The European Commission has hit Chinese retail giant AliExpress with a record €550 million penalty for violating consumer protection rules, far exceeding a previous fine levied against rival Temu.
Has Europe gradually become so committed to institutional uniformity that it has unintentionally reduced one of the principal engines of its own historical success: competition among jurisdictions?
Following a request from Kyiv, the extension of protection until 2028 excludes newly arriving men of military age but the existing rights for 4.4M current beneficiaries remain unaffected.
With storage facilities only 28% full at the start of the summer injection season, the writing is on the wall for Brussels as it prepares for a cold winter.
