12:24Some capitals bought the equipment, while others struggled to do so.
12:29And the EU system forces guards to collect fingerprints from every first-time arrival,
12:34which in turn creates an instant dead stop at the gate.
12:37The European border agency Frontex admits the chaotic biometric registration
12:42could take up to two years to stabilize.
12:45But hey, look at the bright side.
12:48You now have roughly 700 days to practice your queuing technique
12:52and even enough time to learn a local language.
12:59Now, moving on, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East
13:02and a potential sell-off in US assets are the two biggest risks facing the eurozone economy.
13:07That's according to fresh analysis from the European Stability Mechanism,
13:11which warns the shocks could tip the euro area into recession and push inflation as high as 5%.
13:17The Luxembourg-based institution was set up in the wake of the Greek debt crisis
13:21to provide financial support to eurozone countries in times of distress.
13:26For more, we're joined now by the ESM's Chief Economist, that's Wolf Strauch.
13:29Good morning. Great to have you with us.
13:31Good morning, Maeve.
13:32So this is quite a gloomy outlook you're presenting here.
13:35Tell us more about your findings.
13:37From the perspective of the European Stability Mechanism,
13:40euro area resilience is coming under strain.
13:42And we see on the one hand that geoeconomic and geopolitical risks are rising
13:47and you have security threats, you have energy price disruption,
13:52you have financial market volatility and fragmentation in the trading system.
13:56And on the other hand, you see that this leads to higher demands on governments
14:01while the fiscal space is shrinking.
14:03And that is what we mean when resilience is coming under strain.
14:07Governments need to create fiscal buffers and they need to create growth.
14:11So many of our viewers would be worried this morning about this risk of a potential recession.
14:16How high is it?
14:18The point is, as a crisis resolution mechanism, you ask what happens if things go wrong,
14:23not what will actually happen.
14:25When you ask the second question, what will happen, you do a forecast.
14:29We do a scenario analysis.
14:30And as you said before, if we have two shocks, a meltdown of US assets
14:35and a re-escalation of a conflict, yes, then the risk is high that we will have a recession.
14:40And that is what we point out in order to be prepared for a crisis,
14:44not because we are predicting the crisis.
14:46And is the eurozone stronger now than it was for these potential kind of shocks?
14:50The shocks that we will maybe seeing is indeed the Middle East conflict.
14:55And that leads to higher energy prices and uncertainty.
14:59And on the other hand, a meltdown in US assets.
15:02That would imply that we have faced tighter financial conditions.
15:06So what should consumers be doing and thinking now?
15:09We think that governments mainly should be prepared.
15:13And that means that they have to get growth going.
15:16And that will help also the consumers.
15:18And just finally today in Ankara, billions are being pledged for defence.
15:22Can European countries afford this?
15:24Well, European countries could create a win-win situation here.
15:28And we have looked in depth into the defence spending.
15:32And when you actually create a situation where defence spending spills over into the civilian economy,
15:38then you can recover 53 cents for each additional euro spent through taxes and higher growth.
15:45Okay.
15:45Vosthag, Chief Economist at the European Stability Mechanism.
15:48Thank you so much for coming into us and being our guest.
15:58Well, a very late goal from Spain ended Portugal's 2026 World Cup rodeo and could also mark the end of
16:05Cristiano Ronaldo's remarkable international career.
16:08The superstar had tears in his eyes at the final whistle as he came to terms with the sobering consequences
16:14of this defeat.
16:16And meanwhile, all eyes, of course, were really on the controversy-riddled match of the US against Belgium.
16:22The Red Devils, as I'm sure you've seen, prevailed in a convincing 4-1 victory,
16:26taking to social media as well to suggest you cannot overturn this.
16:30That was a blatant message to President Donald Trump, who'd called the FIFA president previously to allow for the top
16:36US striker,
16:36Foller and Belegin, to play that game.
16:38Let's take a listen to Donald Trump before the game.
16:40Yes, I asked for a review by FIFA.
16:44I spoke to a man who's highly respected.
16:47I asked for a review because I didn't think it was a foul.
16:50And, you know, again, I'm good at this stuff.
16:52I didn't think it was a foul.
16:53I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.
16:57That was not a guy punching somebody in the face or anything that, you know, would be different.
17:02Now, in the end, Foller and Belegin played but did not score.
17:05But the decision to exempt the US striker from the one-match ban after his red card against Bosnia-Herzegovina
17:11did create an international outcry from the European Football Association, UEFA,
17:15and also the EU Commissioner for Sports, Glenn Michalif.
17:18For an expert view, we spoke to William Galliarch, the former UEFA president advisor.
17:23It's completely against the rules and the status of FIFA, not only because there is obvious political interference
17:33in the decision that should have been made by an independent body within FIFA,
17:38and that is quite a scandal, frankly, but also because it violates all the rules.
17:49The fact that FIFA accepts the fact that the president of the United States can interfere and decide
18:04about the game, about the tournament, about the management of FIFA, is completely unacceptable.
18:11Definitely, the fairness of this competition is threatened.
18:18And meanwhile, tonight, the final two spots in the quarterfinals will be fought out
18:22between Argentina and Egypt, and also Switzerland against Colombia.
18:26Enjoy the games, because that does bring this edition of Europe Today to an end.
18:31Thank you so much for your company.
18:32As always, if you have any views on any of the stories we're covering for you here,
18:36europetoday at euronews.com, that is our email address.
18:39Thank you so much for tuning in.
18:41Have a lovely morning, and see you very soon on Euronews.
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