Why countries see EU green trade ambitions as negative

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Good morning. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced today in Cyprus a maritime aid corridor to Gaza in partnership with the United States.

Today, my colleagues raise demands for scaling back the EU's climate ambitions abroad and our Athens correspondent explains why private universities are a hotly debated topic in Greece.

Cross the (green) line

Has the EU gone too far in imposing its green agenda on the rest of the world through trade?

According to Holland, yes, Write Andy Bonds and Alice Hancock.

Background: The EU has adopted a series of measures to incentivize trading partners to become more climate-friendly as part of a push for “open, sustainable, confident” trade and a level playing field for its own companies, which are subject to climate legislation.

But Hague says these practices are alienating developing countries as they find their products excluded from EU markets.

A Dutch newspaper circulated to other member states and seen by the Financial Times said it had a “clear impact on the EU's international reputation and credibility and its ability to achieve and deepen partnerships”.

“Existing tensions with trading partners also affect the EU's ability to build bridges, including at the World Trade Organization (WTO),” the report added.

“The EU's internal and external policies are more closely intertwined than ever before,” the document said.

Ministers and officials from several member countries privately expressed similar concerns at a WTO meeting in Abu Dhabi last week. Countries such as India and Malaysia have criticized the EU's policies.

Legislation highlighted by the Netherlands includes the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which would impose taxes on certain carbon imports, due diligence rules affecting supply chains, and deforestation regulations, which would ban products from deforested land.

A senior EU official defended the EU's trade measures, saying they were “very complementary to other sustainable development projects within the EU”.

South Africa's ambassador to the EU, Thokozile Hasa, said at an event in Brussels on Tuesday that the EU must work more with partners on trade policy and respect their institutions and environment rather than impose its own standards on people.

Within the EU, resistance to some measures has already begun.

EU governments are in trouble over a controversial due diligence law that will force companies to take action over human rights and environmental damage in their supply chains.

But a vote scheduled for today on a watered-down version aimed at bringing in skeptics in Berlin, Rome and Paris has been temporarily postponed.

Today's Chart: Close

With Sweden finally joining Nato yesterday, the Western defense alliance has surrounded almost the entire Baltic Sea, a vital oil trade route for Russia and home to a Russian fleet.

private options

After months of student protests, Greece's parliament is poised to approve a new law opening the door to the country's private universities, Write Eleni Varvisioti.

Background: For decades, attempts by different governments to introduce private universities in Greece have failed, where the concept has long been considered taboo. Thousands of students protested against the latest attempt and occupied the university.

“Only Greece and Cuba ban the establishment of private universities,” Education Minister Kyriakos Pierakakis told parliament yesterday. He said Greece was losing money because about 40,000 Greek students went abroad every year to pay tuition fees at universities in countries such as Cyprus, the United Kingdom and Bulgaria.

The proposed legislation, backed by the center-right government, aims to attract foreign universities to Greece from 2025. Their branches will abide by the national examination system and charge tuition fees but operate with a not-for-profit structure.

Opponents argue it could harm public universities, many of which already face funding problems, and jeopardize the future of free higher education.

“It's a misconception that their introduction will undermine and deprive public funds,” said Stella Lardy, an associate professor at Pantheon University in Athens and a professor at Queen Mary University of London.

“It’s more of a long-standing view and strong political ideology that exists in parts of the country against private universities,” Lardy said.

Supporters of the changes say private universities could shake up public education, which is often criticized as slow and old-school.

“This may incentivize public universities and governments to provide greater flexibility and accelerate the internationalization and modernization of Greek higher education,” Lardy said.

The bill will be put to a vote later today and is expected to pass.

What to watch today

1. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Cyprus

2. Ukrainian President Zelensky visits Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

3. Ireland has held two constitutional referendums that included removing references to women's “domestic life”.

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The figures for Russian LNG shipments to the EU mentioned in yesterday's newsletter were incorrect due to a decimal point error.The numbers are there Online version.