings [24]; further regrets delays regarding to the completion of PCIs; urges the Commission to introduce more coordinated, long-term cross-sectoral planning to deliver the related savings and benefits across the EU; highlights that such coordinated planning could better inform cost sharing of infrastructure across the Member States; notes that, although the TEN-E Regulation enables smart electricity grid projects with a cross-border impact to obtain PCI status, even if such projects do not cross a physical border, the PCI list in 2023 included only five such projects; strongly believes, therefore, that the PCI process needs to be strengthened, simplified and streamlined for more clarity and transparency; calls on the Member States to fully complete the PCIs; calls on the Commission to urgently propose a targeted revision of the TEN-E Regulation in order to (1) introduce a robust planning process that combines system operators’ responsibilities with a strengthened role for ACER by mandating ACER to request amendments to the scenarios and the TYNDP, (2) ensure scenarios are drawn up in line with the decarbonisation agenda and enable easier access for smart electricity grid projects, and (3) introduce a simplified application process for small and medium-sized distribution system operators (DSOs);

14. Emphasises that network planning is a long-term process closely linked to investment stability; proposes, therefore, extending the time frame for network development plans to 20 years; highlights that grid investment is urgently required by the EU’s competitive agenda and should not be delayed;

15. Additionally notes that the EU will continue to have strong electricity links with its neighbouring countries and therefore believes the Commission should enhance such cooperation with neighbouring countries through PMIs with non-EU countries, as provided for in the TEN-E Regulation;

16. Strongly emphasises that CEF-E has proven to be the crucial instrument for co-financing cross-border energy infrastructure and insists on its continuation; welcomes the inclusion of offshore electricity grid projects in the Commission’s most recent allocation of grants under CEF-E;

17. Considers the lack of detailed, reliable and comparable data on national and EU grid planning an obstacle to more efficient grids; calls therefore on the Member States to thoroughly implement the relevant provision in the Electricity Directive [25], in particular Article 32, and to encourage smaller DSOs to apply this Article’s provision;

18. Welcomes the EU DSO Entity’s report on good practices on Distribution Network Development Plans [26] (DNDPs), which calls on the Member States to include cost-benefit analyses in their DNDPs, in order to evaluate investment opportunities; urges the Commission to develop guidelines based on this report, in cooperation with the EU DSO Entity, to harmonise and increase transparency of national development planning for distribution grids, to publish a European overview of the DNDPs and to require all transmission and distribution operators to provide energy regulators with the necessary data about their current and future grid hosting capacity information and grid planning, to enable energy regulators to properly scrutinise grid planning; calls on the Member States to implement Article 31(3) of Directive 2024/1711, which requests grid operators to publish information on the capacity available in their area of operation, in order to ensure transparency and enable stakeholders to make informed investment decisions; calls on the Commission to develop a centralised online repository for all transmission plans and DNDPs;

19. Highlights the significant risk posed by curtailment to the viability of renewable energy investment, especially considering that many Member States fail to compensate market participants for curtailed electricity volumes, despite the requirements set out in Articles 12 and 13 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943; regrets the lack of transparency, availability and data granularity regarding curtailed renewable energy volumes and congestion management costs;

20. Highlights the value of putting clear metrics in place to measure whether the EU is on track to deliver the grid expansion and reinforcements needed to meet its 2050 objectives; notes that such metrics could include reductions in renewable energy curtailment, lower grid development costs relative to the amount of capacity delivered, increases in the efficient use of existing infrastructure, a reduction in losses and lower raw material intensity;

21. Notes the work done by ENTSO-E and the EU DSO Entity on harmonised definitions of available grid hosting capacity for system operators and to establish an Union-wide overview thereof; believes that national regulatory authorities (NRAs) could benefit from clear legislative provisions as to how Member States can prioritise grid connections, so as to abandon the ‘first-come, first-served’ principle; therefore asks the Commission to amend Article 6 of Directive (EU) 2019/944 on the internal market for electricity, as part of the implementation review that the Commission must complete by 31 December 2025, and to consequently introduce transparent priority connection criteria to be chosen and further defined by the Member States for (1) generation connection, such as quality and maturity of the project, level of commitment, contribution to decarbonisation, social value, and for (2) consumer connection, such as quality and maturity of the project, level of commitment, contribution to decarbonisation, public interest or its strategic and/or social value, and grid optimisation; calls on the NRAs and the Member States to provide clear prioritisation rules according to their local and national specificities to allow the ‘first-come, first-served’ approach to be abandoned by disincentivising applications for connection that are not substantiated by a solid project, that are speculative or where the developer cannot show sufficient commitment to the realisation of a project;

22. Underlines that improved cross-border interconnections offer substantial cost-saving potential at the system level, with annual reductions in generation costs estimated at EUR 9 billion up to 2040, while requiring annual investments of EUR 6 billion in cross-border infrastructure and storage capacity;

23. Regrets that some Member States did not achieve the 10% interconnection target by 2020 and urges them to strive to achieve the current 15% interconnection target for 2030, as set out in Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, since interconnection capacity is crucial for the functioning of the EU’s internal electricity market, leading to significant cost savings at system level and decreasing generation costs by EUR 9 billion annually to 2040 [27]; regrets that the 32 GW of cross-border capacity needed by 2030 remains unaddressed [28]; deplores the delays and uncertainties regarding several interconnection projects; calls, therefore, on the Commission to propose, by June 2026 at the latest, a binding interconnection target for 2036 based on a needs assessment; stresses the need for cooperation with non-hosting Member States and for the EU and its neighbouring countries to be involved in negotiations, in order to ensure the projects’ finalisation;

24. Highlights the need to accelerate permitting procedures for electricity infrastructure; stresses that grid expansion should not be delayed by lengthy permitting procedures or excessive reporting requirements; therefore welcomes the positive progress made regarding provisions adopted in the latest revision of the Renewable Energy Directive, specifically Article 16f thereof, and the Emergency Regulation on Permitting [29] to accelerate, streamline and simplify permit-granting procedures for grid and renewable energy projects, especially the principle of public overriding interest for grid projects; notes, however, that some of the Member States have not seen a material improvement in project permitting timelines, despite the ambitious frameworks set out at EU level; therefore urges the Member States to implement these measures without delay and calls on the Commission to closely monitor the implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive, and regularly assess if revised permitting provisions are sufficient to deliver on the EU’s objectives; additionally calls on the Commission to set out guidelines for the Member States to include a principle of tacit approval in their national planning systems, as described in Article 16a of the Renewable Energy Directive; stresses that reinforcing administrative capacity, including through adequate staffing of planning and permitting authorities, will accelerate permitting procedures;

25. Encourages the Member States to draw up plans to designate dedicated infrastructure areas for grid projects, as outlined in Article 15e of the Renewable Energy Directive; stresses that such plans are essential to account for local specificities and ensure respect for protected areas; emphasises that these plans should be closely coordinated with the designation of acceleration areas for renewables, to ensure a streamlined, efficient and integrated approach to energy infrastructure development;

26. Notes that often documents need to be submitted in paper form; calls on the Member States to increase the digitalisation of these processes in order to accelerate permitting procedures; calls on the Commission and the Member States to revise all EU legislation relevant to permitting, such as the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive [30], with a view to introducing mandatory digital application, submission and processing requirements;

27. Highlights the importance of public acceptance and public engagement when developing new grid projects and calls on the Commission to develop a set of best practices to be shared among the Member States in this regard; highlights the critical importance of effective communication with citizens and communities regarding grid projects and reinforcement; notes that local-level support can help to accelerate the delivery of critical infrastructure and thus meet national and EU level objectives; urges the swift implementation of the EU’s pact for engagement with the electricity sector and coordination with national signatories (TSOs, DSOs, NRAs) to guarantee early, meaningful and regular public participation in grid projects;

28. Calls for the convening of a TAIEX [31] Group on Permitting within the forthcoming European Grids Package to support the Member States in addressing administrative bottlenecks, enhancing regulatory capacity and accelerating project approvals through the sharing of best practices and cross-border coordination;

29. Welcomes the initiatives announced under the Action Plan for Affordable Energy; recommends that the Commission extend the ‘tripartite contract for affordable energy for Europe’s industry’ to smaller energy producers, including energy communities, SMEs and businesses, leveraging flexibility and demand response, and link the outcome of these cooperation structures with grid planning processes at national and EU level, in order to optimise planning, investment and grid utilisation from the outset;

30. Highlights the need for improvements to be made to the public procurement framework, in order to tackle the challenges to grid operators regarding supply chains; therefore welcomes the Commission communication on the Clean Industrial Deal and the announcement by the Commission of a forthcoming review of the Public Procurement Directives [32]; stresses public procurement’s potential for the continued development of a strong EU manufacturing supply chain for electricity grid equipment, software and services; encourages the Commission to promote resilience, sustainability and security in public procurement procedures for grid operators; advocates for greater consistency between EU regulations on public procurement; calls on the Commission to adapt EU rules on public procurement with a view to harmonising and simplifying functional tendering specifications, in order to ramp up the production capacities of grid components;

31. Believes that adequate standardisation and common technical specifications are necessary for achieving economies of scale, and to speed up technological development; considers, additionally, that it is essential to ensure the right level of standardisation so that manufacturers’ capacity to innovate is not reduced;

32. Reiterates the need to consider new business models between equipment manufacturers and operators, such as long-term framework agreements that encourage the shift from one-off ‘grid projects’ to sustained and structured ‘grid programmes’, which result in more predictable planning for grid technology manufacturers; calls for the streamlining of tendering processes for the provision of grid equipment and services;

33. Stresses that this forthcoming revision of the Public Procurement Directives will allow the inclusion of sustainability, resilience and European preference criteria in EU public procurement processes for strategic sectors, in line with the provisions set out in Article 25 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 [33]; calls for grids and related technologies to be explicitly recognised as strategic sectors, to ensure their eligibility under the revised framework; underlines that strengthening European preference in public procurement processes is essential for reducing the EU’s dependence on non-EU suppliers, enhancing supply chain security, and fostering a resilient EU industrial base capable of supporting the energy transition; welcomes the introduction by the European Investment Bank (EIB) of a ‘Grids Manufacturing Package’ to support the European supply chain with at least EUR 1.5 billion in counter-guarantees for grid component manufacturers; calls for further similar financial instruments to be developed to provide long-term investment certainty and to accelerate the scaling-up of European production capacity;

Financing

34. Notes that over the past five years, global investment in power capacity has increased by nearly 40 %, while investment in grid infrastructure has lagged behind; notes that estimates of investment that the EU will need to make in its grid over the 2025-2050 period range from EUR 1 950 billion to EUR 2 600 billion [34];

35. Observes with concern that the budget allocated under CEF-E has been insufficient to expedite all PCI and PMI categories; notes that with a EUR 5.84 billion budget for 2021-2027, the programme has restricted capacity and may struggle to keep pace with investment needs; calls on the Commission and the Member States to significantly increase the CEF-E envelope and the percentage of CEF-E funds dedicated to electricity infrastructure as a separate adequate resource, when proposing the next multiannual financial framework (MFF), and to ensure that projects both at the distribution and at the transmission levels with an EU added value are eligible for budget allocated under CEF-E; encourages the Commission to further explore co-financing possibilities between CEF-E and the Renewable Energy Financing Mechanism;

36. States that EU funding is predominantly allocated to transmission grids with relatively insignificant allocations to distribution grids, despite their significant role in the EU energy transition, demonstrated by the fact that, between 2014 and 2020, CEF-E funded around EUR 5.3 billion worth of projects, of which around EUR 1.7 billion went to transmission grids and EUR 237 million to smart distribution grids; notes that the last PCI list only contained five smart electricity projects;

37. Deeply regrets that, whereas regional funds such as the Cohesion Fund, the European Regional Development Fund or the Recovery and Resilience Facility provide for grid investments in principle, in practice they are underutilised for grid projects; regrets also that the evaluation criteria applied to the assessment of projects submitted in response to the EU Innovation Fund’s calls for proposals prevent funding for the demonstration and manufacturing of grid technologies; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that a proportionate amount of such funding is also spent on grid investment;

38. Calls on the Member States to simplify access to the EU funds managed by the Member States for grid operators, for instance through the establishment of a one-stop-shop in those Member States in which a large share of DSOs are of a small or medium size;

39. Calls on the Commission to propose a dedicated funding instrument, such as one based on revenues from the market-based emission reduction scheme, to allow the Member States to support decentralised and innovative grid projects with a clear EU added value, including smaller projects, ensuring its effective use by the Member States for these purposes;

40. Emphasises the need for regulatory frameworks to attract private investment and ensure cost-reflective tariffs, in addition to public funding mechanisms;

41. Is convinced that anticipatory investments and forward-looking investments will help to address grid bottlenecks and prevent curtailment; points out that the EMD Regulation sets out regulatory elements for anticipatory investments but lacks a harmonised definition and implementation across the Union; calls on the Member States to swiftly implement the aforementioned provisions of the EMD Regulation and remove national legal barriers, on NRAs to remove barriers as regards regulatory incentives and disincentives, and on the Commission to urgently provide guidance regarding the approval of anticipatory investments, as announced in its Action Plan for Grids [35]; believes that further harmonisation in this respect might be beneficial; calls for detailed cost-benefit analyses and scenario-based planning to assess the likelihood of future utilisation, and recommends a two-step approval process for projects with a higher risk level by first approving smaller budgets for studies or planning, followed by a second approval for the more costly steps, in order to reduce the risk of stranded assets;

42. Acknowledges that grid investments from capital markets can be incentivised by providing market-oriented conditions, such as suitable rates of return and a robust regulatory framework; emphasises that the EU and the Member States should encourage private investments by providing risk mitigation tools or Member State guarantees; calls on the Commission and the EIB to further strengthen financing and de-risking initiatives and tools, such as counter-guarantees, to support additional electricity grid expansion and modernisation at affordable rates for system operators; emphasises the relevance of ensuring that the EU’s electricity grid is financed and therefore owned by public and private capital only from EU actors, or previously screened non-EU investors, in view of the criticality of the infrastructure;

43. Underlines that, while investment decisions should be guided by efficiencies, including energy and cost efficiency, investments should not only be focused on capital expenditure, and that investments optimising, renewing and modernising the existing infrastructure should be equally considered; therefore welcomes Article 18 of the EMD Regulation, which calls for tariff methodologies to give equal consideration to capital and operational expenditure, and remunerate operators to increase efficiencies in the operation and development of their networks, including through energy efficiency, flexibility and digitalisation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to thoroughly implement its provisions and to focus on ensuring fair and timely compensation to system operators for the costs borne by them;

44. Notes that the electrification of the EU economy, where technically and economically feasible, would help to drive down network tariffs by spreading the costs across a wider range of users; highlights, therefore, the importance of ensuring that the development of the future network is fully aligned with demand projections driven by increases in the level of electrification; is concerned by experts’ forecasts of network tariff increases of around 50% to 100% by 2050 [36]; stresses, therefore, the need for instruments and incentives that support grid operators in efficiently managing available grid capacity, including through procuring flexibility services, with a view to reducing imminent grid investment needs; highlights that flexible connection agreements, flexible network tariffs and local flexibility markets contribute to grid efficiency; invites NRAs to promote these flexible tariffs that allow consumers to easily react to price signals while shielding vulnerable households and businesses from price peaks; calls on the Commission and the Member States to actively address bottlenecks in tariffs, connection fees and regulations to facilitate cross-border and offshore hybrid grid investment;

45. Calls on the Member States to implement the relevant EU legal framework to unlock demand-side flexibility by accelerating the deployment of smart meters, enabling access to data from all metering devices and ensuring efficient price signals, to allow industries and households to optimise their consumption and reduce their electricity bills, and at the same time help reduce operational costs and the need for additional grid investment;

46. Stresses that the relaxation of network tariffs and certain charges, which could have the effect of lowering electricity prices, as proposed in the Affordable Energy Action Plan, has to be accompanied by a plan to replace the sources of the funds needed for grid investment with alternatives, in order to avoid facing underinvestment of the grids in the future;

47. Highlights the importance of minimising the additional costs on consumers’ bills resulting from the investments required to deliver the grid modernisation and expansion needed to meet the EU’s climate and competitiveness goals; asks the Commission to work with the Member States to develop a coordinated set of best practices for investments and equitable network tariff composition, with a strong emphasis on increasing transparency and removing non-energy related charges from the tariffs;

48. Points out that transmission infrastructure and availability of cross-zonal capacities are vital for an integrated market and for the exchange of low-marginal cost renewable energies, while respecting system security; notes that the EMD Regulation sets a minimum 70 % target of capacities available for cross-zonal trade by 2025 but Member States are far from reaching it; therefore urges the Member States and their TSOs to speed up their efforts to maximise cross-zonal trading opportunities, to ensure an efficient internal electricity market, appropriate investment decisions and renewable energy integration; regrets that achieving this target has often resulted in re-dispatch costs; notes that existing cost sharing mechanisms, such as cross-border cost allocation (CBCA), inter-transmission system operator (TSO) compensation and re-dispatching cost sharing, are limited and difficult to implement, which does not encourage cross-border investments, such as in offshore grids; calls on the Commission to holistically review and improve these mechanisms to ensure that they reflect the shared benefits of infrastructure and address the diversity of electricity flows, whether internal or cross-border, including a fair and balanced cost-benefit sharing mechanism for cross-border infrastructure projects that is based on objective criteria;

49. Takes note of the report of April 2025 by ENTSO-E on potential alternative bidding zone configurations based on location marginal pricing simulations provided by TSOs;

Grid-enhancing technologies, digitalisation, innovative solutions and resilience

50. Underlines that grid-enhancing technologies, digital solutions, ancillary services and data management technologies, as well as smart energy appliances, often leveraging artificial intelligence, can significantly increase the efficiency of existing grid capacities and maximise the use of existing assets, reducing the requirement for new infrastructure, for instance by providing real-time information on energy flows; therefore insists that these technologies and innovative solutions must be explored; urges NRAs to incentivise TSOs and DSOs to rely more on such technologies, weighing up the costs and benefits of their use versus grid expansion and by using remuneration schemes based on benefits rather than costs, and to benchmark the TSOs and DSOs on their uptake of such technologies; invites the Commission to further promote such innovative technologies when assessing projects that apply for EU funding;

51. Welcomes the work accomplished by ENTSO-E and the EU DSO Entity in developing the TSO/DSO Technopedia [37] so far, and calls on the Commission to mandate the biannual updating of the Technopedia to accurately reflect the technology readiness levels (TRLs) of technologies included;

52. Urges the Commission and the Member States to further enable and increase the digitalisation of the European electricity system, enabling the optimisation of the operation of its power system and reducing pressure on the supply chain; underlines that data sharing and data interoperability are essential for grid planning and optimisation; encourages the Member States, the NRAs, the EU DSO Entity and ACER to continue to accelerate their work on the monitoring system based on indicators measuring the performance of smart grids (‘smart grid indicators’), as set out in the Electricity Directive;

53. Stresses the urgent need to enhance the security of critical electricity infrastructure, including interconnectors and subsea cables at risk of sabotage, and increase its resilience to extreme weather events, climate change and physical and digital attacks; highlights the need to strengthen cooperation at national, regional and EU levels;

54. Stresses the growing risk of coordinated cyberattacks targeting the EU’s entire electricity network; recalls the importance of the rapid implementation of cybersecurity and other related network codes and the related legislation, such as the NIS 2 Directive [38] and the Cybersecurity Act [39], and encourages the Commission to correct, in upcoming legislative reviews, the status of physical grid equipment, including remotely controllable grid equipment, such as inverters, which is currently not held to a high enough cybersecurity standard, especially in cases where the manufacturer is required, under the jurisdiction of a non-EU country, to report information on software or hardware vulnerabilities to the authorities of that non-EU country; calls for enhanced EU level cooperation between all parties to strengthen preparedness and resilience; considers that NRAs should acknowledge the costs incurred by operators in adopting cybersecurity and resilience measures, and provide incentives for investments pertaining to increasing the resilience of the energy infrastructure to cyberthreats, and physical and hybrid threats, including climate adaptation measures;

55. Underlines the need to step up efforts to protect existing and future critical undersea and onshore energy infrastructure; considers that the EU should play a broader role in preventing incidents that threaten this infrastructure, in promoting surveillance and in restoring any damaged infrastructure using state of the art technologies; calls on the Commission and the Member States to find solutions to increase the protection and resilience of critical infrastructure, including solutions to financing such measures and technologies;

56. Recognises that new high-voltage electricity grid projects provide a multifunctional and cost-efficient opportunity to integrate additional security measures (i.e. sensors, sonar, etc.) and environmental solutions (i.e. bird deflectors, fire detectors, nature corridors, etc.) if planned in a holistic manner; asks the Commission to develop guidelines for NRAs to ensure that initial grid project planning is carried out and financed with these elements in mind;

57. Urges the Commission, DSOs and TSOs to develop an EU-owned Common European Energy Data Space, based on technical expertise and practice utilising the available data [40] and based on a common set of rules ensuring the secure, transparent portability and interoperability of energy data, where harmonised data is safely managed, exchanged and stored in the EU; stresses that this Common European Energy Data Space should facilitate data pooling and sharing through appropriate governance structures and data sharing services, supporting critical energy operations including transmission and distribution; underlines that European TSOs, DSOs and other previously screened electricity grid actors must be able to securely and smartly operate the grid, optimising its use by integrating flexibility and innovative technologies, in line with key principles of interoperability, trust, data value and governance; notes that data exchange arrangements must also take into account interactions with non-EU parties;

58. Recognises the potential of flexibility as a necessary tool for optimising system operations, maintaining the stability of the system and empowering consumers by incentivising them to shift their consumption patterns; stresses the importance of implementing appropriate measures to guarantee efficient price signals that incentivise flexibility, including from all end-consumers, and ensuring that all resources contribute to system security, including by accelerating the deployment of smart meters, smart energy-efficient buildings, and enabling access to data from all metering devices; asks NRAs to recognise flexibility innovations and pilot projects in the system, insofar as these do not negatively impact the grid’s overall balance and stability, in order to continue incentivising innovation;

59. Calls on NRAs to work closely with TSOs and DSOs to assess the flexibility potential, and needs of the national systems in current and future planning, taking into consideration the presence of industry, large consumers, large generators and storage; highlights in particular the critical role that storage assets, including long-duration electricity storage, capable of providing up to 100 hours of electricity, can play in providing congestion management services to the grid; notes that in order to provide these essential system services, investors in storage assets require stable, long-term revenue models, similar to the way in which support schemes have successfully provided revenue certainty for renewable generation assets;

Supply chain, raw materials and the need for skills

60. Notes with concern that global growth in the demand for grid technologies has put pressure on supply chains and the availability of cables, transformers, components and critical technologies; highlights the findings in the February 2025 International Energy Agency report, ‘Building the Future Transmission Grid’[41], that it now takes two to three years to procure cables and up to four years to secure large power transformers, and that average lead times for cables and large power transformers have almost doubled since 2021;

61. Is concerned about the long lead times for many grid technology components and remains determined to maintain European technology leadership in grid technology, emphasising the need for innovation to develop, demonstrate and scale European high-capacity grid technologies and innovative grid-enhancing technologies;

62. Stresses that critical and strategic raw materials are essential for grid infrastructure, with aluminium and copper demand set to rise by 33 % and 35 % respectively by 2050 [42]; takes note of the Commission decision recognising certain critical raw materials projects as strategic projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act [43], in order to secure access to these key materials and diversify sources of supply; calls on the Commission and the Member States to enhance recycling, and support strategic partnerships and trade agreements to this end;

63. Highlights the need to strengthen grid supply chains to increase the supply of grid technologies at affordable costs, and thereby limit the costs borne by consumers via network charges; calls for a strategic approach to acquiring energy technologies, components or critical materials related to grids, in order to avoid developing dependencies on single suppliers outside of the EU;

64. Believes that holistic, coordinated, long-term grid planning across the entire European energy system is needed to solve the supply chain capacity bottleneck, and that such planning provides manufacturers with essential transparency and predictability for adequately planning manufacturing capacity increases; considers that such planning must be reliable and enable new business models, such as long-term framework agreements and capacity reservation contracts;

65. Urges the maximum standardisation of key electricity grid equipment, insofar as is technically possible, via a joint technical assessment by the Commission, DSOs, TSOs and industry, covering all voltage levels in order to scale up production, lower prices and delivery times, and promote the interoperability of systems;

66. Stresses the urgent need to address labour shortages in the energy sector; notes that the Commission has projected that the energy workforce needs to significantly increase in order to deploy renewable energies, upgrade and expand grids, and manufacture energy efficiency, grid and other relevant technologies; regrets the shortages of electrical mechanics and fitters reported in 15 of the Member States, increasing the staffing needs of DSOs and TSOs; highlights that the energy workforce must grow by 50 % by 2030 to support the deployment of renewables [44], grid expansion and energy efficiency, with an estimated 2 million additional jobs required in electricity distribution by 2050; calls for training, upskilling and reskilling initiatives, prioritising grid-related skills to close skills gaps; welcomes university-business partnerships and targeted EU skills academies for strategic sectors, including grids; encourages DSOs and TSOs to diversify their workforce, including by increasing women’s participation;

67. Reiterates that the Member States and the EU should cooperate to adapt the relevant skills programmes and develop best practices to fulfil the growing skills demand across all educational levels, with a strong emphasis on encouraging gender balance in the sector;

68. Highlights the crucial role of SMEs and EU businesses in supplying the technology sector for the electricity grid; points out the need to access affordable electrification, limiting the costs related to the supply chain and ensuring a skilled workforce;

Offshore

69. Acknowledges the strategic relevance of offshore development in delivering the EU’s objectives of energy autonomy, increased use of renewable energy, a resilient and cost-effective electricity system and climate neutrality by 2050; stresses the importance of fully utilising the potential of Europe’s five sea basins for offshore energy generation; highlights the particular significance of the North Seas (covering the geographical area of the North Seas, including the Irish and Celtic Seas), which offer favourable conditions and the highest potential, with an agreed target of 300 GW of installed offshore generation capacity by 2050 within the framework of the North Seas Energy Cooperation; welcomes the progress made in this regard; emphasises the need to develop a meshed offshore grid, including hybrid interconnectors, particularly in the North Seas, to fully harness offshore potential and improve electricity market integration; calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen regional cooperation on grid planning and energy cooperation across all sea basins with the EU’s neighbouring countries, in particular the UK and Norway, specifically in offshore wind energy development and the planning and manufacturing of electricity grids;

70. Highlights the need for a stable and predictable regulatory framework that ensures the most optimal trading arrangements to provide the required investor confidence to support the development and interconnection of offshore grid and offshore wind projects, ensuring market efficiency and efficient cross-border flows, including with non-EU countries; underlines the necessity of strengthening national grids where required to maximise the benefits of offshore energy; acknowledges that combining offshore transmission with generation assets (offshore hybrids) will be an integral part of an efficient network system, as this comes with several advantages for the European energy system but still lacks the right regulatory framework to incentivise necessary investment;

Cooperation with non-EU countries

71. Calls on the Member States to increase cooperation and coordination with like-minded non-EU countries such as Norway and the UK; recalls that the development of electricity infrastructure to harness the offshore wind potential of the North Seas is a shared priority for both the EU and the UK;

72. Highlights the need for a pragmatic and cooperative approach to EU-UK electricity trading; calls on the Commission to work closely with the UK administration to agree on a mutually beneficial trading arrangement that strengthens security of supply and the pathway to net zero for both jurisdictions; additionally, believes that efficiencies of trading arrangements can be improved further; calls on the Commission to engage with its UK counterparts constructively on this matter;

Outermost regions

73. Stresses the unique challenges faced by the EU’s outermost regions and other areas not connected to the European electricity grid; highlights their reliance on imports and high vulnerability to electricity blackouts and extreme climate hazards; notes the importance of developing resilient and autonomous energy systems through local grid development and cleaner energy production; calls on the Commission to address these regions’ specific needs in the European Grids Package and to propose additional financial support to improve the autonomy of their energy systems, and address their lack of interconnection and absence of broader grid connection benefits;

°

° °

74. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

MIL OSI Europe News –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Allies to agree new capability targets at meeting of NATO Defence Ministers

Source: NATO

Allied Defence Ministers will gather in Brussels on Thursday 5 June 2025 to finalise preparations for the Summit in The Hague.

“At this Ministerial, we are going to take a huge leap forward” Mr Rutte stated, “We will strengthen our deterrence and defence by agreeing ambitious new capability targets.” He went on to identify air and missile defence, long-range weapons, logistics, and large land manoeuvre formations as among the Alliance’s top priorities.

“We need more resources, forces and capabilities so that we are prepared to face any threat, and to implement our collective defence plans in full” the Secretary General emphasised, adding that, in order to deliver on our new targets, “we will need significantly higher defence spending. That underpins everything.”

The Meeting of NATO Defence Ministers will be preceded by a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) – the international coalition of Allies and partners chaired by the UK and Germany, providing practical support to Ukraine as it resists Russian aggression.

MIL Security OSI –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI: Resolutions of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Aktsiaselts Infortar

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Aktsiaselts Infortar (registry code 10139414, seat and address Liivalaia 9, 10118 Tallinn), held its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (hereinafter the General Meeting) on June 4, 2025 at 11:00 (Estonian time) at the conference centre of Tallink SPA & Conference Hotel at Sadama 11a, Tallinn.

45 shareholders were registered as attending at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, who owned 17,562,509 votes/shares (the amount of represented share capital 1,756,250.90 EUR), forming 85,91% of Aktsiaselts Infortar share capital.

1. Approval of the 2024 Annual Report
Approve the 2024 Annual Report of Aktsiaselts Infortar submitted by the Management Board.

In favour of the resolution voted 100% of the votes represented at the meeting (17,561,838 votes).

2. Deciding on the distribution of profit
Approve the following proposal for the distribution of profit submitted by the Management Board of Aktsiaselts Infortar:
2.1. Approve the net profit for 2024 in the amount 193,670 thousand euros;
2.2. Pay the Shareholders dividend 3 euros per share. Dividend shall be paid in two parts as follows:
2.2.1. 1.5 euros per share shall be paid to the Shareholders who have been entered in the list of Shareholders on 4 July 2025 at the end of the business day of the settlement system of the securities registrar (record-date). Consequently, the day of change of the rights related to the shares (ex-date) is 3 July 2025. Dividend shall be paid to the Shareholders on 15 July 2025 by transfer to the bank account of the Shareholder;
2.2.2. 1.5 euros per share shall be paid to the Shareholders who have been entered in the list of Shareholders on 4 December 2025 at the end of the business day of the settlement system of the securities registrar (record-date). Consequently, the day of change of the rights related to the shares (ex-date) is 3 December 2025. Dividend shall be paid to the Shareholders on 15 December 2025 by transfer to the bank account of the Shareholder.

In favour of the resolution voted 99,99% of the votes represented at the meeting (17,561,561 votes).

3. Appointment of an auditor for the 2025 financial year and determination of the procedure of remuneration of an auditor
Appoint the company of auditors KPMG Baltics OÜ to conduct the audit of Aktsiaselts Infortar in the financial year 2025 and to remunerate the work according to the audit contract to be concluded with the auditor.

In favour of the resolution voted 99,99% of the votes represented at the meeting (17,561,388 votes).

4. Deciding on conduction of the Option Plan
Terminate the share option plan of Aktsiaselts Infortar approved by resolution no. 6 of the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders held on 15 June 2021 and the conclusion of option agreements under this plan prematurely as of 30 June 2025. To approve the implementation of a new share option plan of Aktsiaselts Infortar and to grant the Supervisory Board the right to establish the new share option plan under the following principles (“Option Plan”):
4.1. The purpose of the Option Plan is to motivate the management and employees of Aktsiaselts Infortar by involving them as Shareholders, thereby enabling them to benefit from the increase in the value of the shares as a result of their work. The Option Plan applies to Aktsiaselts Infortar and its group entities in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland. The Supervisory Board of Aktsiaselts Infortar may decide to extend the Option Plan to group entities in other countries.
4.2. The term of the Option Plan is four (4) years, and options (“Options”) may be granted and option agreements concluded under the Option Plan from 1 July 2025 until 1 July 2029. Should an Entitled Person (as defined below) fail to conclude an option agreement within the aforementioned period, they shall lose the right to acquire the Options made available to them.
4.3. Under the Option Plan, Aktsiaselts Infortar shall have the right to issue up to 400,000 Options for the acquisition of 400,000 shares, representing up to 1,89% of the share capital of Aktsiaselts Infortar.
4.4. Entitled Persons under the Option Plan (“Entitled Persons”) shall be:
(a) Members of the Supervisory Board of Aktsiaselts Infortar, whereby the granting of Options and the number of Options to be granted to specific members of the Supervisory Board shall be determined annually by the General Meeting by a separate resolution, provided that no Supervisory Board member shall acquire more than 4000 Options per year during the term of the Option Plan;
(b) Members of the Management Board of Aktsiaselts Infortar appointed by the Supervisory Board, whereby the number of Options to be granted to each Management Board member shall be determined annually by the Supervisory Board by a separate resolution, provided that no Management Board member shall acquire more than 4000 Options per year during the term of the Option Plan;
(c) Employees of Aktsiaselts Infortar and members of management bodies and employees of group companies, as designated by the Supervisory Board, or by the Management Board if so delegated by the Supervisory Board, whereby the number of Options to be granted to each such person shall be determined annually by the Supervisory Board or the Management Board (in case of delegation) by a separate resolution, provided that no such Entitled Person shall acquire more than 4000 Options per year during the term of the Option Plan.
4.5. Generally, Options issued under the Option Plan cannot be exercised, and the underlying shares cannot be acquired, before the 3-year vesting period has passed from the grant of the Option. A prerequisite for exercising the Option is that the Entitled Person remains a member of a management body or an employee of Aktsiaselts Infortar or any of its subsidiaries at the time of exercising the Option.
4.6. Each Option granted under the Option Plan entitles the Entitled Person to acquire one (1) share of Aktsiaselts Infortar upon fulfilment of the preconditions for exercising the Option. In the event of a change in the nominal value of shares, the number of shares granted under each Option shall be adjusted accordingly. The price payable for the shares upon exercising the Options shall be determined annually by decision of the Supervisory Board before the issuance of Options and the conclusion of option agreements for the respective year, provided that the price of the share option must be at least 26 euros per share and represent at least 50% of the weighted average stock exchange price of the share option over the six-month period preceding 1 June of the calendar year in which the option agreement is concluded. In the case of Options being granted to members of the Supervisory Board, the price per share shall be determined by the General Meeting based on the same principles.
4.7. The implementation and administration of the Option Plan shall be managed by the Supervisory Board of Aktsiaselts Infortar which shall establish the terms and conditions of the Option Plan by its resolution, following the principles approved by this resolution. The Supervisory Board may delegate decision-making and actions related to the implementation of the Option Plan to the Management Board of Aktsiaselts Infortar.
4.8. For the fulfilment of the Option Plan and the acquisition of shares to be transferred to Entitled Persons upon exercise of Options:
(a) New shares may be issued under the authorisation granted to the Supervisory Board by resolution no. 5 of the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders, which shall be issued to the Entitled Persons; or
(b) Own shares held by Aktsiaselts Infortar may be used, including own shares acquired by Aktsiaselts Infortar under the authorisation granted by resolution no. 6 of the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders.

In favour of the resolution voted 99,99% of the votes represented at the meeting (17,561,331 votes).

5. Amendment of the Articles of Association and exclusion of the pre-emptive subscription right of the Shareholders
Decide to grant the Supervisory Board the right to increase the share capital for the purpose of issuing new shares necessary to fulfil the conditions of the Option Plan approved by resolution no. 4 of the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders and to amend the Articles of Association accordingly and to exclude the pre-emptive subscription right of Shareholders upon each increase of the share capital if the Supervisory Board increases the share capital of Aktsiaselts Infortar under the authorisation given by the Articles of Association for the implementation of the Option Plan:
5.1. Amend clause 2.1.2 of the Articles of Association with the following wording:
„The supervisory board of the company has the right, within three (3) years from 1 July 2025, to increase the share capital through contributions by up to 500,000 euros in accordance with the procedure set out by law.“
5.2. Shareholders shall exclude their pre-emptive subscription right in respect of shares issued by the Supervisory Board pursuant to the authorisation granted in clause 5.1 of this resolution, in accordance with § 345 (1) of the Commercial Code, and the right to subscribe for shares shall be granted to the Entitled Persons to the share option under the Option Plan approved by resolution no. 4 of the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders for the purpose of ensuring the implementation of the Option Plan.

In favour of the resolution voted 99,99% of the votes represented at the meeting (17,561,357 votes).

6. Deciding on the acquisition of own shares
Grant Aktsiaselts Infortar the right to acquire its own shares under the following conditions:
6.1. Aktsiaselts Infortar shall have the right to acquire its own shares within five (5) years from the adoption of this resolution under a buy-back programme as defined in Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation) and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2016/1052, by purchasing the shares through Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange. The acquired shares may be used for fulfilling obligations arising from the Option Plan approved by resolution no. 4 of the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders;
6.2. The maximum number of shares to be repurchased shall be 250,000 shares, the total nominal value of which corresponds to 1,18% of the share capital of Aktsiaselts Infortar;
6.3. The minimum price per share to be paid by Aktsiaselts Infortar shall be no less than 0 euros and the maximum price shall not exceed the average stock exchange price of the share of Aktsiaselts Infortar of the last 30 trading days preceding the relevant buy-back transaction by more than fifty percent (50%); and
6.4. The acquisition of own shares by Aktsiaselts Infortar must not cause the net assets to become less than the total of share capital and reserves which pursuant to law or the Articles of Association shall not be paid out to shareholders.
6.5. To authorise the Management Board to decide and execute share buy-backs in accordance with this resolution and applicable laws, to determine the buy-back price, procedure and other conditions, and to carry out all necessary actions.

In favour of the resolution voted 99,99% of the votes represented at the meeting (17,561,308 votes).

Infortar operates in seven countries, the company’s main fields of activity are maritime transport, energy and real estate. Infortar owns a 68.47% stake in Tallink Grupp, a 100% stake in Elenger Grupp and a versatile and modern real estate portfolio of approx. 141,000 m2. In addition to the three main areas of activity, Infortar also operates in construction and mineral resources, agriculture, printing, and other areas. A total of 110 companies belong to the Infortar group: 101 subsidiaries, 4 affiliated companies and 5 subsidiaries of affiliated companies. Excluding affiliates, Infortar employs 6,296 people.

Additional information:

Kadri Laanvee
Investor Relations Manager
Phone: +372 5156662
e-mail: kadri.laanvee@infortar.ee
www.infortar.ee/en/investor

The MIL Network –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Audience with a delegation of the “National Italian American Foundation”

Source: The Holy See

Audience with a delegation of the “National Italian American Foundation”, 04.06.2025
This morning, in the study of the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience a delegation of the “National Italian American Foundation”.
The following are the words of greeting addressed to those present by the Holy Father:

Greeting of the Holy Father
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. [Amen.]
Peace be with you. [And with your Spirit.]
Welcome to all of you, please be seated.
Again, good morning, I am happy to meet with you. I apologize to have kept you waiting. The Vatican scheduling system puts four audiences all at the same time. That way, unfortunately, you have to wait for me and not vice versa. I will give a brief formal statement, and then will be happy to greet you all individually. Then I have the General Audience in Piazza San Pietro following this meeting.

Dear brothers and sisters,
I am pleased to greet you, the members of the Board of Directors of the National Italian American Foundation as your organization celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. As you well know, tens of millions of Americans proudly claim their Italian heritage, even if their ancestors arrived in the United States of America generations ago. Your work to continue to educate young people regarding Italian culture and history, as well as providing scholarships and other charitable assistance in both countries, helps to maintain a mutually beneficial and concrete connection between the two nations.
A hallmark of many who immigrated to the United States from Italy was their Catholic faith, with its rich traditions of popular piety and devotions that they continued to practice in their new nation. This faith sustained them in difficult moments, even as they arrived with a sense of hope for a prosperous future in their new country. Your visit to the Vatican occurs during the Jubilee Year, which is focused on hope, which “dwells as the desire and expectation of good things to come, despite our not knowing what the future may bring” (Spes Non Confundit, 1). In an age beset by many challenges, may your time here, in a city marked by the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul as well as many saints who strengthened the Church throughout difficult periods of history, may this renew your sense of hope and trust in the future. I pray that each of you and your families will always cherish the rich spiritual and cultural legacy that you have inherited from those who have gone before you.
With these sentiments, I gladly impart to you my Apostolic Blessing, which I willingly extend to your families, to all your loved ones. Thank you.
The blessing is written in Latin, but I think we can do it in English.
The Lord be with you. [And with your Spirit.]
May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, come upon you all and remain with you forever. Amen.

MIL OSI Europe News –

June 4, 2025
India Wins Presidency of International Institute of Administrative Sciences

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

India won the Presidency of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) on Tuesday, 3 June 2025. The International Institute of Administrative Sciences, a notable global institution, is a federation of 31 member countries, 20 national sections, and 15 academic research centres jointly collaborating on scientific research in public administration.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had nominated the Indian candidate, Secretary DARPG (Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances), Shri V. Srinivas, for the 2025-2028 Presidency of IIAS in November 2024. Following Presidency hearings in February 2025, the candidacies of India, South Africa, and Austria were forwarded to the IIAS General Body. Subsequently, South Africa withdrew its candidacy in favour of India in May 2025.

The election between India and Austria was held on 3 June 2025, in which 141 votes were polled. India secured 87 votes (61.7 per cent of the vote), while Austria received 54 votes (38.3 per cent of the vote). India’s candidacy received widespread support from across the membership.

This election marks two significant firsts in the 100-year history of IIAS: it was the first time the President was elected by a ballot process, and it is the first time India has secured this historic mandate.

The Indian Presidency of the institution will seek to bridge the North-South Divide with a focus on unity and inclusivity. It will also take forward Prime Minister Modi’s vision for “Maximum Governance – Minimum Government,” documenting next-generation administrative reforms with a focus on the digital empowerment of citizens and the digital transformation of institutions.

India has been a member of IIAS since 1998. Other key members of IIAS include Japan, China, Germany, Italy, Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Mexico, Spain, Qatar, Morocco, and Indonesia.

While the IIAS is not a formally affiliated body of the United Nations, it actively engages with the UN’s work in public administration through the UN’s Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA) and the UN Public Administration Network (UNPAN).

June 4, 2025
US-backed Gaza aid group halts distribution, UN to vote on ceasefire demand

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

The U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will not give out any aid on Wednesday as it presses Israel to boost civilian safety beyond the perimeter of its distribution sites, a day after dozens of Palestinians seeking aid were killed.

The GHF said it has asked the Israeli military to “guide foot traffic in a way that minimizes confusion or escalation risks” near military perimeters; develop clearer guidance for civilians; and enhance training to support civilian safety.

“Our top priority remains ensuring the safety and dignity of civilians receiving aid,” said a GHF spokesperson. An Israeli military spokesperson warned civilians against moving in areas leading to GHF sites on Wednesday, deeming them “combat zones”.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it opened fire on a group of people it viewed as a threat near a GHF food aid distribution site. The International Committee of the Red Cross said at least 27 people were killed and dozens injured. The GHF said the incident was “well beyond” its site.

Palestinians who collected food GHF boxes on Tuesday described scenes of pandemonium, with no-one overseeing the handover of supplies or checking IDs, as crowds jostled for aid.

The U.N. Security Council is also set to vote on Wednesday on a demand for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas and humanitarian access across Gaza, where aid has trickled amid chaos and bloodshed after Israel lifted an 11-week blockade on the enclave where famine looms.

“It is unacceptable. Civilians are risking – and in several instances losing – their lives just trying to get food,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday, adding that the aid distribution model backed by the U.S. and Israel was “all a recipe for disaster, which is exactly what is going on.”

That model is run by the newly created GHF, which started operations in the enclave a week ago and said on Tuesday that it has given out more than seven million meals from three so-called secure distribution sites. GHF Interim Executive Director John Acree urged humanitarians in Gaza: “Work with us and we will get your aid delivered to those who are depending on it.”

U.S. VETO?

The U.N. and other aid groups have refused to work with the GHF because they say it is not neutral and the distribution model militarizes aid. GHF uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get aid to the distribution sites.

It is the latest in a string of efforts to get more aid into the enclave, where experts say the entire population of some 2.1 million people is at risk of famine. Jordan last year spearheaded humanitarian air drops, while the U.S. briefly installed a floating aid pier, but it was beset by challenges.

The U.N. has long-blamed Israel and lawlessness in the enclave for hindering the delivery of aid into Gaza and its distribution throughout the war zone. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies.

Israel said on Tuesday that three of its soldiers had been killed in fighting in northern Gaza. Gaza health officials said at least 18 more Palestinians were killed in other military strikes in the territory on Tuesday. Reuters could not independently verify the reports in northern and southern Gaza.

The 10 elected members of the U.N. Security Council have asked for the 15-member body to vote on Wednesday on a draft resolution that demands “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties.”

The draft text, seen by Reuters, also demands the release of all hostages held by Hamas and others, and the immediate lifting of all restrictions on the entry of aid and its safe and unhindered distribution, including by the U.N., throughout Gaza.

“The time to act has already passed,” Slovenia’s U.N. Ambassador Samuel Zbogar told Reuters. “It is our historical responsibility not to remain silent.”

As U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration tries to broker a ceasefire in Gaza, it was not immediately clear if Washington would veto the draft text. A spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the U.N. said: “We cannot preview our actions currently under consideration.”

A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the permanent members – the United States, Russia, China, Britain or France – to pass.

The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in an October 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, which do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

(Reuters)

June 4, 2025

MIL-OSI: The Netherlands and the UK among the simplest countries for doing business in Europe, says GBCI 2025

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

LONDON, June 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Greece, France, Italy and Turkey are the most complex jurisdictions to do business in the region, according to the 2025 Global Business Complexity Index (GBCI) recently launched by TMF Group.

The GBCI studies over 250 indicators of complexity in 79 jurisdictions that represent 94% of the world’s GDP. The report has consistently shown that countries in Southern Europe and Latin America are the most complex for doing business, and that continues to be true in 2025. At the other end of the scale, the least complex places to do business tend to be in Northern Europe and several of the offshore investment hubs.

The report notes that complexity is relatively straightforward to navigate, at least for larger multinationals able to absorb the cost of complying with local rules. What is much harder to deal with is uncertainty. US-led sanctions, lockdowns in China and the Suez blockage had already begun a shift towards more diversified supply chains, with companies seeking to reduce their reliance on single countries for sourcing, building or selling their products. A part of that solution noted in last year’s report was the rise of connector economies like Mexico and Vietnam, bridging trade between China and the US in the so-called ‘China plus one’ strategy. That strategy has now fallen foul of US tariffs, set to reflect a country’s trade surplus in goods with the US and so punishing countries with connector status.

Even if tariffs abate, their launch and rapid shifts point to an underlying risk for companies trading from countries with a high US trade surplus. The report notes a drop in confidence in stability, with the majority of jurisdictions (55%) reporting prioritisation of trade corridor diversity. It identifies a number of countries that might now emerge as the new connectors — with low levels of complexity pointing to business-friendly rules, a low US trade surplus pointing to less likely retaliatory action, a reasonable size and sophistication of economy to support a variety of activity at scale and absorb investment without tipping heavily into US trade surplus, and a multipolar stance that should allow them to trade across different blocs. Those countries include the UK and the Netherlands in Europe, Egypt and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, and Australia and Hong Kong in Asia Pacific.

TMF Group’s CEO Mark Weil, said:

“The real challenge for businesses today isn’t complexity, it’s uncertainty. With rising trade tensions, a shifting geopolitical landscape and economic unpredictability, companies are forced to make decisions in an environment that can change overnight. Tariffs are just the latest signal of the risks of supply chain concentration. Diversification is a necessity in this context. The good news is that businesses can offset some of the complexities of diversification by reducing their own internal intricacies. Our benchmarking reveals stark differences in structural complexity among similar firms. We see an opportunity here: by simplifying their structures and support models — for example, by having fewer legal entities and a few trusted global partners — businesses can gain flexibility.”

Top and bottom ten (1= most complex, 79= least complex)
1. Greece	79. Cayman Islands
2. France	78. Denmark
3. Mexico	77. New Zealand
4. Turkey	76. Hong Kong, SAR
5. Colombia	75. Jersey
6. Brazil	74. Netherlands
7. Italy	73. Jamaica
8. Bolivia	72. British Virgin Islands
9. Kazakhstan	71. Curaçao
10. China	70. Czech Republic

Media Contacts
Marina Llibre Martín
marina.llibremartin@tmf-group.com

The MIL Network –

June 4, 2025

MIL-OSI: Bitwise Accelerates European Expansion with Addition of Melissa De Sanctis and Fabio Massellani

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Bitwise Accelerates European Expansion with Addition of Melissa De Sanctis and Fabio Massellani

De Sanctis joins the marketing team as Product Marketing Manager, while Massellani joins the sales team as Senior Regional Consultant – Southern Europe

June 4, 2025, Bitwise, a leading global digital asset management firm, announces the addition of two new professionals to its team: Melissa De Sanctis as Product Marketing Manager and Fabio Massellani as Senior Regional Consultant – Southern Europe.

Melissa De Sanctis brings over 20 years of experience in the financial sector, including 17 years at Borsa Italiana. She has held roles such as Business Development Manager for retail investors and later served as Senior Marketing Manager, leading commercial and marketing activities for the group’s secondary markets. She oversaw the development and launch of new instruments for IDEM, the derivatives segment of Borsa Italiana. Most recently, she was Head of Marketing and Communication at Spectrum Markets, a pan-European regulated venue for trading securitized derivatives.

In her new role at Bitwise, Melissa — based in Milan — joins the marketing team led by Maximilian Monteleone, Head of Marketing for Europe at Bitwise. While based in Italy, her strategic focus will also support the Spanish market.

Fabio Massellani developed his career at BPER Banca Group, where he held various roles with increasing responsibility. He worked as a fund selector and equity strategist at Optima SIM, with a specific focus on passive and indexed strategies. In recent years, he served as Sales Associate at HANetf, contributing to business development and product positioning — including in Spain.

At Bitwise, Fabio joins the sales team and reports directly to Bradley Duke, Managing Director and Head of Europe at Bitwise. He will support the company’s growth across Southern Europe, with a particular focus on Spain, Italy, and Portugal.

These additions strengthen Bitwise’s presence in the region, following the recent appointment of Flavio Rossetti as Regional Consultant for Southern Europe, and are part of a broader European expansion plan initiated in August 2024 with the acquisition of ETC Group.

Bradley Duke, Managing Director and Head of Europe at Bitwise, commented: “We’re excited to welcome Melissa and Fabio to Bitwise. As institutional and professional investors increasingly recognize the potential of digital assets to enhance portfolio performance, our role is to be a trusted partner in that journey. Southern Europe — including Spain — is a key market for us, and the addition of Melissa and Fabio, with their deep expertise and local insight, will help us serve investors even better.”

Melissa De Sanctis said: “I’m thrilled to join an innovative and forward-thinking firm like Bitwise. The crypto sector is evolving rapidly, and I strongly believe that providing secure, regulated instruments like ETPs is essential to making this space more accessible. It’s a real opportunity to engage more institutional and retail participants in the world of digital assets and blockchain technology.”

Fabio Massellani added: “I’m delighted to join a dynamic and fast-growing company like Bitwise. I look forward to applying my experience in the Southern European market to support our company’s mission. I’m confident my contribution will help strengthen Bitwise’s footprint and support its commitment to innovation in the fast-moving world of crypto investing.”

About Bitwise

Bitwise is one of the world’s leading crypto specialist asset managers. Thousands of financial advisors, family offices, and institutional investors across the globe have partnered with us to understand and access the opportunities in crypto. Since 2017, Bitwise has established a track record of excellence, managing a broad suite of index and active solutions across ETPs, separately managed accounts, private funds, and hedge fund strategies – spanning both the U.S. and Europe.

In Europe, for the past five years Bitwise (formerly ETC Group) has developed an extensive and innovative suite of crypto ETPs, including Europe’s most traded bitcoin ETP, or the first diversified Crypto Basket ETP replicating an MSCI digital assets index.

This family of crypto ETPs is domiciled in Germany and issued under a base prospectus approved by BaFin. We exclusively partner with reputable entities from the traditional financial industry, ensuring that 100% of the assets are securely stored offline (cold storage) through regulated custodians.

Our European products comprise a collection of carefully designed financial instruments that seamlessly integrate into any professional portfolio, providing comprehensive exposure to crypto as an asset class. Access is straightforward via major European stock exchanges, with primary listings on Xetra, the most liquid exchange for ETF trading in Europe. Retail investors benefit from easy access through numerous DIY/online brokers, coupled with our robust and secure physical ETP structure, which includes a redemption feature. For more information, visit www.bitwiseinvestments.com/eu

Media contacts:

JEA Associates
John McLeod
00 44 7886 920436
john@jeaassociates.com

Important information
This press release does not constitute investment advice, nor does it constitute an offer or solicitation to buy financial products. This press release is issued by Bitwise Europe GmbH (“BEU”), a limited company domiciled in Germany, for information only and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. BEU gives no explicit or implicit assurance or guarantee regarding the fairness, accuracy, completeness, or correctness of this article or the opinions contained therein. It is advised not to rely on the fairness, accuracy, completeness, or correctness of this article or the opinions contained therein. Please note that this article is neither investment advice nor an offer or solicitation to acquire financial products or cryptocurrencies.

Before investing in crypto Exchange Traded Products (“ETPs”), potential investors should consider the following:
Potential investors should seek independent advice and consider relevant information contained in the base prospectus and the final terms for the ETPs, especially the risk factors. ETPs issued by BEU are suitable only for persons experienced in investing in cryptocurrencies and risks of investing can be found in the prospectus and final terms available on www.bitwiseinvestments.com./eu. The invested capital is at risk, and losses up to the amount invested are possible. ETPs backed by cryptocurrencies are highly volatile assets and performance is unpredictable. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The market price of ETPs will vary and they do not offer a fixed income or match precisely the performance of the underlying cryptocurrency. Investing in ETPs involves numerous risks including general market risks relating to underlying, adverse price movements, currency, liquidity, operational, legal and regulatory risks.

The MIL Network –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Border posts to stay, it seems, despite proclaimed deal

Source: Traditional Unionist Voice – Northern Ireland

Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister MP:-

“The £190m extravagant spend on Irish Sea border posts at Northern Ireland’s ports was said to be to facilitate the SPS checks demanded by the Protocol/Windsor Framework.

“On 19 May 2025 HMG proclaimed a new deal with the EU which would remove SPS checks. Hence, the logic of such a boast is that the border posts would not be needed!

“Accordingly, I tabled this Parliamentary Question to the relevant minister:
Jim Allister: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what function will the border posts being built at Northern Ireland’s ports now perform in light of the UK-EU deal.
(Citation: HC Deb, 2 June 2025, cW)

“The answer, far from confirming redundancy for the border posts, reveals there is actually no deal to this effect. Instead what the government is now saying is that all depends on “the final shape of the deal”. So much for the boasts of a breakthrough deal.

“It is clearly not much of a deal if the border posts stay! That is the litmus test.

“Once more, I suspect, we are in the realms of smoke and mirrors when it comes to proclaimed deals with the EU and any expectation of Brussels loosening its grip.”

Nick Thomas-SymondsThe Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This will depend on the final shape of a deal, however, the Government is clear that its priority is to reduce barriers to trade and red tape at the border.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

June 4, 2025
Global alarm rises as China’s critical mineral export curbs take hold

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

Alarm over China’s stranglehold on critical minerals grew on Tuesday as global automakers joined their U.S. counterparts to complain that restrictions by China on exports of rare earth alloys, mixtures and magnets could cause production delays and outages without a quick solution.

German automakers became the latest to warn that China’s export restrictions threaten to shut down production and rattle their local economies, following a similar complaint from an Indian EV maker last week.

China’s decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets has upended the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world.

The move underscores China’s dominance of the critical mineral industry and is seen as leverage by China in its ongoing trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump has sought to redefine the trading relationship with the U.S.’ top economic rival China by imposing steep tariffs on billions of dollars of imported goods in hopes of narrowing a wide trade deficit and bringing back lost manufacturing.

Trump imposed tariffs as high as 145% against China only to scale them back after stock, bond and currency markets revolted over the sweeping nature of the levies. China has responded with its own tariffs and is leveraging its dominance in key supply chains to persuade Trump to back down.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to talk this week, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday, and the export curbsare expected to be high on the agenda.

“I can assure you that the administration is actively monitoring China’s compliance with the Geneva trade agreement,” she said. “Our administration officials continue to be engaged in correspondence with their Chinese counterparts.”

Trump has previously signaled that China’s slow pace of easing the critical mineral export controls represents a violation of the agreementreached last month in Geneva.

MAGNETS HELD UP AT CHINESE PORTS

Shipments of the magnets, essential for assembling everything from cars and drones to robots and missiles, have been halted at many Chinese ports while license applications make their way through the Chinese regulatory system.

The restrictions have triggered anxiety in corporate boardrooms and nations’ capitals – from Tokyo to Washington – as officials scrambled to identify limited alternative options amid fears that production of new automobiles and other items could grind to a halt by summer’s end.

“If the situation is not changed quickly, production delays and even production outages can no longer be ruled out,” Hildegard Mueller, head of Germany’s auto lobby, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Chinese state media reported last week that China was considering relaxing the curbs for European semiconductor firms while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it would strengthen cooperation with other countries over its controls.

However, rare-earth magnet exports from China halved in April as exporters grappled with the opaque licensing scheme.

Frank Fannon, a minerals industry consultant and former U.S. assistant secretary of state for energy resources during Trump’s first term, said the global disruptions are not shocking to those paying attention.

“I don’t think anyone should be surprised how this is playing out. We have a production challenge (in the U.S.) and we need to leverage our whole of government approach to secure resources and ramp up domestic capability as soon as possible. The time horizon to do this was yesterday,” Fannon said.

Diplomats, automakers and other executives from India, Japan and Europe were urgently seeking meetings with Beijing officials to push for faster approval of rare earth magnet exports, sources told Reuters, as shortages threatened to halt global supply chains.

A business delegation from Japan will visit Beijing in early June to meet the Ministry of Commerce over the curbs, and European diplomats from countries with big auto industries have also sought “emergency” meetings with Chinese officials in recent weeks, Reuters reported.

India, where Bajaj Auto BAJA.NS warned that any further delays in securing the supply of rare earth magnets from China could “seriously impact” electric vehicle production, is organizing a trip for auto executives in the next two to three weeks.

In May, the head of the trade group representing General Motors GM.N, Toyota 7203.T, Volkswagen VOWG.DE, Hyundai and other major automakers raised similar concerns in a letter to the Trump administration.

“Without reliable access to these elements and magnets, automotive suppliers will be unable to produce critical automotive components, including automatic transmissions, throttle bodies, alternators, various motors, sensors, seat belts, speakers, lights, motors, power steering, and cameras,” the Alliance for Automotive Innovation wrote in the letter.

(Reuters)

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI: Nokia to lead PROACTIF, a multimillion Europe robotics and unmanned technology project
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Press Release
Nokia to lead PROACTIF, a multimillion Europe robotics and unmanned technology project
- The venture is projected to generate around €90 million in revenue by 2035.
- The consortium brings together 42 leading European technology companies from 13 countries to redefine how emergency situations and critical infrastructure are managed.
4 June 2025
Espoo, Finland – Nokia has been selected to lead PROACTIF, a project funded by the European Union’s Chips Joint Undertaking. The project aims to strengthen Europe’s technology resilience and leadership in ECS technologies and support the autonomy of the European Drone and Robotics industry.

The consortium anticipates generating around €90 million in revenue, 50 products, and more than 15 new industry patents by 2035, enabling increased market share and leadership. The project’s additional impact includes dozens of new collaborations, hundreds of new jobs, and over €40 million of additional investments.

“Nokia’s extensive expertise has helped establish drone technology best practices and transform drones into daily helpers for public safety and mission-critical operations. We are honored to lead this project. It demonstrates Nokia’s commitment to fostering innovation and resilience across Europe. By collaborating with leading organizations, this initiative will address critical challenges in security and sustainability, delivering real-world benefits for society,” said Thomas Eder, Head of Embedded Wireless Solutions, Nokia.

The PROACTIF consortium brings together 42 partners and four affiliates from 13 countries with a focus on critical infrastructure surveillance and emergency management in Europe. Under Nokia’s leadership, the groundbreaking venture will redefine how emergency situations and critical infrastructure are managed in Europe. It will unite academic institutions, SMEs, and industry leaders to develop cutting-edge, cost-efficient, eco-efficient, safe, and cybersecure unmanned vehicle (UxV) systems to address European civil security needs.

The project will develop nine advanced technology building blocks and five state-of-the-art UxV platforms, emphasizing interoperability, autonomy and rapid deployment to meet Europe’s societal and market needs. The use of UxV technologies enables a more holistic understanding of an incident’s location and severity, as well as comprehensive situational awareness, through frequent and efficient sensor data gathering.

Multimedia, technical information and related news
Web Page: Nokia Drone Networks

About Nokia
At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.

As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs.

Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.

PROACTIF PARTNERS
PROACTIF brings together notable partners across Europe including : Acorde Technologies, S.A. (Spain), AITEK SPA (Italy), Ascento AG (Switzerland), Asya SIA (Latvia), Avular Innovations B.V. (Netherlands), Captain AI B.V. (Netherlands), CSEM Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique SA (Switzerland), Citymesh N.V. (Belgium), CISC Semiconductor GmbH (Austria), DEMCON Unmanned Systems BV (Netherlands), Dimetor GmbH (Austria), Fixposition AG (Switzerland), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V (Germany), Gdansk University of Technology (Poland), Heimann Sensor GmbH (Germany), HUN-REN Számítástechnikai és Automatizálási Kutatóintézet (Hungary), InnoSenT GmbH (Germany), Innovation River S.R.L (IT), League Geophysics Services B.V. (Netherlands), Leonardo S.p.A. (Italy), Luna Geber Engineering SRL (Italy), NVIDIA (Israel), Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy (Finland), Research Studios Austria Forschungsgesellschaft mbH (Austria), Riga Technical University (Latvia), Saab Finland Oy (Finland), Safran Electronics & Defense / SED SPAIN S.L. (Spain), Sieć Badawcza Łukasiewicz – Instytut Mikroelektroniki i Fotoniki (Poland), Silicon Austria Labs GmbH (Austria), Skyability (Austria), SSH Communications Security Oyj (Finland), Stichting IMEC Nederland (Netherlands), Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (Netherlands), TST-Sistemas (Spain), Universidad de Granada (Spain), Universitá Degli Studi Di Perugia (Italy), Van Oord Ship Management B.V. (Netherlands), VIA electronic GmbH (Germany), ViNotion B.V. (Netherlands), VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. (Finland), Würth Elektronik (Germany) YellowScan (France).

Media inquiries
Nokia Press Office
Email: Press.Services@nokia.com

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The MIL Network –
June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI: Virtune announces the listing of Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP, its new flagship product, on Deutsche Börse Xetra
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Frankfurt, June 4, 2025 – Virtune, the Swedish regulated crypto asset manager, today announced the listing of Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP (VCOIN50) on Xetra, one of Europe’s most prominent trading venues.

Virtune has seen sustained demand for digital assets from institutional and retail investors in the Nordic and European region. Building on this momentum, the VCOIN50 ETP listing on Deutsche Boerse’s Xetra (Xetra ticker: VRTC) segment represents a key milestone in Virtune’s ongoing expansion into the German market. Coinbase will act as the custodian for VCOIN50.

Virtune has made history as the first company to list a crypto Exchange Traded Product (ETP) tracking the COIN50E index, developed by Coinbase, a trusted and global leader in crypto services and administered by MarketVector IndexesTM (“MarketVector”), a leading global index provider.

This launch represents several key firsts for Germany’s financial markets:
- First ever ETP to track the Coinbase 50 Europe Index
- The widest crypto ETP in Europe containing up to 50 crypto assets
About Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP:

Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP is a physically-backed exchange-traded product (ETP) tracking the Coinbase 50 Europe Index, the premier global benchmark index for digital assets and the crypto market’s equivalent of the S&P 500 index. At launch, VCOIN50 ETP will offer exposure to 21 crypto assets that are compliant with market-specific regulatory and Xetra-specific policies Virtune’s expansion to include all 50 assets in the COIN50 is subject to regulatory and stock exchange approval. The ETP provides exposure to up to 50 leading crypto assets and is rebalanced quarterly. The product features a transparent structure backed by physical holdings and secured with institutional-level solutions.

Allocation as of 3rd of June 2025: https://www.virtune.com/product/vcoin50

About Virtune:

Virtune is a Swedish-regulated crypto asset manager and issuer of 100% physically backed crypto ETPs. The company has experienced rapid growth in the Nordics since listing its first crypto ETP on Nasdaq Stockholm in May 2023. Today, Virtune manages $340 million in assets under management and has earned the trust of over 140,000 institutional and retail investors. Since its inception, Virtune has prioritized investor protection, and its success stems from its transparent, regulated approach and strong commitment to innovation and educating the market about crypto assets and ETPs.

Christopher Kock, CEO of Virtune:

“We have worked closely with Coinbase since our inception, relying on their outstanding custody, trading, and staking services across all our ETPs. We are now excited to further strengthen this collaboration by contributing to Coinbase’s global mission through the launch of a COIN50 ETP. COIN50 is an index with the potential to become the crypto market’s equivalent of the S&P 500 and the leading global crypto benchmark. This ETP offers both institutional and retail investors in Europe broad exposure to the crypto market, built by industry experts with deep knowledge and experience.”

About Coinbase:

Crypto creates economic freedom by ensuring that people can participate fairly in the economy, and Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) is on a mission to increase economic freedom for more than 1 billion people. We’re updating the century-old financial system by providing a trusted platform that makes it easy for people and institutions to engage with crypto assets, including trading, staking, safekeeping, spending, and fast, free global transfers. We also provide critical infrastructure for onchain activity and support builders who share our vision that onchain is the new online. And together with the crypto community, we advocate for responsible rules to make the benefits of crypto available around the world.

Brett Tejpaul, Head of Coinbase Institutional:

“With the launch of the Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP in Europe, we’re making one of the most comprehensive benchmarks for the crypto market directly accessible to investors across the EU. This marks a major step forward in our mission to expand global access to digital assets and provide institutional-grade tools for navigating this evolving asset class. The introduction of this ETP reinforces our commitment to bridging traditional financial infrastructure with the growing demand for regulated, secure exposure to the digital economy.”

About MarketVector:

MarketVector IndexesTM (“MarketVector”) is a regulated Benchmark Administrator in Europe, incorporated in Germany and registered with the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). MarketVector maintains indexes under the MarketVectorTM, MVIS®, and BlueStar® names. With a mission to accelerate index innovation globally, MarketVector is best known for its broad suite of Thematic indexes, a long-running expertise in Hard Asset-linked Equity indexes, and its pioneering Digital Asset index family. MarketVector is proud to be in partnership with more than 25 Exchange-Traded Product (ETP) issuers and index fund managers in markets throughout the world, with more than USD 57 billion in assets under management.

Martin Leinweber, Director, Digital Asset Research and Strategy, MarketVector:

“The Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP marks a significant step forward for crypto investment in Europe, offering broad, institutional-grade exposure to digital assets through a single, efficient product. This milestone combines MarketVector’s index expertise, Coinbase’s market infrastructure, and Virtune’s transparent, regulated approach. We’re proud to deepen our partnership with Virtune by becoming the index provider for their entire range of crypto ETPs across Europe. Together, we’re delivering the tools institutional and retail investors need to navigate the digital asset landscape with greater confidence and clarity.”

Key Information about the Product:
- Exposure: Exposure to up to 50 leading crypto assets in one product
- Backing: 100% physically backed by the underlying crypto assets
- Custody: Institutional-grade custody by Coinbase
- Management Fee: 0.95% per annum
- Trading currency: EUR
- First day of trading: Monday, 2nd of June 2025
- BloombergTicker: VCOIN50
- ISIN: SE0024738389
- WKN: A4A5D4
- Exchange ticker: VRTC
- Exchanges: Deutsche Börse Xetra
The ETP is available for sale in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Italy.

For questions, contact:
Christopher Kock, CEO & Member of the Board of Directors
Mobile: +46 70 073 45 64
Email: christopher@virtune.com

About Virtune AB (Publ):
Headquartered in Stockholm, Virtune is a regulated Swedish digital asset manager and issuer of crypto ETPs listed on regulated European exchanges. With strong regulatory foundations, partnerships with industry leaders, and a skilled team, Virtune delivers innovative and compliant investment products aligned with the evolving global crypto landscape.

Crypto investments are associated with high risk. Virtune does not provide investment advice; investments are made at your own risk. Securities may increase or decrease in value, there is no guarantee of getting back invested capital. Read the prospectus, KID, terms at virtune.com.

The Coinbase 50 Europe Index (“Index”) is the exclusive property of MarketVector Indexes GmbH (“MarketVector”) and its Licensors and has been licensed for use by Virtune AB (Publ) (“Licensee”). MarketVector has contracted with CC Data Limited to maintain and calculate the Index. CC Data Limited uses its best efforts to ensure that the Index is calculated correctly. Irrespective of its obligations towards MarketVector, CC Data Limited has no obligation to point out errors in the Index to third parties. In particular, MarketVector is not responsible for the Licensee and/or for Licensee’s legality or suitability and/or for Licensee’s business offerings. Offerings by Licensee, may they be based on the Virtune Coinbase 50 Europe ETP (“Product”) or not, are not sponsored, endorsed, sold, or promoted by MarketVector and any of its affiliates, and MarketVector and any of its affiliates make no representation regarding the advisability of investing in Licensee and/or in Licensee’s business offerings. MARKETVECTOR AND ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES AND ANY OF ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO WARRANTIES AND BEAR NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO LICENSEE.

The MIL Network –
June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI: Virtune announces the launch of Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP, its new flagship product, on Deutsche Börse Xetra
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Frankfurt, June 4, 2025 – Virtune, the Swedish regulated crypto asset manager, today announced the listing of Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP (VCOIN50) on Xetra, one of Europe’s most prominent trading venues. The product is available to Swedish investors through brokers such as Avanza and Montrose.

Virtune has seen sustained demand for digital assets from institutional and retail investors in the Nordic and European region. Building on this momentum, the VCOIN50 ETP listing on Deutsche Börse’s Xetra (Xetra ticker: VRTC) segment represents a key milestone in Virtune’s ongoing expansion across Europe. Coinbase will act as the custodian for VCOIN50.

Virtune has made history as the first company to list a crypto Exchange Traded Product (ETP) tracking the COIN50E index, developed by Coinbase, a trusted and global leader in crypto services and administered by MarketVector IndexesTM (“MarketVector”), a leading global index provider.

This launch represents several key firsts for Europe’s financial markets:
- First ever ETP to track the Coinbase 50 Europe Index
- The widest crypto ETP in Europe containing up to 50 crypto assets
About Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP:

Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP is a physically-backed exchange-traded product (ETP) tracking the Coinbase 50 Europe Index, the premier global benchmark index for digital assets and the crypto market’s equivalent of the S&P 500 index. At launch, VCOIN50 ETP will offer exposure to 21 crypto assets that are compliant with market-specific regulatory and Xetra-specific policies. Virtune’s expansion to include all 50 assets in the COIN50 is subject to regulatory and stock exchange approval. The ETP provides exposure to up to 50 leading crypto assets and is rebalanced quarterly. The product features a transparent structure backed by physical holdings and secured with institutional-level solutions.

Allocation as of 3rd of June 2025: https://www.virtune.com/product/vcoin50

About Virtune:

Virtune is a Swedish-regulated crypto asset manager and issuer of 100% physically backed crypto ETPs. The company has experienced rapid growth in the Nordics since listing its first crypto ETP on Nasdaq Stockholm in May 2023. Today, Virtune manages $340 million in assets under management and has earned the trust of over 140,000 institutional and retail investors. Since its inception, Virtune has prioritized investor protection, and its success stems from its transparent, regulated approach and strong commitment to innovation and educating the market about crypto assets and ETPs.

Christopher Kock, CEO of Virtune:

“We have worked closely with Coinbase since our inception, relying on their outstanding custody, trading, and staking services across all our ETPs. We are now excited to further strengthen this collaboration by contributing to Coinbase’s global mission through the launch of a COIN50 ETP. COIN50 is an index with the potential to become the crypto market’s equivalent of the S&P 500 and the leading global crypto benchmark. This ETP offers both institutional and retail investors in Europe broad exposure to the crypto market, built by industry experts with deep knowledge and experience.”

About Coinbase:

Crypto creates economic freedom by ensuring that people can participate fairly in the economy, and Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) is on a mission to increase economic freedom for more than 1 billion people. We’re updating the century-old financial system by providing a trusted platform that makes it easy for people and institutions to engage with crypto assets, including trading, staking, safekeeping, spending, and fast, free global transfers. We also provide critical infrastructure for onchain activity and support builders who share our vision that onchain is the new online. And together with the crypto community, we advocate for responsible rules to make the benefits of crypto available around the world.

Brett Tejpaul, Head of Coinbase Institutional:

“With the launch of the Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP in Europe, we’re making one of the most comprehensive benchmarks for the crypto market directly accessible to investors across the EU. This marks a major step forward in our mission to expand global access to digital assets and provide institutional-grade tools for navigating this evolving asset class. The introduction of this ETP reinforces our commitment to bridging traditional financial infrastructure with the growing demand for regulated, secure exposure to the digital economy.”

About MarketVector:

MarketVector IndexesTM (“MarketVector”) is a regulated Benchmark Administrator in Europe, incorporated in Germany and registered with the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). MarketVector maintains indexes under the MarketVectorTM, MVIS®, and BlueStar® names. With a mission to accelerate index innovation globally, MarketVector is best known for its broad suite of Thematic indexes, a long-running expertise in Hard Asset-linked Equity indexes, and its pioneering Digital Asset index family. MarketVector is proud to be in partnership with more than 25 Exchange-Traded Product (ETP) issuers and index fund managers in markets throughout the world, with more than USD 57 billion in assets under management.

Martin Leinweber, Director, Digital Asset Research and Strategy, MarketVector:

“The Virtune Coinbase 50 Index ETP marks a significant step forward for crypto investment in Europe, offering broad, institutional-grade exposure to digital assets through a single, efficient product. This milestone combines MarketVector’s index expertise, Coinbase’s market infrastructure, and Virtune’s transparent, regulated approach. We’re proud to deepen our partnership with Virtune by becoming the index provider for their entire range of crypto ETPs across Europe. Together, we’re delivering the tools institutional and retail investors need to navigate the digital asset landscape with greater confidence and clarity.”

Key Information about the Product:
- Exposure: Exposure to up to 50 leading crypto assets in one product 
- Backing: 100% physically backed by the underlying crypto assets
- Custody: Institutional-grade custody by Coinbase 
- Management Fee: 0.95% per annum 
- Trading currency: EUR 
- First day of trading: Monday, 2nd of June 2025 
- BloombergTicker: VCOIN50 
- ISIN: SE0024738389 
- WKN: A4A5D4
- Exchange ticker: VRTC 
- Exchanges: Deutsche Börse Xetra
For questions, contact:
Christopher Kock, CEO & Member of the Board of Directors
Mobile: +46 70 073 45 64
Email: christopher@virtune.com

About Virtune AB (Publ):
Virtune with its headquarters in Stockholm is a regulated Swedish digital asset manager and issuer of crypto exchange traded products on regulated European exchanges. With regulatory compliance, strategic collaborations with industry leaders and our proficient team, we empower investors on a global level to access innovative and sophisticated investment products that are aligned with the evolving landscape of the global crypto market.

Crypto investments are associated with high risk. Virtune does not provide investment advice; investments are made at your own risk. Securities may increase or decrease in value, there is no guarantee of getting back invested capital. Read the prospectus, KID, terms at virtune.com.

The Coinbase 50 Europe Index (“Index”) is the exclusive property of MarketVector Indexes GmbH (“MarketVector”) and its Licensors and has been licensed for use by Virtune AB (Publ) (“Licensee”). MarketVector has contracted with CC Data Limited to maintain and calculate the Index. CC Data Limited uses its best efforts to ensure that the Index is calculated correctly. Irrespective of its obligations towards MarketVector, CC Data Limited has no obligation to point out errors in the Index to third parties. In particular, MarketVector is not responsible for the Licensee and/or for Licensee’s legality or suitability and/or for Licensee’s business offerings. Offerings by Licensee, may they be based on the Virtune Coinbase 50 Europe ETP (“Product”) or not, are not sponsored, endorsed, sold, or promoted by MarketVector and any of its affiliates, and MarketVector and any of its affiliates make no representation regarding the advisability of investing in Licensee and/or in Licensee’s business offerings. MARKETVECTOR AND ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES AND ANY OF ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO WARRANTIES AND BEAR NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO LICENSEE.

The MIL Network –
June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Denis Beau: How to make European financial integration a strategic strength in which European citizens play a key role

Source: Bank for International Settlements

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Banque de France for this award ceremony for the 36^th international economics and finance dissertation competition. Before going on to highlight the best dissertations and the most original work selected by the jury this year, I would like to specifically address all the students.

As you start or prepare to start your professional life, I want to share with you a perspective and two certainties, which I hope could help you in the early years of your career and, maybe, beyond. (I) The perspective is that of a threshold between two eras. This eventually represents an opportunity and a responsibility. To make the most of the situation, I am convinced we need to change our mindset (II), first, to finally make financial integration a strategic strength for Europe, and second (III), to make Europeans masters of their own destiny rather than passive bystanders to a technocratic project.

I. Standing at the threshold of a new era: taking the challenges seriously and seizing the opportunities

I shall start with the analysis. It has become something of a cliché – but that does not make it any less true: we are on the verge of a new era.

Over the past 15 years, since the outbreak of the Great Financial Crisis, we have rediscovered the vital importance – as well as the fragility – of our financial systems, our economies, our democracies, of peace in Europe, of the climate and our ecosystems- the list goes on.

In a world that is changing before our very eyes, one thing is clear: Europe risks being left behind. Our economy is lagging in terms of growth, productivity and innovation. Between 1999 and 2024, GDP per capita grew by a cumulative 46% in the United States, compared with 30% in the euro area. As a share of GDP, European firms invest half as much in research and development (R&D) as their US counterparts.

Reversing this loss of speed and returning to growth, innovation and productivity is the first of three interdependent challenges we need to meet in the very near term. We also finally need to build our European sovereignty and strategic autonomy, and move forward on the climate, environmental, digital and demographic transitions – which we must anticipate and support if we are to avoid merely suffering the consequences.

The amount of investment needed to face up to the challenges is massive: if we add “ReArm Europe” to Draghi’s famous figures, the EU will have to invest an additional EUR 900 billion per year up to 2030. That’s over 5% of our GDP.

II. Changing our European mindset: placing the ends rather than the means at the heart of the European financial integration agenda

Meeting these challenges calls for huge efforts from each of us. From my perspective as a central banker, let me focus on the special role finance has to play in Europe’s response: for the past 50 years, we have worked steadily to build a European single market, notably for financial services, helped by powerful catalysts such as the creation of the single currency and ESAs, the establishment of the Banking Union and the SSM, and the current Capital Markets Union project.

Each of these initiatives represents real progress. However, throughout these years, our mindset has remained primarily institutional, and basically bureaucratic.

For Europe to achieve full financial integration and reap all of its rewards – especially at a time the risk of a profound fracturing of the financial landscape has never been greater with the potential reconfiguration unleashed by the new US administration’s policy change – it seems appropriate to adopt a more “substantial” approach, to make the European financial system not just something that needs to be regulated, but rather an asset for the European economy.

To achieve this, in his recent Letter to the President of the French Republic, the Governor of the Banque de France firmly underlined the need to take concrete steps, backed by sufficient EU consensus, in three main areas: reducing market fragmentation, investing better and innovating faster.

At the heart of these three priorities is the Savings and Investments Union: its aim is to create a single market for financing that will improve the allocation of savings by exploiting the complementarity between the Banking Union and Capital Markets Union – because it’s clear that bank and market financing remain overly fragmented by national borders.

We also, I think, need to shift from an obligation of means to an obligation of results. The projects we need to carry out are nothing new, but the approach is very different. Up to now, the European agenda has primarily been conceived as a regulatory one, on the basis that this is sufficient to achieve a final result for which we are not accountable. But public action is more than simply drafting legislation. It must be based on a clearly stated intent, have an explicit ambition, and achieve concrete results for which it remains fully accountable.

Let me illustrate this with three examples:

The first concerns the regulatory framework for the financial system. It is vital that it be simplified. Over time, our institutional approach and the primacy given to regulation have led to an excess of red tape and inconsistencies. It is possible to revisit this regulatory framework to make it more efficient and agile, without undermining the objectives pursued, which, on the whole, have been met – and so without being dragged into a regulatory race to the bottom by the new US administration.

A prime example of this is the proposed ESG regulations recently submitted by the Commission with the Omnibus Directive project, and which the Banque de France largely supports.

Another obvious candidate for simplification is the entire bank prudential framework – its microprudential, macroprudential and resolution rules – where examples of overcomplexity, redundancy and overlapping international standards abound. The framework has become labyrinthine, and even the specialists get lost – to say nothing of the institutional challenges that make it impossible to take a holistic view of bank capital requirements and their appropriate level.

A second example is the equity financing of the European economy. We have all the instruments we need – from venture capital to equity markets – but none of them are on a sufficient scale. We particularly need to make better use of European long-term investors, who together are regarded as leading players in global financial markets, but struggle to make up sufficient mass. This can be achieved through the revision of the Solvency II Directive, and by using national and European public financial institutions more effectively to develop public-private partnerships.

My last example relates to market infrastructures. We need to adapt our European infrastructures to the wave of technological innovations currently being deployed, based on distributed ledger technology and asset tokenisation. Our first objective is to develop a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) for use by market participants, followed by a CBDC for everyday retail payments (digital euro). Then, in the medium term, we need to develop a European unified ledger to modernise securities transactions. The US authorities’ recent announcements in support of crypto-assets and stablecoins make it even more vital we complete this project, to maintain our monetary and financial sovereignty in the new world we are entering. The goal now is to move as quickly as possible from experimentation to operationalisation. Rest assured that the Banque de France and other Eurosystem central banks are working very actively and resolutely to complete this project.

III. We should not neglect the human side: savers and financiers as stakeholders

One of the keys to deepening our European financial integration is to make things simpler and more strategic – scaling down to half a dozen objectives with clear purposes and impacts rather than having an action plan with 36 highly technocratic projects.

But there is another challenge that is often overlooked: the human aspect of the project, since nothing can be achieved without mobilising our fellow citizens. In this case, it means mobilising savers and financial professionals.

In France, and probably other European jurisdictions, things in this area are far from optimal. The regulations are well-meaning, but at the very least overly complex, and in some respects treat savers like children, while also encouraging intermediaries to take a by-the-book approach to customer interests rather than genuinely seeking to do what’s best for them. More generally, they tend to treat the symptoms rather than looking for actual causes – one of the main ones being financial illiteracy, a phenomenon that has been well-documented and leads to sub-optimal outcomes in terms of household wealth management (reduced returns) and for the financing of the economy (a relatively risk-averse supply of financing).

To help resolve this situation, the Banque de France intends to fully play its role as the national steering body for financial education – a task entrusted to it by public authorities – and provide explanations, training and guidance. I would like to commend EDUCFI for its work providing accessible educational content for all audiences, to help them better understand money, savings, loans and the risk of scams. I encourage you to tell people about these resources and to use them as much as possible: they are an important lever for spreading economic knowledge.

But we must go further. Improving financial education means giving everyone the means to understand their choices, protect their savings and make a bigger contribution – indirectly but effectively – to the financing of the economy. This is a prerequisite for social justice, economic efficiency and citizenship.

To conclude, I would like to make a wish for you, as students about to embark on your careers. You will be the ones making tomorrow’s European financial sector a vibrant and effective financial system. May you always remain committed to the interests of your clients and have a broad understanding of the challenges we collectively face. Behind your profession lies a mission that is essential to our society. The quality of your work will also make a difference to the future of Europe and Europeans.

MIL OSI Economics –

June 4, 2025
‘On One Mission, One Message, One India’: Indian delegation reaches Brussels to rally global support against terrorism

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

An all-party Indian Parliamentary delegation, led by BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, arrived in Brussels on Tuesday, marking the final leg of its European tour aimed at strengthening international consensus against Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism.

Highlighting the delegation’s bipartisan nature, the Indian Embassy in Belgium and Luxembourg posted on X: “’On One Mission, One Message, One India’. An All-Party Delegation led by Member of Parliament Ravi Shankar Prasad was received by the Indian Ambassador to EU, Belgium and Luxembourg Saurabh Kumar upon arrival in Brussels.”

During the two-day visit, the delegation is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with EU officials and Belgian authorities to underscore “the scourge of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, Pahalgam terrorist attack and India’s response to the same.”

The group will reiterate India’s resolve to eradicate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Meetings with think tanks, members of the media, and the Indian diaspora in Brussels are also on the agenda.

Brussels is the concluding stop on a multi-nation tour that has already taken the delegation through France, Italy, Denmark, and the UK.

In addition to Prasad, the delegation includes BJP MPs Daggubati Purandeswari, Samik Bhattacharya, and Ghulam Ali Khatana; Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi; AIADMK MP M. Thambidurai; Congress MP Amar Singh; former Union Minister M.J. Akbar; and former Ambassador Pankaj Saran.

June 4, 2025

MIL-OSI: Egypt and Saudi Arabia are the easiest countries for doing business in the Middle East, says GBCI 2025

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

LONDON, June 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Middle East is positioned as a mid-complexity region for doing business in the Global Business Complexity Index (GBCI) recently launched by TMF Group.

The report ranks 79 jurisdictions, accounting for 94% of the world’s GDP, based on their business complexity, with 1 being the most complex and 79 the least complex. Within the Middle East, Egypt is ranked 37th globally, followed closely by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at 38th, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 39th and Qatar at 44th.

Egypt has decreased in complexity from last year’s position of 28th, mainly due to several strategic efforts and developments. For example, the country’s adoption of diverse logistic solutions and strengthening of trade corridors has played a pivotal role in mitigating economic pressures and geopolitical risks. The establishment of integrated logistics corridors and free zones, coupled with incentives like simplified customs procedures, has also enhanced accessibility for foreign businesses.

Saudi Arabia has also improved its position, ranking 38th this year (one point less complex than last year), with resilience amid geopolitical disruptions and Vision 2030 initiatives being highlighted as key drivers of the ease of complexity. The country’s strategy to diversify its economy beyond oil dependency continues at the forefront, as the Kingdom invests in trade infrastructure and regulatory frameworks, enhancing supply chain resilience. In addition, under Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is striving to reduce its vulnerability to geopolitical threats. Parallelly, investments in infrastructure aim to establish the Kingdom as a global logistics hub.

The UAE, ranking 39th this year, continues to position itself as a resilient hub amid global geopolitical disruptions. Strict regulations in place aim to ensure operations are compliant and secure, and contribute to the UAE being seen as a ‘safe haven’ for a diverse range of sectors. These regulations help mitigate risks and provide stability for businesses, fostering confidence among investors and enterprises. With multiple entry points and robust infrastructure, the UAE offers reliable trade corridors.

With a slight increase in its complexity, Qatar is ranked 44th (last year, it ranked 48th). The geopolitical landscape remains volatile, with Qatar being involved in multiple peace talks, which underscores regional unpredictability and contributes to the heightened sense of uncertainty in the business environment. Additionally, the labour market faces challenges such as increased staff turnover and wage inflation, impacting cost efficiency.

Achin Malik, TMF Group’s Middle East, India and Africa Market Head, commented:

“Complexity is no longer the biggest challenge for business worldwide: uncertainty is. At a time of great instability in global trade and rising geopolitical tensions, the Middle East is increasingly strengthening its trade corridors — and exploring new ones. This positions countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar as resilient hubs for businesses amid geopolitical and natural disruptions, in a context of increased unpredictability.”

Global top and bottom ten (1= most complex, 79= least complex)
1. Greece	79. Cayman Islands
2. France	78. Denmark
3. Mexico	77. New Zealand
4. Turkey	76. Hong Kong, SAR
5. Colombia	75. Jersey
6. Brazil	74. Netherlands
7. Italy	73. Jamaica
8. Bolivia	72. British Virgin Islands
9. Kazakhstan	71. Curaçao
10. China	70. Czech Republic

Media Contacts

TMF Group

Marina Llibre Martín, Global PR Manager
marina.llibremartin@tmf-group.com

The MIL Network –

June 4, 2025

MIL-OSI: CSC, SURF and Nokia Achieve 1.2 Tbit/s Data Transfer to prepare long haul network for new LUMI-AI supercomputer and AI Factories
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Press Release
CSC, SURF and Nokia Achieve 1.2 Tbit/s Data Transfer to prepare long haul network for new LUMI-AI supercomputer and AI Factories
- Trial helps researchers prepare network for high performance computing (HPC) clusters and AI Factories handling massive datasets and high-intensity workloads.
- Results confirm that multi-domain, high-capacity data transfers across European research networks are both feasible and future-ready.
4 June 2025
Espoo, Finland – Nokia, CSC – IT Center for Science and SURF have successfully tested a high-capacity, quantum-safe fibre-optic connection exceeding 1.2 terabit per second (Tbit/s) between Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Kajaani, Finland with data traversing over 3500 kilometers. The trial, which was conducted in May 2025, demonstrated the potential of ultra-fast, cross-border connectivity for research.

Tests were carried out along several routes, including the longest which spanned 4,700 km through Norway at a capacity of 1Tbit/s. To put this in perspective, 1 Tbit/s is enough to stream 200,000 full HD movies (at 5 Mbit/s each) simultaneously.

These results are particularly promising as the research community prepares for supercomputers and AI Factories to come online – where reliable, scalable, and secure connections will be critical to supporting some of the world’s largest datasets and most demanding workloads.

The test used a combination of real research data and synthetic data, transferred directly from disk to disk – from SURF’s facility in Amsterdam to CSC’s data center in Kajaani, across five production research and education networks: SURF (the Netherlands), NORDUnet (Nordic backbone), Sunet (Sweden), SIKT (Norway) and Funet (CSC’s network in Finland).

The network solution was based on Nokia’s IP/MPLS routing and quantum-safe optical networking gear. Nokia’s IP technology successfully demonstrated Flexible Ethernet (FlexE) to accommodate “elephant flows”, or very large continuous flows of data, and its high-capacity optical transport technology showed the ability to handle massive data sets generated by HPCs over long distances.

With the exponential growth of research data, especially for training large-scale AI models, the need for resilient, high-throughput and secure connectivity is more critical than ever. This test confirms that multi-domain, high-capacity data transfers across European research networks are both feasible and future-ready. Testing an operational network connection over long distances provides unique insights into data transport and storage of large data volumes. The tests are crucial for improving the infrastructure for data-intensive research.

“We design research networks with future needs in mind. CSC’s data center in Kajaani already hosts the pan-European LUMI supercomputer and with the upcoming LUMI-AI supercomputer and AI Factory coming online, reliable and scalable data connections throughout Europe are essential. Even though the geographical distance is significant, it poses no obstacle to data traffic,” said Jani Myyry, Senior Network Specialist, CSC.

“As SURF we are ready to take the next step in aligning the European supercomputers. These efforts offer future perspectives to train GPT-nl on LUMI or for a researcher to compute on LUMI with very large datasets hosted at SURF, such as the KNMI (The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute) datasets. We are very grateful to our Nordic partners for their help setting up this trial connection. This is again an example of the continued good cooperation between NRENs to create the best possible international infrastructure for research and education,” said Arno Bakker, Senior Network Specialist, SURF.

“Groundbreaking trials like this highlight how advanced networks are foundational to unlocking the full potential of AI and high-performance computing. This successful collaboration with CSC and SURF is a testament to the innovation and leadership of the scientific community, and to what’s possible when we work together. As the network prepares for the next wave of supercomputers and AI Factories, we are proud to deliver the quantum-safe, high-capacity, and resilient IP/MPLS and optical infrastructure that makes these systems viable. We look forward to continuing our support for global research and education networks, helping them scale with confidence and drive the next generation of discovery and innovation,” said Mikhail Lenko, Customer Solutions Architect, Nokia.

Resources and additional information
Product Page: 7750 Service Router
Product Page: 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS)
Product Page: 1830 Photonic Service Interconnect – Modular (PSI-M)
Web Page: Quantum-safe networks

About Nokia
At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.

As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, which is celebrating 100 years of innovation.

With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.

About CSC – IT Center for Science
CSC is a Finnish center of expertise in ICT that provides world-class services for research, education, culture, public administration and enterprises, to help them thrive and benefit society at large. csc.fi

About SURF
SURF is the ICT cooperative of Dutch education and research institutions. The members, the owners of SURF, join forces to develop or procure the best possible digital services, work together on complex innovation issues and develop and share knowledge with each other.
SURF actively collaborates with other European NRENs united in GÉANT and participates in global consortia like the Advanced North Atlantic (ANA) and Asia Pacific Europe Ring (AER).
NetherLight, SURF’s Global Exchange Point (GXP) dedicated to research and education data in Amsterdam connects similar GXPs and advanced high-capacity networks for scientific and educational collaboration. The NetherLight GXP plays a major and vital role in the federation of research and education networks worldwide, also known as the Global Research and Education Network (GREN). www.surf.nl

Media inquiries
Nokia Press Office
Email: Press.Services@nokia.com

Nokia Media Relations
Sarah Miller
Phone: +1 613-720-9716
Email: sarah.miller@nokia.com

CSC Media Relations
Sanna Kostiainen
Phone: +358 40 0712072
Email: viestinta@csc.fi

SURF Spokesperson
Tom Hoven
Phone: +31 641 439 398
Email: tom.hoven@surf.nl

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The MIL Network –
June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Sabalenka, Swiatek to battle in semis as Alcaraz dominates Paul

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

Carlos Alcaraz returns a shot during the men’s singles quarter final match between Tommy Paul of the United States and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros, Paris, France, June 3, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Jing)

World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka and reigning champion Iga Swiatek will meet in the women’s singles semifinals at the French Open after both won their respective quarterfinals in straight sets on Tuesday.

Sabalenka took revenge against China’s Zheng Qinwen, as Zheng had beaten the three-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka for the first time at last month’s Italian Open.

Although eighth seed Zheng broke first, Sabalenka, 27, came back to win a tie-break in the first set. The top seed maintained her momentum in the second set to seal the victory 7-6 (3), 6-3.

“That was a true battle, and honestly I have no idea how I was able to break her back and get back in the first set. I was just trying to fight and put as many balls as I could back in. I didn’t start well but I am really glad that I found my rhythm and won this match,” Sabalenka said after the game.

She added, “I have to say that last tournament [the Italian Open] I was pretty exhausted, and honestly at the end of the match I was actually glad that I had lost that match, because I needed a little break before Roland Garros. Today, I was just more fresh, and I was ready to battle.”

2024 Olympic champion Zheng failed to extend her winning streak at Roland Garros, who felt disappointed after the loss, “I didn’t handle the pressure very well – that’s the only thing I didn’t do well today.”

“I actually felt I could have won this match, but maybe I was too nervous and couldn’t bring out my best,” Zheng said. “When I face tournaments I really want to win, I need to stay more stable mentally, follow my game plan, and not focus too much on the result.”

Fifth seed Swiatek defeated Elina Svitolina 6-1, 7-5 to sail into the semifinals, and said the upcoming match against Sabalenka would be a challenge, “[Sabalenka] really has a game for every surface, so I just need to focus on myself, do the work, be brave in my shots and just go for it.”

Swiatek added, “I’m going to prepare tactically tomorrow for sure. [Sabalenka] has been having a great season, so I’m not going to lie, it is going to be a tough match. But I’m happy for the challenge.”

The men’s singles quarterfinals saw second seed Carlos Alcaraz beat Tommy Paul 6-0, 6-1, 6-4. The Spaniard will now face Lorenzo Musetti, who defeated Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

The second-seeded Italian pair of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani eased past Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 6-3 to reach the women’s doubles semifinals, while Evan King and Christian Harrison upset the men’s doubles second-seeded pair Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

In the mixed doubles, Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski shocked the top-seeded duo of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Mate Pavic in the quarterfinals 6-3, 6-4.

MIL OSI China News –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Secretary-General of ASEAN has a pull-aside with the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of Indonesia

Source: ASEAN

Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, had a pull-aside with the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of Indonesia, H.E. Airlangga Hartarto, at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, France, on 3 June 2025. They discussed Indonesia’s accession process to the OECD, current global economic developments, and the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, among others.

The post Secretary-General of ASEAN has a pull-aside with the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of Indonesia appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.

MIL OSI Economics –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore

Source: ASEAN

Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore, H.E. Gan Kim Yong, at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, France, on 3 June 2025. The meeting discussed Singapore’s important contributions to the ASEAN Community-building efforts, as well as ways to advance ASEAN’s prosperity agenda, including through the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) Upgrade and steps towards realising an ASEAN single market.

The post Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.

MIL OSI Economics –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI: North America high-net-worth individual population surges, while Europe and Middle East shrink
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Press contact:
Fahd Pasha
Tel.: +1 647 860 3777
E-mail: Fahd.Pasha@capgemini.com

North America high-net-worth individual population surges, while Europe and Middle East shrink
- U.S. led the world in growth in its millionaire population, adding 562,000 to reach 7.9 million
- Ultra-high net worth individual population rises by 6.2% worldwide
- High-net-worth individuals now allocate 15% of their portfolios to alternative investments, including cryptocurrencies
Paris, June 4, 2025 – The Capgemini Research Institute’s World Wealth Report 2025, published today, reveals the global high-net-worth individuals¹(HNWIs) population rose by 2.6% in 2024. Now in its 29^thedition, the report finds this increase was driven by the growth in the population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs), which grew by 6.2%, as strong stock markets and AI optimism boosted portfolio returns. The data indicates that alternative investments², such as private equity and cryptocurrencies, are now an established presence in HNWI holdings, representing 15% of their portfolios.

Bullish stock market performance in the U.S. fuels wealth increase
A favorable interest rate environment and strong U.S. equity market returns helped boost wealth creation in 2024. North America saw the biggest gains, with the HNWI population rising by 7.3%. In contrast, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East saw declines in their HNWI populations, as macroeconomic challenges weighed.

At the end of 2024, according to Capgemini’s research:
- Europe’s HNWI population declined 2.1% due to economic stagnation in major countries, with United Kingdom, France and Germany losing 14,000, 21,000 and 41,000 millionaires, respectively. In contrast, Europe’s UHNWI population rose 3.5%, reflecting increased wealth concentration.
- Asia-Pacific’s HNWI population increased 2.7%, with notable variability across the region.
- Latin America’s HNWI population declined 8.5%, due to currency depreciation and fiscal instability. Brazil (-13.3%) and Mexico (-13.5%) witnessed the biggest population declines.
- The Middle East’s HNWI population declined 2.1%, driven by lower oil prices.
Within the largest individual markets, the U.S. was the clear leader, adding 562,000 millionaires as the country’s HNWI population grew by 7.6% to 7.9 million. India and Japan were standouts in the Asia-Pacific region, with both countries registering 5.6% growth, adding 20,000 and 210,000 millionaires, respectively. In contrast, growth in China was negative, with HNWI population declining by 1.0%.

Next-gen HNWIs seek wealth management firms that align with investment priorities
Wealth management firms are actively preparing for a new era of wealth transfer in which 83.5 trillion USD³ will change hands over the next two decades, creating the next generation of HNWIs⁴. According to the report, this handover will unfold in three phases: 30% of HNWIs will receive an inheritance by the end of 2030, 63% will inherit wealth by the end of 2035, and 84% by 2040.

“The great wealth transfer will be a defining moment for the industry. Despite global wealth on the rise, 81% of inheritors plan to switch firms within one to two years of inheritance. Potentially losing these unsatisfied clients is going to create significant risk for the global wealth management sector,” said Kartik Ramakrishnan, CEO of Capgemini’s Financial Services Strategic Business Unit and Group Executive Board Member. “The next-generation of high-net-worth individuals arrive with vastly different expectations to their parents. This necessitates an urgent shift away from traditional strategies to effectively cater to their evolving needs on this wealth journey. Firms must also prepare to equip advisors with the digital capabilities, potentially augmented with agentic or generative AI, to mitigate the risk of losing both clients and key employees.”

As of January 2025, HNWI investors parked 15% of their portfolios in alternative investments, including private equity and cryptocurrencies. They are willing to take more risks to expand their wealth – allocating capital to higher growth asset classes and niche product offerings, notably by 61% of millennial and Gen Z HNWIs.

To attract next-gen HNWIs, wealth management firms must rethink
The report highlights that wealth management firms need to refresh and revamp their services and offerings to resonate with the next-gen HNWI customer base. Including:
- Private equity and cryptocurrencies: 88% of advisors observe a greater interest in alternative assets amongst this group of investors over baby boomers
- New offshore booking centers: 50% of advisors indicate their lack of capabilities in emerging wealth hubs – Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE and Saudi Arabia – will drive these clients to alternate firms, as they seek diversification, better returns and a favorable regulatory environment
- Tailored services: concierge services such as luxury travel, medical care, and safeguarding against cyber threats, rank as the top non-financial value-added service most sought after
- Digital interactions: advisors rank a digital platform providing a holistic client view and actionable insights as the most important capability to effectively serve next-gen HNWIs, followed by intelligent automation of operational tasks like meeting summaries and emails
Insufficient support from wealth management firms makes advisors a flight risk
According to the report, one-in-three advisors express dissatisfaction with their firms’ lack of digital capabilities, negatively impacting their productivity, and creating a technological divide. In addition, 62% of next-gen HNWIs say they would follow their advisor if they moved to a different firm. Altogether, this directly impacts retention, as advisors struggle to engage these digital-native clients.

Beyond digital resources, the industry is on the cusp of a talent shortage amid an unprecedented transfer of wealth to Gen X, millennial, and Gen Z inheritors. In the next 12 months, one in four advisors plan to be on the move, with a majority transitioning to a competitor firm and a few starting their own ventures. Additionally, 20% of advisors say they will retire by 2035, with 48% planning to retire by 2040.

As the great wealth transfer unfolds, the wealth management industry will need to reimagine product offerings through tailored investment options for next-gen HNWIs. Firms must empower and engage advisors with an intuitive digital experience across all channels to secure their loyalty, the report concludes.

Read the full report: Sailing through the Great Wealth Transfer

Report Methodology
The World Wealth Report 2025 market-sizing model covers 71 countries, accounting for more than 98% of global gross national income and 99% of world stock market capitalization. The Capgemini 2025 Global HNW Insights Survey questioned 6,472 HNWIs including 5,473 Next-gen HNWIs across four regions: Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific and Middle East. The 2025 Wealth Management Executive Survey includes 141 responses across 10 markets, with representation from pure WM firms, universal banks, independent broker/dealer firms, and family offices. The 2025 Relationship Manager Survey, executed by Phronesis Partners, includes 1,306 responses across twelve markets.

About Capgemini
Capgemini is a global business and technology transformation partner, helping organizations to accelerate their dual transition to a digital and sustainable world, while creating tangible impact for enterprises and society. It is a responsible and diverse group of 340,000 team members in more than 50 countries. With its strong over 55-year heritage, Capgemini is trusted by its clients to unlock the value of technology to address the entire breadth of their business needs. It delivers end-to-end services and solutions leveraging strengths from strategy and design to engineering, all fueled by its market leading capabilities in AI, generative AI, cloud and data, combined with its deep industry expertise and partner ecosystem. The Group reported 2024 global revenues of €22.1 billion.

Get The Future You Want | www.capgemini.com

About the Capgemini Research Institute
The Capgemini Research Institute is Capgemini’s in-house think-tank on all things digital. The Institute publishes research on the impact of digital technologies on large traditional businesses. The team draws on the worldwide network of Capgemini experts and works closely with academic and technology partners. The Institute has dedicated research centers in India, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It was ranked #1 in the world for the quality of its research by independent analysts for six consecutive times – an industry first.
Visit us at www.capgemini.com/researchinstitute

¹ HNWIs are high-net-worth individuals with investable assets of USD1 million or more, excluding their primary residence, collectibles, consumables, and consumer durables. HNWIs are segmented into three categories based on wealth bands: Ultra-HNWIs (USD30 million or more), Mid-Tier Millionaires (USD5-30M) and Millionaires Next Door (USD1-5M).
² Alternative investments include commodities, currencies, private equity, hedge funds, structured products, and digital assets
³ UBS, “Global Wealth Report 2024”
⁴ Gen X (aged 44 to 59 years as of 2025), millennial (aged 28-43 years as of 2025), and Gen Z (12 to 27 years as of 2025) inheritors are referenced as “next-gen HNWIs” to signify the generational shift in HNWI wealth

Attachment
- 06_04_World Wealth Report 2025 Press Release
The MIL Network –
June 4, 2025
Alcaraz bludgeons Paul to reach French Open semis, Swiatek to face Sabalenka

Source: Government of India

Source: Government of India (4)

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz steamrolled past American 12th-seed Tommy Paul 6-0 6-1 6-4 at the French Open on Tuesday with a jaw-dropping display of attacking tennis in one of the most one-sided men’s quarter-finals in Paris in recent memory.

Four-time champion Iga Swiatek, who is looking to become the first woman in the professional era to win four consecutive titles in Paris, also punched her semi-final ticket with a straight sets win over Elina Svitolina of Ukraine to set up a mouth-watering semi-final with world number one Aryna Sabalenka.

But it was four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz’s merciless dismantling of Paul that grabbed the fans’ attention, with the 22-year-old Spaniard terrorising the former French Open junior champion who looked like a fish out of water.

Alcaraz charged through the first two sets in just 53 minutes and in near flawless fashion, hitting winners at will and chasing down every ball before the shell-shocked American had any time to react.

Paul pulled himself together to hold serve and go 4-3 up in the third but as the sun gradually went down over Paris so did the curtain on his inspired run, with Alcaraz winning three games in a row to put him out of his misery in just 94 minutes.

“I could close my eyes and everything went in,” Alcaraz said. “My feeling was unbelievable. I tried to hit the shots 100% and not think about it.”

“Today it was one of those matches where everything went in,” he said.

He will next take on in-form Italian Lorenzo Musetti who battled past American Frances Tiafoe in four sets after surviving a second-set wobble, to reach the French Open semi-finals for the first time.

MUSETTI WARNING

Musetti, the world number seven, who escaped with a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct when he kicked a ball at a line judge, eventually overran 15th seed Tiafoe.

“Honestly it was really unlucky coincidence,” said Musetti of the incident.

“I was a little bit scared, because I really didn’t want to harm nobody, of course. So I immediately went to the line umpire, and I of course said, ‘sorry’, I apologise to everyone.”

“It was right to have a warning, but I think the umpire saw that there was no intention about that, and that’s why probably just, you know, let me continue my game.”

That occurred in the second set when Musetti, the only man to reach at least the semi-finals of every main claycourt event this season, was given balls to serve.

He kicked one to inadvertently hit the line judge, who barely flinched even though she was hit on her upper body.

Grand Slam rules state that players are issued a warning at first instance for any ball abuse. Tiafoe, however, called it ‘comical’ that there was no serious punishment.

“I mean, obviously he did that and nothing happened,” said Tiafoe, who had looked surprised and pointed out the incident to the chair umpire.

“I think that’s comical, but it is what it is. Nothing happened, so there’s nothing really to talk about. Obviously it’s not consistent, so it is what it is.”

Earlier, and in front of a sparse crowd around lunchtime, Swiatek braved the windy conditions to beat Svitolina 6-1 7-5.

Although Swiatek failed to win a title going into the tournament this season, she looks to have rediscovered her remarkable claycourt form in Paris, stretching her winning run at the French Open to 26 consecutive matches following her title three-peat between 2022-24 to add to her 2020 crown.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka, hunting her first French Open crown, also needed just two sets to overcome Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen and snap her opponent’s 10-match winning streak at Roland Garros with a 7-6(3) 6-3 victory.

“I think we’re all here for one reason,” Sabalenka said. “Everyone wants that beautiful trophy. I’m glad I have another opportunity, another semi-final to do better than last time.”

“I really hope that by the end of the claycourt season I’m really proud of myself.”

(Reuters)

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: President Lai welcomes President Hilda C. Heine of Republic of the Marshall Islands with military honors

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

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2025-05-29
President Lai attends 2025 Europe Day Dinner
On the evening of May 29, President Lai Ching-te attended the 2025 Europe Day Dinner. In remarks, President Lai stated that Taiwan looks forward to further establishing institutionalized mechanisms with Europe for our trade and investment ties and hopes to take an innovative and diverse approach to sign an economic partnership agreement with the European Union, to provide a more transparent, stable, and predictable business environment for our enterprises. The president said that Taiwan will actively work alongside other democracies, including those in Europe, to jointly build resilient, promising non-red supply chains, and noted that Taiwan and Europe have endless potential for collaboration, whether it is in safeguarding freedom and democracy or advancing our economic and trade relationship. He expressed hope to further strengthen our partnership and work together toward global peace, stability, and prosperity. A transcript of President Lai’s remarks follows: Chairman [Henry] Chang (張瀚書), thank you for the invitation, and congratulations on your second term. I’m confident that under your leadership, the ECCT [European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan] will build even more bridges for cooperation between Taiwan and Europe. I would also like to thank EETO [European Economic and Trade Office] Head [Lutz] Güllner and all the European country representatives stationed in Taiwan. Your hard work over the years has helped deepen Taiwan-Europe relations and brought about such fruitful cooperation. Thank you. This year we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration. In 1950, then-French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed to create a European federation dedicated to preserving peace. The declaration symbolized a new flowering in the post-war era of democracy, unity, and cooperation. As we face the geopolitical challenges and drastic economic changes of today’s world, the Schuman Declaration still speaks to us profoundly. This year is also the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Moving forward, Taiwan will continue to advance cooperation with our democratic partners, and will join hands with Europe to build a partnership of even greater resilience and mutual trust. Europe is Taiwan’s third largest trading partner. It is also Taiwan’s largest source of foreign direct investment. Last year, bilateral trade between Taiwan and Europe totaled US$84.7 billion. This demonstrates our vibrant economic and trade ties and reflects the high levels of confidence our businesses have in each other’s markets and systems. We look forward to Taiwan and Europe further establishing institutionalized mechanisms for our trade and investment ties. And we hope to take an innovative and diverse approach to sign an economic partnership agreement with the EU, to provide a more transparent, stable, and predictable business environment for our enterprises. Today’s Taiwan has an internationally recognized democracy and a semiconductor industry vital to global security and prosperity. This enables us to play a key role in restructuring global democratic supply chains and the economic order. In particular, we see supply chains dominated by a new authoritarian bloc expanding their influence through non-market mechanisms, price subsidies, and monopolies on resources, as they seek global control of critical technologies and manufacturing capabilities. Their actions not only distort principles of market fairness, but also threaten the international community’s basic expectations for democracy, the rule of law, and corporate responsibility. In response, Taiwan will actively work alongside other democracies, including those in Europe, to jointly build resilient, promising non-red supply chains. We will also introduce an initiative on semiconductor supply chain partnerships for global democracies. This is more than a proposal for economic cooperation; it is an alliance of shared values and advanced technology. Security in the Taiwan Strait and regional peace and stability have always been issues of mutual interest for Taiwan and Europe. So here today, on behalf of all the people of Taiwan, I would like to thank the EU and European nations for continuing to take concrete actions in public support of peace and stability across the strait. Such actions are vital to regional security and prosperity. Taiwan will continue to bolster itself to achieve real peace through strength, and will work with democratic partners to safeguard freedom and democracy, thereby showing our determination for regional peace. At this critical time, Taiwan and Europe have endless potential for collaboration, whether it’s in safeguarding freedom and democracy or advancing our economic and trade relationship. I look forward to our joining hands at this strategic juncture to further strengthen our partnership and work together toward global peace, stability, and prosperity. Also in attendance at the event was British Office Taipei Representative Ruth Bradley-Jones.

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2025-05-28
President Lai meets US delegation led by Senator Tammy Duckworth
On the afternoon of May 28, President Lai Ching-te met with a delegation led by United States Senator Tammy Duckworth. In remarks, President Lai thanked the US Congress and government for their longstanding and bipartisan support for Taiwan. The president stated that Taiwan will continue to strengthen cooperation with the US and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability. He pointed out that the Taiwan government has already proposed a roadmap for deepening Taiwan-US trade ties and will encourage mutual investment between Taiwanese and US businesses. He then expressed hope of deepening Taiwan-US ties and creating more niches for both sides. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: I warmly welcome this delegation led by Senator Duckworth, a dear friend of Taiwan. Senator Duckworth previously visited in May last year to convey congratulations after the inauguration of myself and Vice President Bi-khim Hsiao. Your bipartisan delegation was the first group from the US Senate that I met with as president. Today, you are visiting just after the first anniversary of my taking office, demonstrating the staunch support of the US and our deep friendship. On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I extend my sincere appreciation and greetings. And I invite you to come back and visit next year, the year after that, and every year. Taiwan and the US share the values of democracy and the rule of law and believe in free and open markets. Both sides embrace a common goal of peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. I thank the US Congress and government for their longstanding, bipartisan, and steadfast support for Taiwan. In 2021, to help Taiwan overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Senator Duckworth made a special trip here to announce that the US government would be donating vaccines to Taiwan. In recent years, Senator Duckworth has also promoted the TAIWAN Security Act, STAND with Taiwan Act, and Taiwan and America Space Assistance Act in the US Congress, all of which have further deepened Taiwan-US cooperation and steadily advanced our ties. For this, I express my deepest appreciation. I want to emphasize that the people of Taiwan have an unyielding determination to protect their homeland and free and democratic way of life. Over the past year, the government and private sector have been working together to enhance Taiwan’s whole-of-society defense resilience. The government is committed to reforming national defense, and it has proposed prioritizing special budget allocations to ensure that our defense budget exceeds three percent of GDP. This will continue to bolster Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities. Moving forward, Taiwan will continue to strengthen cooperation with the US. In addition to jointly safeguarding regional peace and stability, we also aspire to deepen bilateral trade and economic ties. At the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington, DC, earlier this month, Taiwan’s delegation was once again the biggest delegation attending the event – proof positive of our close economic and trade cooperation. We have already proposed a roadmap for deepening Taiwan-US trade ties. We will narrow the trade imbalance through the procurement of energy and agricultural and other industrial products from the US. We will encourage mutual investment between Taiwanese and US businesses to stimulate industrial development on both sides, especially in such industries as national defense and shipbuilding. We therefore look forward to Congress passing the US-Taiwan Expedited Double-Tax Relief Act as soon as possible, as this would deepen Taiwan-US trade ties and create more niches for business. In closing, I once again thank Senator Duckworth for making the trip to Taiwan. Let us continue to work together to elevate Taiwan-US ties. I wish you a pleasant and successful visit. Senator Duckworth then delivered remarks, saying that she is happy to be back in Taiwan and that she wanted to make sure to come back just after President Lai’s one-year anniversary of taking office to show the dedication and the outstanding friendship that we have. She noted that because no matter who is in the White House, no matter which political party is in power in Washington, DC, she has always believed that if America wants to remain a leader on the global stage, it has to show up for friends like Taiwan. Senator Duckworth mentioned that in the years that she has been coming to Taiwan since pre-COVID times, she has seen a remarkable increase in participation in its defense and the support of the Taiwanese people for defending the homeland. She then thanked Taiwan for making the commitment to its self-defense, and also for being a partner with other nations around the world. The STAND with Taiwan Act, the senator noted, is so named because the US wants to stand side by side with Taiwan. Pointing out that Taiwan is an important leader in the Indo-Pacific and on the global stage, she reiterated that there is support on both sides of the aisle in Washington for Taiwanese democracy, and added that the people of Taiwan are showing that they are willing to shore up their own readiness. Senator Duckworth said that whether it is delivering vaccines to Taiwan or making sure that the US National Guard works with Taiwan’s reserve forces or even with its civilian emergency response teams, these are all important components to the ongoing partnership between our nations. Senator Duckworth indicated that there are many great opportunities moving forward beyond our military cooperation with one another. Whether it is in chip manufacturing, agricultural investments, shipbuilding, or in the healthcare field, those investments in both nations will facilitate stability and development in both our nations. She said that is why she wants to continue the Taiwan-US relationship, underlining that they are in it for the long haul. The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office by American Institute in Taiwan Taipei Office Director Raymond Greene.

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2025-05-27
President Lai meets delegation led by US House Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman
On the afternoon of May 27, President Lai Ching-te met with a delegation led by Chair of the Natural Resources Committee of the United States House of Representatives Bruce Westerman. In remarks, President Lai stated that Taiwan and the US enjoy close industrial exchanges and continue to explore new opportunities for investment and collaboration. The president said that Taiwan will continue to increase purchases from and together build non-red supply chains with the US, expressing hope that economic and trade relations grow even closer and that both work together to jointly safeguard peace and stability throughout the region. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: I am delighted to meet and exchange views with members of the US House Committee on Natural Resources today. Chair Westerman, the leader of this delegation, is an old friend of Taiwan. On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I extend a very warm welcome to the delegation. I also want to thank you all for your long-term close attention to Taiwan-related affairs and your strong support for Taiwan. Taiwan and the US enjoy close ties and share ideals and values. There is an excellent foundation for cooperation between us, particularly in such areas as energy, the economy and trade, agriculture and fisheries, environmental protection, and sustainable development. In recent years, Taiwan-US ties have grown closer and closer. The US has become Taiwan’s largest destination for overseas investment, accounting for over 40 percent of Taiwan’s outbound investment. Taiwan is also the seventh largest trading partner of the US and its seventh largest export market for agricultural products. The SelectUSA Investment Summit held in Washington, DC earlier this month was the largest in its history. Taiwan’s delegation, representing 138 enterprises, was once again the biggest delegation attending the event. This shows that Taiwan and the US enjoy close industrial exchanges and continue to explore new opportunities for investment and collaboration. Looking ahead, with the global landscape changing rapidly, Taiwan will continue to increase purchases from the US, including energy resources such as natural gas and petroleum, as well as agricultural products, industrial products, and even military procurement. This will not only help balance our bilateral trade, but also strengthen development for Taiwan in energy autonomy, resilience, the economy, and trade. Taiwan and the US are also well-matched in such areas as high tech and manufacturing. As the US pursues reindustrialization and aims to become a global hub for AI, Taiwan is willing to take part and play an even more important role. We will strengthen Taiwan-US industrial cooperation and together build non-red supply chains. In addition to bringing our economic and trade relations even closer, this will also allow Taiwanese industries to remain rooted in Taiwan while expanding their global presence, helping bolster the US, and marketing worldwide. As for military exchanges, we are grateful to the US government for continuing its military sales to Taiwan and backing our efforts to upgrade our self-defense capabilities. Taiwan will continue to work with the US to jointly safeguard peace and stability throughout the region. In closing, I thank our guests once again for making the long journey here, not only offering warm friendship, but also demonstrating the staunch bipartisan support for Taiwan in the US Congress. Chair Westerman then delivered remarks, saying that it is an honor for him and his colleagues to be in Taiwan to talk about the strong relationship between the US and Taiwan and how that relationship can continue to grow in the future. The chair pointed out that natural resources are foundational to any kind of economic development, whether it is energy, which is key to manufacturing, or whether it is mining, which provides rare earth elements and all the minerals and metals needed for manufacturing. He said that as for natural resources including fish, wildlife, or timber, all are foundational to any society, but this is especially so for agriculture, noting that the US produces a lot of food and fodder and is always looking for more friends to share that with. Chair Westerman indicated that they are excited about opportunities to work with Taiwan, adding that Taiwan’s investments in the US have been greatly appreciated. He said they also are excited about the talks with the Trump administration and the future going forward on how we can have a stronger trade relationship, a stronger bilateral relationship, and how we can work with each other to help both economies grow and prosper. Chair Westerman concluded his remarks by expressing thanks for the opportunity to visit, saying that they treasure Taiwan’s friendship and our long-term relationship, and are very excited to be able to discuss in more detail how our two countries can work together. The delegation also included US House Natural Resources Committee Representatives Sarah Elfreth, Harriet Hageman, Celeste Maloy, and Nick Begich. The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office by American Institute in Taiwan Taipei Office Director Raymond Greene.

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2025-05-27
President Lai meets and hosts luncheon for delegation led by Governor Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero of Guam
On the morning of May 27, President Lai Ching-te met with a delegation led by Governor Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero of Guam and her husband, and hosted a luncheon for the delegation at noon. In remarks, President Lai noted that this is the governor’s first trip to Taiwan, fully demonstrating the Guam government’s support and high regard for Taiwan. The president said that Guam, being the closest United States territory to Taiwan, is an important bridge for collaboration between Taiwan and the US. He stated that aside from promoting tourism, we can also explore even more opportunities for collaboration in other areas to further advance industrial development for both sides. He said that, as we begin a new chapter, we look forward to working together to generate even more momentum in bilateral cooperation and exchanges. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I extend a warm welcome to Governor Leon Guerrero and her delegation. Last year, I transited through Guam en route for visits to Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific. The enthusiastic reception I received from the government, legislature, people, and members of our overseas community in Guam was very touching and left me with a deep impression. During the morning tea reception hosted by Governor Leon Guerrero, we joined in singing our respective national anthems, as well as the Fanohge CHamoru. I also received at the Guam Legislature a copy of a Taiwan-friendly resolution it passed on behalf of the people of Taiwan. And I still remember to this day the striking scenery of the governor’s house and the warm reception I received there. It is therefore a great pleasure to meet with all of you today here at the Presidential Office. This is Governor Leon Guerrero’s first trip to Taiwan. Your visit fully demonstrates the Guam government’s support and high regard for Taiwan. As we begin a new chapter, we look forward to working with you to generate even more momentum in bilateral cooperation and exchanges. Taiwan and Guam are like family. We share the Austronesian spirit and culture. Our wide-ranging and mutually-beneficial collaboration is very fruitful. And now, we are facing the challenges of climate change, public health and medicine, and regional security together. The world is rapidly changing and tensions in the Indo-Pacific continue to rise. But if we combine our strengths, come together as one, and enhance cooperation, we can maintain regional peace, stability, and prosperity. Last Tuesday, I delivered an address on my first anniversary of taking office. I mentioned that for many years, Taiwan, the US, and our democratic partners have actively engaged in exchange and cooperation. Taking a market-oriented approach, we will promote an economic path of staying firmly rooted in Taiwan and expanding the global presence of our enterprises while strengthening ties with the US. Guam is the closest US territory to Taiwan. It is an important bridge for collaboration between Taiwan and the US. Last month, we were pleased to see United Airlines officially launch direct flights between Taipei and Guam. I believe this will benefit tourism and economic and trade exchanges for both sides. In the area of health care, many hospitals in Taiwan already offer referral services to patients from Guam. Both Governor Leon Guerrero and I have backgrounds in medicine. It is my hope that Taiwan and Guam can continue to work hand in hand to create even more positive outcomes from cooperation in public health and medical services. During the governor’s visit, aside from promoting tourism, we can also explore even more opportunities for collaboration in other areas. There is potential for more exchanges in aquaculture, food processing, hydroculture, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and recycling. This will further advance industrial development in Taiwan and Guam. In closing, I thank Governor Leon Guerrero and all our distinguished guests for backing Taiwan. I wish you all a smooth and successful visit. Governor Leon Guerrero then delivered remarks, saying that she is very happy to come to Taiwan. She said that after learning during President Lai’s visit to Guam last year that he is a medical doctor, she felt more relaxed because healthcare colleagues are one in their endeavor to help enhance the health and well-being of people. She then expressed her heartfelt appreciation for the invitation to Taiwan. Governor Leon Guerrero said that as they learn more about opportunities for collaboration with Taiwan, they are humbled by the hospitality they have experienced. In both of our islands, she said, hospitality is more than just a custom – it forms a part of our identities. She noted that despite being nearly 2,000 miles apart, we are connected by the Pacific Ocean and common roots, and our ancestors both value family, community, and tradition. That is why being here today, she said, she feels a strong sense of familiarity, like reconnecting with old friends. The governor remarked that Taiwan has evolved so quickly in all areas of essential life, sustenance, economy, and prosperity, adding that Taiwan’s resources in such areas as health, education, data, AI, advanced technology, aquaculture, agriculture, and commerce enhance our economic stability. She stated her belief that in collaboration and support, and working with each other, we can gain prosperity, maintain freedom and democracy, and live in peace. Governor Leon Guerrero stated that their delegation is here to see how they can partner with Taiwan to help raise the quality of life for both our peoples, mentioning that one special concern of theirs is tourism. Tourism, she said, is the most influential engine and driver for the economy and quality of life in Guam, but they cannot have a vibrant economy and tourism without air connectivity. She added that they are prepared to help in any way to provide incentives and low-cost fees so that they can get more airlines from Taiwan to establish permanent flight schedules to Guam, so as to drive development in Guam’s tourism industry. Governor Leon Guerrero then proceeded to introduce each of the members of her delegation before remarking that while they have been very busy on this visit they are always reminded of the freedom and democracy that the people must protect. She said she looks forward to a great, strong relationship between Taiwan and Guam in cooperation on social and economic issues, in culture, marketing, tourism, and freedom and democracy. Among those in attendance were First Gentleman Jeffrey A. Cook, Chief of Staff Jon Junior Calvo, Director of the Department of Administration Edward Birn, General Manager of the Guam Visitors Bureau Regine Biscoe Lee, Deputy Executive Manager of the Guam International Airport Authority Artemio “Ricky” Hernandez, Board of Directors Chairman of the Guam International Airport Authority Brian J. Bamba, Deputy General Manager of the Guam Economic Development Authority Carlos Bordallo, Director of Landscape Management Systems Guam Bob Salas, Chairperson of the Guam Chamber of Commerce Tae Oh, President of the University of Guam Anita Borja Enriquez, and Director of the Guam Taiwan Office Felix Yen (嚴樹芬). After the meeting, President Lai, accompanied by Vice President Bi-khim Hsiao, hosted a luncheon for Governor Leon Guerrero, her husband, and the delegation.

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2025-05-27
President Lai meets delegation from European Parliament
On the morning of May 27, President Lai Ching-te met with a delegation from the European Parliament. In remarks, President Lai thanked the European Parliament for continuing to pay close attention to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and voice support for Taiwan. The president expressed hope for an even closer relationship and diversified cooperation between Taiwan and the European Union. The president said that Taiwan and the EU can work together in such areas as semiconductors, AI, and green energy to create more resilient supply chains for global democracies and contribute to global prosperity and development. A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows: I warmly welcome our guests to the Presidential Office. After being elected last year, MEPs Reinis Pozņaks and Beatrice Timgren are making their first visits to Taiwan, demonstrating support for Taiwan through concrete action. On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I extend my sincerest welcome and appreciation. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the European Parliament for continuing to pay close attention to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Just last month, the European Parliament adopted resolutions with regard to annual reports on the implementation of the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy and Common Security and Defence Policy. These resolutions reaffirmed the EU’s steadfast commitment to maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. The European Parliament also condemned China for continuing to take provocative military actions against Taiwan and emphasized that Taiwan is a key democratic partner in the Indo-Pacific region. It called on the EU and its member states to continue working closely with Taiwan to strengthen economic, trade, and investment ties. Once again, I thank the European Parliament for voicing support for Taiwan. Just as MEPs Pozņaks and Timgren are visiting Taiwan to strengthen Taiwan-EU exchanges, our Minister of Economic Affairs Kuo Jyh-huei (郭智輝) also led a delegation to Europe last year, marking the first in-person dialogue between high-ranking economic and trade officials of Taiwan and the EU. Moving ahead, we look forward to bringing Taiwan-EU ties even closer and to diversifying our cooperation. The EU is Taiwan’s largest source of foreign investment. Both sides are highly complementary in such areas as semiconductors, AI, and green energy. Through our joint efforts, we can create more resilient supply chains for global democracies and further contribute to global prosperity and development. Looking ahead, I hope that MEPs Pozņaks and Timgren will continue to make the case in the European Parliament for the signing of a Taiwan-EU economic partnership agreement. This would not only yield mutually beneficial development, but also consolidate economic security and boost international competitiveness for both sides. In closing, I am sure that you will gain a deeper understanding of Taiwan through this visit. Please feel welcome to come back as often as possible as we continue to elevate Taiwan-EU ties. MEP Pozņaks then delivered remarks, saying that it is a great honor to be here and thanking everybody involved in arranging this trip that allows them the opportunity to better know Taiwan. He added that it is definitely not the last time they will be here, as Taiwan is a very beautiful country. MEP Pozņaks mentioned that he comes from Latvia, and despite their being on the other side of the world, they know how the Taiwanese people feel, because they also have a big neighbor who is claiming that Latvia belongs to them. Unfortunately, he said, there is already war in Europe, but he is confident that their situation is similar to Taiwan’s, adding that they have a neighbor who uses disinformation attacks. MEP Pozņaks said that we live in very challenging times, and that our choices will define the future of the world, asking whether it will be a world where the rule of law prevails or where physical power and aggression succeeds. Coming from a small country, he said he clearly understands that for them there is no other possibility; they must protect the world where the rule of law prevails. That is why now, he emphasized, it is very crucial for all democracies around the world to stick together to protect our freedoms, values, and democracy. MEP Timgren then delivered remarks, thanking President Lai for meeting with them and saying it is a big honor. Noting that they arrived here two days ago and that while she really loves Taiwan, its food, and the good weather, she stated that the reason they are here is because of the values that we share, our good relationships, and solidarity with other democratic countries in the world, which is important for them in Europe and in Sweden. MEP Timgren, referring to MEP Pozņaks’s earlier remarks, said that they face a big threat from Russia that is discernible even in the European Parliament. Actually, she pointed out, there is a war inside Europe that shows us how important it is that we support one another. She said that the Russian people thought it would be easy to take over Ukraine, but it was not, because all European countries stepped up and provided weapons and support. And that is why, MEP Timgren said, it is important that democratic countries maintain good relationships and let China and Russia see that we have good relationships, because a part of defense is solidarity. In closing, she expressed her gratitude for having the honor to be here in this beautiful country.

Details
2025-05-20
President Lai interviewed by Nippon Television and Yomiuri TV
In a recent interview on Nippon Television’s news zero program, President Lai Ching-te responded to questions from host Mr. Sakurai Sho and Yomiuri TV Shanghai Bureau Chief Watanabe Masayo on topics including reflections on his first year in office, cross-strait relations, China’s military threats, Taiwan-United States relations, and Taiwan-Japan relations. The interview was broadcast on the evening of May 19. During the interview, President Lai stated that China intends to change the world’s rules-based international order, and that if Taiwan were invaded, global supply chains would be disrupted. Therefore, he said, Taiwan will strengthen its national defense, prevent war by preparing for war, and achieve the goal of peace. The president also noted that Taiwan’s purpose for developing drones is based on national security and industrial needs, and that Taiwan hopes to collaborate with Japan. He then reiterated that China’s threats are an international problem, and expressed hope to work together with the US, Japan, and others in the global democratic community to prevent China from starting a war. Following is the text of the questions and the president’s responses: Q: How do you feel as you are about to round out your first year in office? President Lai: When I was young, I was determined to practice medicine and save lives. When I left medicine to go into politics, I was determined to transform Taiwan. And when I was sworn in as president on May 20 last year, I was determined to strengthen the nation. Time flies, and it has already been a year. Although the process has been very challenging, I am deeply honored to be a part of it. I am also profoundly grateful to our citizens for allowing me the opportunity to give back to our country. The future will certainly be full of more challenges, but I will do everything I can to unite the people and continue strengthening the nation. That is how I am feeling now. Q: We are now coming up on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and over this period, we have often heard that conflict between Taiwan and the mainland is imminent. Do you personally believe that a cross-strait conflict could happen? President Lai: The international community is very much aware that China intends to replace the US and change the world’s rules-based international order, and annexing Taiwan is just the first step. So, as China’s military power grows stronger, some members of the international community are naturally on edge about whether a cross-strait conflict will break out. The international community must certainly do everything in its power to avoid a conflict in the Taiwan Strait; there is too great a cost. Besides causing direct disasters to both Taiwan and China, the impact on the global economy would be even greater, with estimated losses of US$10 trillion from war alone – that is roughly 10 percent of the global GDP. Additionally, 20 percent of global shipping passes through the Taiwan Strait and surrounding waters, so if a conflict breaks out in the strait, other countries including Japan and Korea would suffer a grave impact. For Japan and Korea, a quarter of external transit passes through the Taiwan Strait and surrounding waters, and a third of the various energy resources and minerals shipped back from other countries pass through said areas. If Taiwan were invaded, global supply chains would be disrupted, and therefore conflict in the Taiwan Strait must be avoided. Such a conflict is indeed avoidable. I am very thankful to Prime Minister of Japan Ishiba Shigeru and former Prime Ministers Abe Shinzo, Suga Yoshihide, and Kishida Fumio, as well as US President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, and the other G7 leaders, for continuing to emphasize at international venues that peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are essential components for global security and prosperity. When everyone in the global democratic community works together, stacking up enough strength to make China’s objectives unattainable or to make the cost of invading Taiwan too high for it to bear, a conflict in the strait can naturally be avoided. Q: As you said, President Lai, maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is also very important for other countries. How can war be avoided? What sort of countermeasures is Taiwan prepared to take to prevent war? President Lai: As Mr. Sakurai mentioned earlier, we are coming up on the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII. There are many lessons we can take from that war. First is that peace is priceless, and war has no winners. From the tragedies of WWII, there are lessons that humanity should learn. We must pursue peace, and not start wars blindly, as that would be a major disaster for humanity. In other words, we must be determined to safeguard peace. The second lesson is that we cannot be complacent toward authoritarian powers. If you give them an inch, they will take a mile. They will keep growing, and eventually, not only will peace be unattainable, but war will be inevitable. The third lesson is why WWII ended: It ended because different groups joined together in solidarity. Taiwan, Japan, and the Indo-Pacific region are all directly subjected to China’s threats, so we hope to be able to join together in cooperation. This is why we proposed the Four Pillars of Peace action plan. First, we will strengthen our national defense. Second, we will strengthen economic resilience. Third is standing shoulder to shoulder with the democratic community to demonstrate the strength of deterrence. Fourth is that as long as China treats Taiwan with parity and dignity, Taiwan is willing to conduct exchanges and cooperate with China, and seek peace and mutual prosperity. These four pillars can help us avoid war and achieve peace. That is to say, Taiwan hopes to achieve peace through strength, prevent war by preparing for war, keeping war from happening and pursuing the goal of peace. Q: Regarding drones, everyone knows that recently, Taiwan has been actively researching, developing, and introducing drones. Why do you need to actively research, develop, and introduce new drones at this time? President Lai: This is for two purposes. The first is to meet national security needs. The second is to meet industrial development needs. Because Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines are all part of the first island chain, and we are all democratic nations, we cannot be like an authoritarian country like China, which has an unlimited national defense budget. In this kind of situation, island nations such as Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines should leverage their own technologies to develop national defense methods that are asymmetric and utilize unmanned vehicles. In particular, from the Russo-Ukrainian War, we see that Ukraine has successfully utilized unmanned vehicles to protect itself and prevent Russia from unlimited invasion. In other words, the Russo-Ukrainian War has already proven the importance of drones. Therefore, the first purpose of developing drones is based on national security needs. Second, the world has already entered the era of smart technology. Whether generative, agentic, or physical, AI will continue to develop. In the future, cars and ships will also evolve into unmanned vehicles and unmanned boats, and there will be unmanned factories. Drones will even be able to assist with postal deliveries, or services like Uber, Uber Eats, and foodpanda, or agricultural irrigation and pesticide spraying. Therefore, in the future era of comprehensive smart technology, developing unmanned vehicles is a necessity. Taiwan, based on industrial needs, is actively planning the development of drones and unmanned vehicles. I would like to take this opportunity to express Taiwan’s hope to collaborate with Japan in the unmanned vehicle industry. Just as we do in the semiconductor industry, where Japan has raw materials, equipment, and technology, and Taiwan has wafer manufacturing, our two countries can cooperate. Japan is a technological power, and Taiwan also has significant technological strengths. If Taiwan and Japan work together, we will not only be able to safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and security in the Indo-Pacific region, but it will also be very helpful for the industrial development of both countries. Q: The drones you just described probably include examples from the Russo-Ukrainian War. Taiwan and China are separated by the Taiwan Strait. Do our drones need to have cross-sea flight capabilities? President Lai: Taiwan does not intend to counterattack the mainland, and does not intend to invade any country. Taiwan’s drones are meant to protect our own nation and territory. Q: Former President Biden previously stated that US forces would assist Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. President Trump, however, has yet to clearly state that the US would help defend Taiwan. Do you think that in such an event, the US would help defend Taiwan? Or is Taiwan now trying to persuade the US? President Lai: Former President Biden and President Trump have answered questions from reporters. Although their responses were different, strong cooperation with Taiwan under the Biden administration has continued under the Trump administration; there has been no change. During President Trump’s first term, cooperation with Taiwan was broader and deeper compared to former President Barack Obama’s terms. After former President Biden took office, cooperation with Taiwan increased compared to President Trump’s first term. Now, during President Trump’s second term, cooperation with Taiwan is even greater than under former President Biden. Taiwan-US cooperation continues to grow stronger, and has not changed just because President Trump and former President Biden gave different responses to reporters. Furthermore, the Trump administration publicly stated that in the future, the US will shift its strategic focus from Europe to the Indo-Pacific. The US secretary of defense even publicly stated that the primary mission of the US is to prevent China from invading Taiwan, maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific, and thus maintain world peace. There is a saying in Taiwan that goes, “Help comes most to those who help themselves.” Before asking friends and allies for assistance in facing threats from China, Taiwan must first be determined and prepared to defend itself. This is Taiwan’s principle, and we are working in this direction, making all the necessary preparations to safeguard the nation. Q: I would like to ask you a question about Taiwan-Japan relations. After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, you made an appeal to give Japan a great deal of assistance and care. In particular, you visited Sendai to offer condolences. Later, you also expressed condolences and concern after the earthquakes in Aomori and Kumamoto. What are your expectations for future Taiwan-Japan exchanges and development? President Lai: I come from Tainan, and my constituency is in Tainan. Tainan has very deep ties with Japan, and of course, Taiwan also has deep ties with Japan. However, among Taiwan’s 22 counties and cities, Tainan has the deepest relationship with Japan. I sincerely hope that both of you and your teams will have an opportunity to visit Tainan. I will introduce Tainan’s scenery, including architecture from the era of Japanese rule, Tainan’s cuisine, and unique aspects of Tainan society, and you can also see lifestyles and culture from the Showa era. The Wushantou Reservoir in Tainan was completed by engineer Mr. Hatta Yoichi from Kanazawa, Japan and the team he led to Tainan after he graduated from then-Tokyo Imperial University. It has nearly a century of history and is still in use today. This reservoir, along with the 16,000-km-long Chianan Canal, transformed the 150,000-hectare Chianan Plain into Taiwan’s premier rice-growing area. It was that foundation in agriculture that enabled Taiwan to develop industry and the technology sector of today. The reservoir continues to supply water to Tainan Science Park. It is used by residents of Tainan, the agricultural sector, and industry, and even the technology sector in Xinshi Industrial Park, as well as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Because of this, the people of Tainan are deeply grateful for Mr. Hatta and very friendly toward the people of Japan. A major earthquake, the largest in 50 years, struck Tainan on February 6, 2016, resulting in significant casualties. As mayor of Tainan at the time, I was extremely grateful to then-Prime Minister Abe, who sent five Japanese officials to the disaster site in Tainan the day after the earthquake. They were very thoughtful and asked what kind of assistance we needed from the Japanese government. They offered to provide help based on what we needed. I was deeply moved, as former Prime Minister Abe showed such care, going beyond the formality of just sending supplies that we may or may not have actually needed. Instead, the officials asked what we needed and then provided assistance based on those needs, which really moved me. Similarly, when the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 or the later Kumamoto earthquakes struck, the people of Tainan, under my leadership, naturally and dutifully expressed their support. Even earlier, when central Taiwan was hit by a major earthquake in 1999, Japan was the first country to deploy a rescue team to the disaster area. On February 6, 2018, after a major earthquake in Hualien, former Prime Minister Abe appeared in a video holding up a message of encouragement he had written in calligraphy saying “Remain strong, Taiwan.” All of Taiwan was deeply moved. Over the years, Taiwan and Japan have supported each other when earthquakes struck, and have forged bonds that are family-like, not just neighborly. This is truly valuable. In the future, I hope Taiwan and Japan can be like brothers, and that the peoples of Taiwan and Japan can treat one another like family. If Taiwan has a problem, then Japan has a problem; if Japan has a problem, then Taiwan has a problem. By caring for and helping each other, we can face various challenges and difficulties, and pursue a brighter future. Q: President Lai, you just used the phrase “If Taiwan has a problem, then Japan has a problem.” In the event that China attempts to invade Taiwan by force, what kind of response measures would you hope the US military and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces take? President Lai: As I just mentioned, annexing Taiwan is only China’s first step. Its ultimate objective is to change the rules-based international order. That being the case, China’s threats are an international problem. So, I would very much hope to work together with the US, Japan, and others in the global democratic community to prevent China from starting a war – prevention, after all, is more important than cure.

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI Banking: Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru

Source: ASEAN

Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru, H.E. Ambassador Elmer Schialer Salcedo, at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, France, on 3 June 2025. Their discussions focused on strengthening of ASEAN–Peru relations and preparations for the visit of H.E. Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra, President of the Republic of Peru to the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat in August of this year.

The post Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.

MIL OSI Global Banks –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Italian Prime Minister and French President Hold Talks in Rome

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

ROME, June 4 (Xinhua) — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron held bilateral talks here on Tuesday on various issues including trade and relations with the United States, Italian media reported.

The talks were expected to help ease current tensions in relations, the ANSA news agency notes. France and Italy are traditional allies and the EU’s second and third largest economies, but their governments disagree on a number of issues and belong to different political camps: Meloni leads a right-wing nationalist cabinet, while Macron is a pro-European centrist.

As ANSA points out, the two leaders also differ in their approach to the United States: J. Meloni seeks to establish close ties with President Donald Trump and play the role of tariff negotiator between the US and the EU, while E. Macron advocates a more independent position for Europe.

On the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, both Italy and France have promised strong support for Kyiv, but Ms Meloni expressed scepticism about the Franco-British plan to send peacekeepers if a peace deal is reached.

Meloni’s office has not issued any statements since her meeting with the French president and has not held a press conference. However, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said last Saturday that Macron’s visit would be “an absolutely positive development for the two countries, which are allies and neighbors.” -0-

MIL OSI Russia News –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Dutch PM announces resignation of his gov’t

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced the resignation of his government on Tuesday, saying that he will formally submit his resignation to the King.

The decision came after the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) announced its withdrawal from the ruling coalition.

Speaking at a press conference in The Hague, Schoof said he would formally submit his resignation to King Willem-Alexander later in the day.

He said that he would remain in office as caretaker prime minister and continue working to address the major challenges currently facing the Netherlands.

Schoof also criticized the PVV’s withdrawal, calling it “irresponsible and entirely unnecessary.”

The Dutch government led by Schoof took office on July 2, 2024, and has been in power for less than a year.

MIL OSI China News –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Global gene banks add over 11,000 seed samples to Svalbard Vault

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

Staff members transport seed samples into the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, on June 3, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Fourteen gene banks from around the world are depositing more than 11,200 seed samples this week at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, underscoring the critical role of crop diversity in future food security.

Nestled in the Arctic permafrost on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, the Seed Vault is the world’s largest secure backup facility for crop diversity. To date, it safeguards over 1.3 million seed samples from across the globe.

This 67th deposit includes vegetables and traditional crops that are not only vital for nutrition and climate resilience, but also for maintaining cultural identities, the Crop Trust, a managing partner of the facility, said in a press release on Tuesday.

Among the new deposits are South Korea’s perilla and adzuki bean, Dutch heritage cabbage and spinach varieties, and Benin’s ancient cereal fonio and melon — examples of the profound link between seeds and cultural traditions worldwide.

“These additions offer another snapshot of the rich diversity now held in the Seed Vault,” said Stefan Schmitz, executive director of the Crop Trust. They reflect how cultural heritage is intertwined with the survival of often-overlooked plant varieties — varieties that are vital to the future of food, he added.

In total, 31 boxes of seeds are being deposited this week by gene banks from Austria, Benin, Kenya, Lebanon, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam, and Zambia.

“The value of these seeds is immense,” said Hanne-Berit Brekken, Norway’s state secretary at Ministry of Agriculture and Food. “They will support scientists, breeders, and farmers in preparing our food systems to face both natural and human-made challenges.”

Established in 2008, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault aims to protect the genetic diversity of the world’s food crops from threats such as war, climate change, and natural disasters. With a capacity to store up to 4.5 million distinct seed varieties, it serves as a global insurance policy for agriculture, housing duplicates from gene banks worldwide — as well as new varieties yet to be collected.

MIL OSI China News –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI China: SW China mountainous county brews global matcha success

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

An aerial drone photo taken on May 15, 2025 shows Wei Yong (C) explaining key points of planting to tea farmers in Jiangkou County, southwest China’s Guizhou Province. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin)

In Jiangkou County, nestled in southwest China’s mountainous Guizhou Province, a centuries-old tea tradition is fueling a modern global boom.

In 2024, the county’s matcha sales exceeded 1,200 tonnes with an output value surpassing 300 million yuan (about 41.7 million U.S. dollars), while its products have been exported to overseas markets including Japan, the United States and France.

As a major matcha-producing country, China is poised to produce over 5,000 tonnes of matcha in 2025. Notably, Guizhou, leveraging its high-altitude tea farms, low latitude and misty climate, accounts for one quarter of China’s national output and exports to more than 40 countries and regions.

Jiangkou County, located at the foot of Guizhou’s UNESCO-listed Fanjing Mountain, was once a poverty-stricken region but is now a pioneer in the field of matcha production. This turnaround began in 2017, when cutting-edge matcha industrial technology was introduced to this area.

Led by industry leaders in partnership with allied enterprises and local farmers, this initiative has established a province-wide matcha industrial network in Guizhou — spanning 22 counties and empowering nearly 100,000 tea growers via increased incomes.

The county’s tea fields currently cover 160,000 mu (about 10,667 hectares), with 20 percent dedicated to matcha production.

“We control every step from farming to processing — to ensure premium quality,” said Meng Zude, chairman of Gui Tea Group, a leading tea company that manages the industrial cluster in Jiangkou.

Meng explained that farmers focus on cultivation while allied partners process leaves. Gui Tea Group then refines leaves into premium matcha. From field to factory, free technical support ensures EU-standard compliance across the supply chain, Meng added.

Jiangkou County has adapted Japanese matcha techniques to local conditions through both collaborations with experts and in-house research and development. Farmers now implement fertilization protocols, eco-friendly pest control and precision pruning — critical steps that ensure high-quality tencha leaves.

Four tonnes of matcha have already been exported to Japan in 2025, while another six tonnes are scheduled for shipment to this traditional matcha hub this year, according to Chen Xiaoming, deputy director of Gui Tea’s foreign trade business.

“Domestic clients now approach us directly, while Japanese buyers seek raw material supplies,” Chen said, adding that inquiries have grown significantly.

“Matcha isn’t just a drink,” said Chen. “It’s a lifestyle China now leads.”

MIL OSI China News –

June 4, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for June 4, 2025

ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on June 4, 2025.

Artist Janenne Eaton’s retrospective is a compelling account of our troubled times
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Shiels, Senior Industry Fellow, RMIT University Janenne Eaton R E E F 2015 enamel paint, vinyl decals, mirror and polymer clay on canvas Geelong Gallery Gift of the artist, 2019. Photographer: Mark Ashkanasy © the artist. With bad news-overload it is easy to conclude it is

‘Not available in your region’: what is a VPN and how can I use one safely?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meena Jha, Head Technology and Pedagogy Cluster CML-NET, CQUniversity Australia Linaimages/Shutterstock “This video is not available in your location”. It’s a message familiar to many people trying to watch global content online. But beneath this frustration lies a deeper question – how do we navigate digital borders

Just the ticket? The problem with local body candidates aligning with national political parties
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julienne Molineaux, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images With accusations flying thick and fast last year about supposed “dysfunction” and a “shambles” at Wellington City Council, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown stepped in and appointed a Crown Observer. Announcing

The chicks are alright: what songbirds can teach us about divorce and moving on
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frigg Janne Daan Speelman, PhD Candidate in Behavioural Ecology, Macquarie University Charli Davies, CC BY-NC-ND In humans, it’s very common for the traditional family structure of two parents raising children to change abruptly. Usually, this happens when the parents decide to separate. Many separated couples are able

Former Congress staffer allowed to return to New Caledonia
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk One of seven people transferred to mainland France almost a year ago, following the May 2024 riots in New Caledonia, has been allowed to return home, a French court has ruled. Frédérique Muliava, a former Congress staffer, was part of a group of six who were

Ship runs aground in Fiji – then its rescue vessel capsizes
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Maritime Safety Authority has launched an investigation into Goundar Shipping Limited following two incidents involving its vessels. Late last month, one vessel ran aground on the reef of Ono-i-Lau, and villagers had to step in to ferry stranded passengers to nearby islands using small boats. On Monday, the Lomaiviti Princess II was

Curious Kids: can spiders swim?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leanda Denise Mason, Vice Chancellor Research Fellow in Conservation Ecology, Edith Cowan University A great raft spider (_Dolomedes plantarius_). Salparadis/Shutterstock Can spiders swim? Waubra Preschool students, Victoria, Australia What a great question! Most spiders don’t swim by choice. But they sure can survive in water when they

A two-state solution is gaining momentum again. Does it have a chance of success?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Thomas, Lecturer in Middle East Studies, Deakin University As Israel’s devastating war in Gaza has ground on, the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was thought to be “dead”. Now, it is showing signs of life again. French President Emmanuel Macron is reportedly pressing other European

Senior public servants think GenAI will boost productivity – but are worried about the risks
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Dickinson, Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW Sydney Many bold claims have been made about Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and its capacity to improve productivity and generate workplace efficiencies. A recent Microsoft survey found 24% of private sector leaders have already deployed GenAI across their organisations. Many

People with severe mental illness are waiting for days in hospital EDs. Here’s how we can do better
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sebastian Rosenberg, Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra, and Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney Matthew Ashmore/Shutterstock On ABC’s 4 Corners this week, psychiatrists and nurses have warned New South Wales’ mental health system is in crisis. They report some patients with severe mental

With a government review underway, we have to ask why children bully other kids
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marilyn Campbell, Professor, School of Early Childhood & Inclusive Education, Queensland University of Technology Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock The federal government has launched a “rapid review” to look at what works to prevent bullying in schools. Led by mental health experts, the review will underpin a new national standard to

In the trade wars, there are lessons for the US from Brexit. Australia and our trading partners should take note
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Draper, Professor, and Executive Director: Institute for International Trade, and Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Trade and Environment, University of Adelaide General_4530/Getty While the Trump administration’s on-again, off-again trade wars wreak havoc on the business plans of the world’s exporters, the risks to the

‘That was rude’: why the new Broadway musical Death Becomes Her was ripe for TikTok memes
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Camp, Senior Lecturer, School of Music, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau A few snippets of musicalised dialogue from the cast album of the new Broadway musical Death Becomes Her – with music and lyrics by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, and a book by Marco

Motarilavoa Hilda Lini, ‘a trailblazer’ for Vanuatu women in politics, dies
RNZ Pacific Motarilavoa Hilda Lini, a pioneering Ni-Vanuatu politician, has died. Lini passed away at the Port Vila General Hospital on Sunday, according to local news media. Lini was the first woman to be elected to the Vanuatu Parliament in 1987 as a member of the National United Party. Motarilavoa Hilda Lini in 1989 .

Fiji coup culture and political meddling in media education gets airing
Pacific Media Watch Taieri MP Ingrid Leary reflected on her years in Fiji as a television journalist and media educator at a Fiji Centre function in Auckland celebrating Fourth Estate values and independence at the weekend. It was a reunion with former journalism professor David Robie — they had worked together as a team at

Australia’s lowest paid workers just got a 3.5% wage increase. Their next boost could be even better
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Buchanan, Professor, Discipline of Business Information Systems, University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney Carlos Castilla/Shutterstock A week ago, the Australian Financial Review released this year’s “Rich List”. It reported the number of billionaires in Australia increased from 150 to 166 between 2024 and 2025.

What’s a ‘Strombolian eruption?’ A volcanologist explains what happened at Mount Etna
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Teresa Ubide, ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor in Igneous Petrology/Volcanology, The University of Queensland Fabrizio Villa / Getty Images On Monday morning local time, a huge cloud of ash, hot gas and rock fragments began spewing from Italy’s Mount Etna. An enormous plume was seen stretching

The Queensland government is cancelling renewable energy projects. Can the state still reach net zero?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute Johan Larson/Shutterstock On the surface, Queensland’s new government is doing exactly what it pledged before winning office in October – repealing the state’s ambitious renewable energy targets and cancelling a huge pumped hydro project near Mackay. But since the start

PNG’s Namah calls for tighter bio controls, patrols on Indonesian border
By Scholar Kassas in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea minister has raised concerns about “serious issues” at the PNG-Indonesia border due to a lack of proper security checkpoints. Culture and Tourism Minister Belden Namah, who is also the member for the border electorate Vanimo-Green, voiced these concerns while supporting a new Biosecurity for Plants

Samoa parliament formally dissolved after months of uncertainty
RNZ Pacific Samoa’s Parliament has been formally dissolved, and an early election is set to take place within three months. After months of political instability and two motions of no confidence, Prime Minister Fiāme Naomi Mata’afa said she would call for the dissolution of Parliament if cabinet did not support her government’s budget. MPs from

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

June 4, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Sabalenka weathers Zheng storm to reach French Open semis

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

China’s tennis sensation Zheng Qinwen lost to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the French Open women’s singles quarterfinals on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old Zheng, the eighth seed, broke first in the first set before the 27-year-old Sabalenka came back to win a tie-breaker. The top seed maintained the momentum in the second set to seal the victory.

Zheng Qinwen reacts during the women’s singles quarterfinal between Zheng Qinwen of China and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros, Paris, France, June 3, 2025. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Zheng has delivered her career best performance at the French Open by reaching the quarterfinals.

“That was a true battle, and honestly I have no idea how I was able to break her back and get back in the first set. I was just trying to fight and put as many balls as I could back because I didn’t start well. I am really glad that I found my rhythm and won this match,” Sabalenka said after the game.

At the Italian Open quarterfinals last month, the Paris 2024 Olympic champion Zheng defeated the three-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka for the first time. This time at Roland Garros, also on the clay, Sabalenka took the match against Zheng as a revenge.

“I have to say that last tournament I was pretty exhausted, and honestly at the end of the match I was actually glad that I lost that match, because I needed a little break before Roland Garros. Today, I was just more fresh, and I was ready to battle,” Sabalenka explained.

As the best result for Sabalenka at the French Open before was the semifinals in 2023, she hopes to make breakthroughs this time, “Everyone wants that beautiful trophy. I am really glad that I have another opportunity, another semifinal to do better than I did last time. I really hope that by the end of the clay season this year, I will be very proud of myself.”

MIL OSI China News –

June 4, 2025

Category: Eurozone

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

I. Standing at the threshold of a new era: taking the challenges seriously and seizing the opportunities

II. Changing our European mindset: placing the ends rather than the means at the heart of the European financial integration agenda

III. We should not neglect the human side: savers and financiers as stakeholders