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Europe Today: Rubio urges Europe to wake up as EU trade chief begins key China trip
Europe's ties with China, the US and the UK are all being tested at once. EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič is in Beijing with a deadline to rebalance trade relations, Marco Rubio tells Europe to wake up, and London weighs rejoining the EU. In France, students are back on the streets today.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/10/08/europe-today-rubio-urges-europe-to-wake-up-as-eu-trade-chief-begins-key-china-trip
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Europe's ties with China, the US and the UK are all being tested at once. EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič is in Beijing with a deadline to rebalance trade relations, Marco Rubio tells Europe to wake up, and London weighs rejoining the EU. In France, students are back on the streets today.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/10/08/europe-today-rubio-urges-europe-to-wake-up-as-eu-trade-chief-begins-key-china-trip
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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00:14Good morning, it is Thursday the 8th of October. I'm Maeve McMahon and this is Europe Today.
00:20Your daily dose of European news and analysis live here on Euronews.
00:25Coming up, Marie Carmen, the 87-year-old woman who was evicted from her Madrid home
00:29and sparked the ongoing protests in Spain against the housing crisis, has passed away in a hospital in Madrid.
00:37Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had called for SNAP elections in November
00:41with the hope that this ongoing housing crisis could overshadow other challenges Spain faces.
00:47And France has banned the police use of stun grenades after a 15-year-old critically hurt his hand this
00:54week
00:54during school protests that have swept the country and even spread here into Belgium.
00:59While critics say police are using disproportionate force against teenagers,
01:03the government says dozens of schools have been set alight, are vandalised.
01:07We'll head over to Paris for the latest.
01:10Meanwhile, Brussels airport is set for major disruption,
01:14with around 140 flights facing cancellation this Friday as ground-handling staff join a national strike.
01:21Unions are walking out in a standoff against the government's reforms they say hit pensions,
01:27salaries and working conditions.
01:29Meanwhile, Brexit is back.
01:31Just a few weeks into the job, the new UK Prime Minister, Andy Burnham,
01:35has launched the idea of a return to the European Union.
01:38We speak exclusively to the UK Minister for European Relations, Hamish Falconer,
01:43who finds himself in Strasbourg this week.
01:46But first to Beijing, where the EU Trade Commissioner, Maris Sekovic,
01:50has arrived for a crucial two-day visit, seeking to rebalance EU-China relations,
01:55which have become rather lopsided in the past decade.
01:58To understand the high stakes of this trip that comes just days before the EU's October summit,
02:04we're joined by our political correspondent, Jorge Liberadero.
02:07Jorge, just remind us why the Commissioner for Trade is in China right now.
02:11Look, Maeve, if I were to draw the history of EU-China relations,
02:16I would not draw a straight line.
02:18I would draw a circle, because that's what we've been running around for these past 10 years.
02:23Maris Sekovic now wants to break this circle, and what's inside of it?
02:27We know the issues.
02:29Dumping, state subsidies, market restrictions,
02:32for technological transfer, supply chain dependencies, and currency manipulation.
02:37These are issues that have been unaddressed for years,
02:40and that now have resulted in a €1 billion deficit per day.
02:45€1 billion per day, I have to say that.
02:48Brussels considers the situation unsustainable.
02:51And it's a situation that actually threatens the survival of our industry and our prosperity,
02:57so something needs to change.
02:59This is why Maris Sekovic has engaged in these negotiations with China,
03:03and has imposed a deadline for this month to obtain the first tangible results.
03:09But now he's in Beijing to find out if these results will appear.
03:13And that's the question.
03:14Will he bring back these tangible results?
03:16He could succeed.
03:17He could fail.
03:17What happens when he gets back?
03:19There's a sequence of events, right?
03:21So Maris Sekovic is now in Beijing.
03:22He's going to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao.
03:25Then he's coming back to Brussels.
03:27He's going to meet his boss, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
03:30Then on Sunday, there's an extraordinary meeting of ambassadors.
03:34The Commission is going to brief them.
03:36Then ambassadors will brief their own capitals.
03:39And then next week, here in Brussels, EU leaders will meet,
03:42and they will have to decide if these results brought back by Sekovic
03:46are enough to continue the dialogue, or if it's time to take action.
03:50And you mentioned EU leaders, of course, meeting next week in Brussels.
03:53They've been becoming rather hawkish when it comes to China.
03:56We've seen a letter by Friedrich Merz, and also by Emmanuel Macron.
03:59Could we be on the brink of a trade war, Jorge?
04:02This letter, which I have here, by the way, is simply remarkable, I have to say,
04:07for at least two reasons.
04:08The first one is that one of the main factors that have held back
04:13the Commission's policy on China is Germany,
04:16particularly the German industry, who have been very afraid of retaliation from Beijing.
04:21Now Berlin has concluded that the damage inflicted by China
04:25is greater than the commercial opportunities presented by China.
04:29And then the second reason is the fact that this letter proposes to create a new instrument
04:36that could immediately cut off China from the European market
04:39if the situation continues to be unsustainable, as it is now.
04:43So the very fact that this radical option is put on paper
04:47and is signed by the President of France and the Chancellor of Germany
04:51shows you the exasperation and the desperation that Europeans have reached.
04:56Mistakes couldn't be higher.
04:57Couldn't be higher, exactly.
04:59We'll read all your reporting on yournews.com.
05:00Thank you so much for that.
05:02But now, moving on, students in France are bracing for another major day of protests
05:07after trade unions joined them in demonstrations that saw around 250,000 people
05:13from all across the country on Tuesday.
05:15For the latest, we can head over to Paris and bring in our correspondent,
05:18Estelle Nilsen-Julien, who's standing in front of a very rowdy school this morning.
05:23And we can see schoolgoers back on the streets today, just two days after that major demonstration.
05:29They're clearly still not satisfied, Estelle.
05:33Yes, so students and unions will be back on the streets today in Paris and across the country
05:39because they say the government is not listening to them.
05:42As you can see, I'm outside a secondary school in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.
05:47And students got here very early.
05:48I've been in the streets since half six and I've seen students drag bins, barriers,
05:54many of them wearing face masks to cover their faces.
05:58And in terms of what the unions and teaching unions are calling for,
06:02they are urging the government to reverse some of its budget proposals,
06:06including things like pay freezes for public sector workers.
06:11And how has the government reacted?
06:14Have they made any concessions?
06:17Well, yesterday, Luc Arnoux, the French prime minister, addressed the nation.
06:21And he made a point of saying that police officers and law enforcement officers
06:27had not been instructed to attack or have any of the acts of violence towards children.
06:34This comes amid intense scrutiny of police methods.
06:37And we've seen some shocking cases where children were hurt in instances of police brutality.
06:45But the government has also launched a mass online consultation this week,
06:49which has already gathered 40,000 signatures.
06:52And the prime minister said that the findings of this consultation
06:56would be used to inform any possible policy changes.
07:01And Estelle, how long could these protests go on for?
07:06How long? I can't tell you exactly,
07:08but I was just speaking to some students a few minutes ago
07:10who told me they would be on the streets for as long as it takes.
07:14They told me they were here because they felt their school days were too long
07:18and that they wanted more time outside of school for their personal life.
07:23Experts I spoke to, though, have told me that
07:25these kinds of social movements tend to dissipate in school holidays
07:30and France has a half term coming up in the coming weeks.
07:33So that could be a factor which could make things slow down a little bit.
07:38OK, Estelle, Minister, Julianne, thank you so much for your live broadcast there
07:41from the capital of France, from Paris.
07:44But now we can head to Athens, where the Secretary of State from the US, Marco Rubio,
07:48has arrived for the sixth round of the US-Greece Strategic Dialogue.
07:52Up for discussion, security, defence and energy.
07:55And speaking just last night in Athens, Marco Rubio said Europe needs to, quote,
07:59wake up from its long slumber.
08:01For more, we can head over to Athens and bring in our correspondent, Faye Duclery.
08:06Good morning, Faye.
08:07So quite an America first speech last night
08:09with quite a dig at Europeans to spend more on defence.
08:13Tell us more.
08:16Good morning, Maeve.
08:17Marco Rubio is calling again on European countries
08:20to take on a greater responsibility for defending their own defence.
08:25And he singled out Greece as an example,
08:27speaking yesterday alongside his, the Greek foreign minister,
08:32Giorgos Supergerapetritis.
08:33He praised Greece because the country is about to spend 5% of its GDP this year
08:39on defence with 3.5% solely on core defence.
08:45Speaking under the Parthenon in the afternoon,
08:48Rubio linked the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East,
08:52the situation in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz
08:56with greater need of Europe to start defending more the continent
09:02and spending more on defence.
09:04And he warned Europe, as you said,
09:07to wake from its long slumber
09:09and strengthen both its defence and industrial base.
09:14And, Faye, the trip comes during quite a scandalous controversy,
09:17if you like, over the US ambassador to Greece.
09:19Tell us more about that.
09:22Yes, that was one of the highlights of the visit, I would say.
09:26An American colleague asked during the Prince Conference, Marco Rubio,
09:31about the Wall Street Journal report
09:34concerning the American ambassador, Kimberly Guilfoyle.
09:38According to the Wall Street Journal,
09:40some weeks ago, in March,
09:42during a dinner with Greek and American officials,
09:45Kimberly Guilfoyle referred to the fall of Romania's government,
09:50saying allegedly that the United States had something implying better,
09:56that the United States had something to do with it
09:58and saying allegedly again that the United States can do that
10:03with all the governments, even in Greece.
10:05As you can understand, this caused quite a noise here in Athens
10:09and, of course, in Bucharest for some days.
10:13And some analysts even linked the timing of the visit to this situation.
10:19But Marco Rubio yesterday rejected all these allegations.
10:23He said that they were false
10:25and he gave full support to the American ambassador in Greece,
10:30saying that she's doing her job great.
10:34OK, Faye Duclery, thank you so much for that live broadcast there
10:37from Athens this morning.
10:39And moving on now, Brexit is back on the political agenda
10:43after the UK Prime Minister, Andy Burnham,
10:45who's actually in Berlin today,
10:47said he would weigh a range of options
10:49for the future relationship with the European Union,
10:51including the possibility of rejoining.
10:54Intense talks on resettling the relationship between both sides
10:57continue ahead of a summit expected to take place
11:00here in Brussels next month.
11:02Euronews' Marit Gwynne spoke to the UK Minister for European Relations,
11:05that's Hamish Falconer, who's actually in Strasbourg this week.
11:08And she began by asking him if Andy Burnham's remarks
11:12had radically changed his mandate
11:14as the UK's chief negotiator with Brussels.
11:17My Prime Minister set out a very ambitious approach
11:21last week.
11:22He believes that the current relationship that we have
11:25is not good enough, and I totally share that.
11:27And that's what I've been discussing with colleagues today.
11:29I've seen my counterpart, the Commissioner Sechevich,
11:33here as well as many colleagues in the European Parliament.
11:36I am ambitious, as is the Prime Minister,
11:39to go further and faster with the European Union.
11:43We are eternal neighbours.
11:45We have real shared interests,
11:47and we're looking at this relationship
11:49with a real range of determination and ambition.
11:53What does that mean then, Minister,
11:55for this UK EU summit that we're expecting as soon as November?
11:59Do you expect to simply sign off on the deals negotiated
12:01by the previous government of Keir Starmer,
12:04or can we expect more?
12:06And can we expect Burnham to lay out
12:08a more long-term vision in November?
12:11So we haven't yet confirmed the date of the summit,
12:15but we hope to be able to do so soon.
12:16I want the most ambitious possible package, of course.
12:19We've been conducting negotiations on a range of issues,
12:23including food, electricity trading standards, youth mobility.
12:28But we want to go further and faster, as I said earlier.
12:32And so I'm not going to get too drawn
12:35into the detail of the negotiations.
12:36All I'll say is there's a real shared sense,
12:40both between me and my colleagues here,
12:42of a desire to bring Britain back closer to the European Union
12:46and be as ambitious as we possibly can.
12:48And in answer to your specific question,
12:50yes, I expect that my Prime Minister will set out
12:53in more detail some of the views that he talked about
12:56in our conference last week around the time of the summit.
13:01I appreciate you can't answer the details of these negotiations,
13:04but I want to ask you about Made in Europe,
13:07because I understand that for your government,
13:09the UK's inclusion in the Made in Europe industrial policy
13:13in order to avoid UK industries from being shut off,
13:17the European market is a major priority.
13:20Do you see that a deal on that could be close?
13:23Look, I think it's worth saying at the outset
13:25that the industries that have lobbied me with the most enthusiasm
13:30are European industries.
13:32And there's such a clear sense
13:34that the European industrial base is shared
13:37with the second largest export market for the EU,
13:41with the largest recipient of new EU vehicles,
13:45many of which are partially constructed in the UK.
13:48It would not be in either of our interests
13:50to see new barriers arising in our economic relations.
13:55It is so strongly in EU and UK interests
13:58that the existing strong arrangements that we have are sustained.
14:02And in terms of the concessions that you're willing to make
14:05in order to gain access and be included in that policy,
14:08you know, how far are you willing to go?
14:11So I think, as I said, I don't want to talk too much
14:14about the detail of the negotiations,
14:15but just in general, we've got very clear,
14:18legally binding arrangements which govern the way
14:21in which the UK and EU markets are so closely integrated.
14:24That's the TCA that provides strong protections
14:28to both sides on rules of origin
14:30and all sorts of other things.
14:31It is the underpinning of a really important
14:35shared industrial base.
14:36If we were to fracture that industrial base,
14:39that would simply mean a weaker Europe,
14:41both in the UK and in the EU.
14:43So I don't think talking about sort of concessions
14:45is quite the right place to start.
14:47This is a shared European industrial base.
14:49We face shared common challenges,
14:52which I've been very pleased to discuss
14:53for so many of my counterparts here today.
14:56I think it is vital that we don't do things
14:59to make European industry weaker.
15:04And staying in Strasbourg,
15:06MEPs from the left wing of the European Parliament
15:09have come up with a new proposal.
15:10They want to slash their net salaries in half
15:13from €8,800 per month to €4,400.
15:18For more, we can head over to Strasbourg
15:19and speak to Marc Bottenga,
15:21Belgian MEP from the left
15:22and actually one of the authors of this proposal.
15:25Good morning, Marc.
15:26Thanks for joining us.
15:26Just tell us more about your idea here.
15:31Well, the idea is very...
15:33I mean, as you know,
15:33that the salaries for members of the European Parliament
15:36and also members of the Commission
15:37are extremely generous.
15:38You know, they can go up to €13,000,
15:40€14,000 a month easily
15:42without even the additional allowances.
15:44And so the question here is,
15:46in a situation in which many people struggle
15:48to make it to the end of the month,
15:49perhaps it is time to say,
15:51listen, we're going to cut these salaries a little bit
15:53in order to bring them down to earth
15:54and in order for MEPs to, you know,
15:57realise perhaps a little bit more
15:59what the regular European is going through.
16:01But I'm sure this proposal would face
16:03a lot of opposition there in the Parliament among MEPs.
16:06So what can you actually really change?
16:11Well, I think it's important
16:12to put that discussion out there.
16:14That's the first thing.
16:15Obviously, you know,
16:16people are shouting populism,
16:18but I think it's very important
16:19that when, also for the outside,
16:21when people see that, you know,
16:23members of the European Parliament,
16:24the European Commission,
16:25they're very happy to discuss
16:26anything, like they can discuss
16:28cutting the European social funds,
16:30the cohesion funds,
16:31the regional funds, whatsoever.
16:32All of this can be discussed.
16:33But when it's about themselves,
16:35when it is about, you know,
16:36their own privileges,
16:37their own salaries,
16:38then suddenly, oh no,
16:39this cannot even be discussed.
16:40So I think it's good
16:41to put that out there,
16:42especially today
16:43when we have this energy crisis,
16:44you know, when many of us
16:45are afraid to go actually,
16:47you know, go up,
16:48get your fuel,
16:51do your groceries and whatever.
16:52So I think that would be
16:53a really important signal.
16:54And I've seen some critics say
16:56this is a populist stunt here.
16:57What would you say to them?
17:02Well, you know,
17:03I would say why haven't they,
17:04the only thing,
17:05the only thing they're stressed about
17:06is their own salary,
17:07their own privilege.
17:08For the rest,
17:08they're very happy to discuss
17:09anything, as I said.
17:10Secondly, I do believe
17:12that the way you live
17:13influences the way you vote
17:15and the kind of proposals you make.
17:16You know, if you yourself
17:17have no clue what it means
17:19to be scared to, you know,
17:21pay for fuel,
17:23to pay for groceries whatsoever,
17:25you know,
17:26this is going to have an impact
17:27on the priorities
17:28and on the proposals
17:29you're going to make
17:30in Parliament
17:31or at the level
17:32of the European Commission.
17:33You're not going to consider
17:34the energy crisis
17:36terribly horrible
17:36if you don't feel it yourself,
17:38a little bit at least,
17:39you know.
17:40So in this sense,
17:41I would say,
17:42you know,
17:42maybe it's time for you
17:43to get out of your bubble
17:45and realize what's going on outside.
17:47And if you want to lead by example,
17:48of course,
17:49why stop at the salaries?
17:50As you said,
17:50MEPs also get big allowances.
17:52Should they be looked at too?
17:57Oh, absolutely.
17:58I think there's a number of things
17:59we should be looking at.
18:01I mean,
18:01we've got different proposals as well.
18:02There's also the transitional allowance.
18:04So when MEPs leave Parliament,
18:06they get this transitional allowance.
18:07You know,
18:08we'd say,
18:08why don't you just integrate,
18:09you know,
18:10national unemployment schemes
18:11because there's a lot of pressure
18:12on unemployment schemes
18:14at national levels,
18:15also pushed by politicians,
18:17but then they themselves
18:18are exempt from those schemes.
18:20So I think there's a number of things
18:21that we can tackle
18:22also on the additional allowances.
18:25Why should that be
18:25just a fixed amount?
18:27Shouldn't that be linked
18:28to what you're actually spending?
18:29You know,
18:30all of these matters
18:31are on the table
18:32and need to be put on the table.
18:33And that's what we're doing right now
18:34because we're saying
18:35it's time to burst this bubble
18:37a little bit.
18:38People are angry outside
18:39and they're angry at decisions
18:40that have been made
18:40in this Parliament
18:41and by this Commission.
18:43And in order to break away
18:44with that,
18:45to do away with that,
18:46sorry,
18:47I think this is a good first step.
18:49Well, people are certainly angry.
18:51Mark Patengo,
18:52we see protests
18:52from Madrid to Paris
18:54and of course,
18:55Brussels bracing itself tomorrow
18:56for a national strike.
18:57Thank you so much
18:58for your time this morning
18:59and for joining us
18:59on Europe Today.
19:01That does bring
19:02this Thursday's edition
19:04of Europe Today,
19:04though,
19:05to an end.
19:05Do reach out to us
19:06if you have any comments
19:07or remarks
19:08on any of the stories
19:09that we are covering
19:10here for you.
19:11And of course,
19:11you can also visit
19:12euronews.com
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19:17But as always,
19:18thank you so much
19:18for starting your morning
19:20with us.
19:20Take care
19:21and stay with us here
19:21on Euronews.
19:22We'll see you guys next time.
19:29Euronews.
19:29And we'll see you next time.
19:31Bye-bye.