European Union

Washington's trade office opened comments on 14 September for the 2027 National Trade Estimate, listing the Union's digital rules among the barriers it will examine. The window closes on 29 October, which keeps the Union's platform rules inside Washington's formal trade process rather than a closed diplomatic row.

The file follows Trump's 24 July order for a Section 301 investigation, issued the day after the Commission fined Google €890m under the Digital Markets Act, with tariffs threatened. For the Union, the dispute tests whether one rulebook can govern platforms across 27 states while its largest trading partner weighs retaliation against enforcement.

On 23 July all 27 governments approved the Union's 21st sanctions package against Russia after Slovakia withdrew its objection over a 2028 gas phase-out guarantee. The package froze the $44 Russian oil-price CAP for 12 months, listed 250 entities, barred 32 Russian banks and targeted more than 40 shadow-fleet vessels.

The deal came after a failed round on 15 July, when Greece sought protection for re-exports of Russian Liquefied Natural Gas and Austria wanted a company delisted. the Union can impose collective restrictions, but every sanctions round has to buy off each national government entitled to withhold consent.

On 5 July EU gas storage passed 50.03%, below the 56% reached on the same date in 2025. The refill pace pointed to roughly 69% to 70% by 1 November, short of the Union's mandatory 80% floor.

The rule puts Brussels in charge of the target but not of the cargoes needed to meet it. On 29 June the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies said a Hormuz closure lasting through October would leave Europe short of about 2.1 billion cubic metres of liquefied gas each month, which turns the storage floor into a test of how much supply the Union can buy rather than mandate.