German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday criticised a reported draft EU plan to oblige car rental firms and large companies to buy only electric vehicles from 2030, saying it could contribute to destroying the bloc's important automotive industry.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will visit China on Thursday and meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday. China's Premier Li Qiang will be co-chairing the 25th China-EU summit with the EU leaders the same day.

The two sides have yet to yield a decisive breakthrough despite an earlier round of negotiations in Washington last week.

The EU must strengthen its security and defence partnerships with Asian countries despite pressure from the Trump administration to focus only on Europe’s domestic security, Brussels’ chief diplomat has said, pitching the bloc as a “reliable partner” in contrast with the US.

A growing number of European Union member states, including Germany, are considering using wide-ranging "anti-coercion" measures targeting U.S. services if the EU cannot reach a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump,

Meta says it won’t sign the European Union’s artificial intelligence code of practice agreement, warning that “Europe is heading down the wrong path on AI.” The code published by the EU on July 10th is a voluntary set of guidelines to help companies follow the AI Act’s rules around general-purpose AI before they come into effect in a few weeks.

The European Union was put on notice that Beijing plans to retaliate against the bloc’s newest sanctions. China’s Ministry of Commerce said that last week’s EU penalties against two banks and five companies seriously harmed trade, economic and financial ties.

President Trump's threatened 30% tariffs on the EU might prompt some businesses to take another look at the U.K.