France's top female professional footballers hit out at working conditions

Team captains from the top two French women’s football leagues have criticised slow progress in negotiations for better working conditions for professional female footballers.


Issued on: 22/04/2026 - RFI

Captains from the 24 teams in France's top two professional divisions signed an open letter calling on football league and club bosses to ensure better working conditions for female professional football players. AFP - SEBASTIEN DUPUY

By: Paul Myers

In an open letter published in the French sports newspaper L'Equipe, the captains say there is a lack of security for women's teams in the professional game.

They also say that despite the creation of the Women’s Professional Football League (LFFP) in July 2024, football authorities are not acting fast enough to improve the women's professional game.

"Efforts have been made since the creation of the LFFP, we acknowledge that," say the captains in the letter.

"But the essential element is missing: a collective agreement. In 2026, professional female players still do not have one. We play the same sport. We train to the same high standards. We face the same physical demands and the same risks. And yet, we do not enjoy the same protections."

Blame game

The players’ union, the UNFP, and Foot Unis, which represents the clubs, blame each other for the gridlock.

Player representatives say they want a collective agreement to be signed before the start of the 2026/2027 season in September.

They say the swift creation of a collective agreement framework for the new third tier of men's football shows that speed is possible.

"Whilst men’s football moves forward, we are asked to wait," wrote the captains. "This is not a question of priority. It is a question of choice.

"This discrepancy raises questions. It is no longer understandable. It is no longer acceptable," they added. "We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for a fair framework. A collective agreement is not a perk. It is an essential foundation."

The letter also complains about the financing of women's professional teams, citing the fates of Soyaux and Bordeaux – whose professional women's teams were broken up in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

"These situations are no accident," the letter adds. "They reveal a reality we all face: in French professional football, women’s teams are all too often the first to be cut when budgets are tightened. This structural vulnerability has a name: the lack of a collective agreement."

Vincent Ponsot, president of the women’s football committee at Foot Unis, told French news agency AFP that club bosses and league administrators were still thrashing out details on image rights, after cutting a deal on issues such as end-of-career severance pay and payments while players are injured.

Ponsot, who is is also managing director of Arkema Première Ligue pacesetters OL Lyonnes, added: “I’m not surprised the players are getting impatient because this situation is unacceptable."

End of season

The letter comes as the Arkema Première Ligue and Seconde Ligue culminate.

OL Lyonnes, Paris Saint-Germain, Paris FC and Nantes sit in the top four places leading to the play-offs to determine the 2026 champions.

Five teams are involved in a battle to avoid the two places leading to relegation to the Seconde Ligue, where Toulouse have claimed the title to return to the top flight for the first time in 13 years.

Paul-Hervé Douillard, director-general of the LFFP, told AFP: "I hope there's an agreement as soon as possible. It will be an important milestone for the league’s structure. I don't know when it will come but I am sure it will come to fruition."

EU attracts record 64 million immigrants as migration patterns shift

The number of immigrants living in the European Union has reached a new high, reflecting the bloc’s growing appeal as a destination and the increasingly fluid nature of its labour markets.


Issued on: 22/04/2026 - RFI

Afghan nationals walk past German policemen to board a bus after they landed at the airport in Hannover-Langenhagen, northwestern Germany, on 1 September 2025. AFP - MICHAEL MATTHEY


New figures published on Wednesday show that 64.2 million foreign-born people were residing across the EU in 2025 – an increase of around 2.1 million compared with the previous year.

The total has risen sharply over the past decade and a half, up from 40 million in 2010, reflecting both sustained migration flows and Europe’s continued economic pull.

The data – compiled by the Centre for Research and Analysis on Migration at RFBerlin using sources including Eurostat and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) – paints a picture of a continent where migration is not only rising but also evolving in shape and distribution.

Germany leads while Spain accelerates

Germany remains by far the EU’s largest host country, with close to 18 million foreign-born residents. Around 72 percent of these are of working age – a factor often highlighted as helping to support the country’s labour force and long-term economic stability.

Researchers say Germany continues to stand out both in absolute terms and relative to its population size. It remains a central destination for migrants arriving in Europe, reflecting its strong economy and employment opportunities.

Elsewhere, Spain has emerged as the fastest-growing hub in recent years. The country added roughly 700,000 foreign-born residents over the past year alone, bringing its total to 9.5 million. This surge points to a broader shift, with southern European economies increasingly attracting newcomers alongside traditional destinations in the north.

Uneven patterns across the bloc

Despite the overall rise, migration trends vary significantly from country to country. Smaller nations such as Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus have some of the highest proportions of immigrants relative to their population size, highlighting how migration can reshape societies at different scales.

Asylum applications also remain concentrated in a handful of countries. Spain, Italy, France and Germany together account for nearly three-quarters of all claims, indicating where administrative systems and reception capacities are most heavily engaged.

Germany again tops the list when it comes to hosting refugees, with a total of 2.7 million, reflecting both recent arrivals and longer-term commitments to protection.

(With newswires)

FedEx faces French genocide lawsuit for transporting Israeli plane parts to Gaza

A French anti-Zionist group has filed a suit against the American logistics giant FedEx, alleging that by transporting parts for Israeli aircraft involved in bombing Gaza, the company was complicit in genocide

Issued on: 22/04/2026 - RFI

A FedEx plan on the tarmac of Charles de Gaulle Airport. The American logistics giant is accused in French court of complicity in genocide for allegedly transporting Israeli warplane parts to Gaza. © Etienne Laurent/Pool via AP

The French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP) said it had filed the complaint against FedEx's French subsidiary for "the transport and delivery of essential combat aircraft components from the United States to Israel via France".

Those parts were used "to maintain and repair F-35 combat aircraft used by the Israeli air force" over the Gaza Strip.

Rights groups and NGOs have accused Israel of carrying out a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, a term the Israeli government vehemently rejects.

FedEx has denied the allegation, telling the AFP news agency: "We do not make any international deliveries of weapons or ammunition".

The UJFP said they based their case on a recent report by campaign group Urgence Palestine (Palestine Emergency), which catalogued 117 shipments that it said transited through Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport via FedEx's French subsidiary between April and October last year.

Of those, 22 went straight on to Israel, including three on FedEx planes registered in France, according to the complaint, whose authors claim that FedEx "must have known the contents".

Belgian prosecutors have opened a probe into one of the deliveries, which transited via Liege airport on 20 June 2025.

Israel said it would end all weapons imports from France after France recognised the State of Palestine in September.

(with AFP)

The forgotten Statue of Liberty helping a French town rebuild its identity

The town of Izon, near Bordeaux, is rebuilding the Statue of Liberty that once stood in its main square, 100 years after it was first donated by a local man who emigrated to the United States – and with it, restoring a sense of pride.

Issued on: 19/04/2026 - RFI

By: Sarah Elzas

A postcard of the original Statue of Liberty in Izon, at the location where it will be rebuilt. 

© Jean-Paul Pauline
01:14

The town of Izon sits halfway between Bordeaux and Libourne – a string of family homes along a 4-kilometre stretch of the D242 departmental road, with no real centre.

During the 1980s and '90s, the town’s population doubled to around 6,000, which is where it stands today, as people working in the nearby cities moved in.

But with this rapid growth and the town's new status as a commuter hub, Izon lost some of its local character.

"We are interested in creating more ties within the community, to avoid this becoming a city where you just sleep, leave for work in the morning, come home in the evening and stay at home," explains Sophie Carrère, the newly elected assistant mayor in charge of culture.

"It’s a very residential town, with maybe a bit less of a collective mindset."

Now a new project linked to local history is aiming to restore the town's civic pride.

'A crazy idea'

In 1926, a Statue of Liberty was donated to Izon by a local man named Rey Jeanton, who left for the United States in the 1890s and made a fortune in farming and real estate in California.

He returned to Izon to retire and decided to donate a statue to commemorate his success in his adopted country.

The statue stood in a small plaza across from the town church for more than a decade, until it was destroyed during World War II, when the Nazis occupied Izon and the surrounding areas.

After that, it was forgotten.

“Nothing remains where the statue was, just parking spots,” says André Veyssiere, a local councillor.

The idea to rebuild it came during a project in which the town hung posters of old postcards in the locations the photos had been taken.

Virginie Vidorreta, a former town councillor, was involved in choosing the images and putting them up and she noticed the statue.

When she asked the mayor what he knew about it, he proposed rebuilding it.

“I said yes! It was a crazy idea,” she says. “That started the investigation – the quest to find out the details about the statue.”

Paris Statue of Liberty replica 130 years on

Differences from original

Vidoretta spent months digging into Jeanton’s life and legacy – and the statue itself, which it turned out was not a reproduction of the original Statue of Liberty by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi.

When she contacted the Grand Palais museum, which holds moulds of France's sculptures and monuments, including a reproduction of the Statue of Liberty – of which there are around 35 across France – she was told it was possible to order one, but that the Izon statue was not the same.

The original Statue of Liberty in Izon. © Jean-Paul Pauline

Looking closer at the few images of the statue that remain from when it stood in the town, Vidoretta found that, indeed, Izon's Lady Liberty had her left hand on her heart, instead of holding the constitution.

There were other differences too: her hands were bigger, her crown was different, and instead of holding a flame aloft, she held a ball that had probably been lit up.

Vidoretta managed to identify the sculptor as someone named Toussaint, but could find no other trace of the statue's origins, no original plans or moulds.

Izon ended up commissioning a foundry in Bordeaux to scan a reproduction there and digitally modify it to match the archival images, in order to create a mould to cast the statue.

A model of the new Statue of Liberty to be cast by the Cyclopes foundry for the town of Izon. © Fonderie des Cyclopes

Search for identity

The story passed down among locals is that the Nazis stationed in Izon tore down the statue one drunken evening and melted it down for munitions.

“I am not sure that it was the Germans who destroyed it,” says Vidorreta. “The French state was also melting down statues. In 1941 they melted down the one in Bordeaux, so why would the one in Izon have escaped the same fate?”

She adds: “There was a lot that went unsaid about the Second World War.”

France opens archives on wartime Vichy regime

Vidorreta has worked to piece together what she can about the statue and about Jeanton, who did not leave behind letters or diaries, hoping to rebuild the town's identity alongside the story, and the statue.

“Perhaps there’s an identity tied to the notion of freedom,” says Carrère. “Maybe Rey Jeanton intended for us to become its bearers, to pass it on to future generations as well.”

Izon has launched a crowdfunding campaign that has raised almost €15,000 of the €100,000 needed to reinstall the statue.

It will be inaugurated on 14 July this year, France's national holiday, 100 years after it was donated by Jeanton.

Portrait of Rey Jeanton © copyright unknown

Amateur historians

Vidorreta also hopes the campaign will bring forward people with information about Jeanton, who she says she has become fascinated with.

“He must have been impressive, to leave at 40 years old, not as a young 20-year-old, to start a new life,” she says.

The process of researching the statue and Jeanton’s life has turned this primary school teacher into something of an amateur historian – and inspired her to turn her pupils into amateur sleuths too.

“I developed a programme with exercises on how to do research, just like we did,” she says. “The students look at how to read a death or birth certificate, how to find newspaper archives.”

For her, Jeanton’s life and his statue are a quest that keeps on giving: “It’s like a story out of a novel.”

For more on Izon and its Statue of Liberty, listen to the Spotlight on France podcast here.

D.E.I.

'A rebel who liked order': Valérie André, France's first female general

Fifty years ago this month, the French army got its first female general: Valérie André, a surgeon, parachutist and helicopter pilot who blazed a trail for women in the highest ranks of the military.


Issued on: 19/04/2026 - RFI

French doctor and pilot Valérie André receiving a medal from the US Secretary of State for Air, Harold Talbot in Paris on 26 October 1953. She was one of the first women in the world to fly a helicopter in combat zones. © AFP - STF

By: Jessica Phelan

Long before she was France’s highest-ranking female officer, Valérie André was a girl who wanted to fly.

“I decided when I was three years old that I would be a pilot,” she told RFI in 2010, then aged 88.

“I used to cut out articles from newspapers and aviation magazines. I collected it all. They were my idols, the aviators of days gone by.”

Pioneers including Elisa Laroche, the first woman to get a pilot’s licence in 1910, and Adrienne Bolland, the first woman to fly over the Andes, in 1921, had shown André that women had a place in the sky.

But they didn’t yet have a place in the armed forces. A handful of women would be recruited as auxiliary pilots during the Second World War, but France disbanded their unit once the conflict was over.

But in the wars that came afterwards, André would become one of the first pilots, man or woman, to fly a new type of aircraft on a new type of mission.

Witness to war

Born in Strasbourg on 21 April, 1922, André came from a family where girls and boys alike were encouraged to pursue their passions.

Alongside aviation, hers was science. As a teenager she saved up to pay for flying lessons, then enrolled to study medicine – but both were interrupted when the Nazis invaded France.

Her native region of Alsace was annexed and André fled, resuming her studies in Paris. In August 1944, she watched the city's liberation.

By the time she qualified as a doctor in 1948, France was at war again. Communist independence fighters were battling France for control of what was then the colony of Indochina – today Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

The French army was relying on volunteers, and it badly needed medics. While women were barred from combat, they were accepted into the medical corps. André signed up.

From Strasbourg to Saigon

Shipped out to a military hospital in Saigon, André was confronted by what she would later call “the daily horror” of war.

Injured soldiers streamed in. Given the number of severe head wounds, she developed a specialism in brain surgery, sometimes operating on as many as 100 people a month.

French forces were scattered across Indochina, many in remote outposts, and not all the wounded could make it to hospital. The army’s solution was to airdrop doctors.

André was the perfect candidate. Writing her university thesis on injuries suffered by parachutists, she had taken up parachuting as a hobby.

She got to work jumping over distant parts of Laos, setting up tents in which to treat patients – French soldiers, locals and sometimes even the Viet Minh that France was fighting.

Soon, technology replaced her parachute. “I saw the helicopters arrive,” André told RFI. “It was love at first sight.”

The flying doctor

The helicopters in question were lightweight and “very primitive”, according to aviation historian Charles Morgan Evans, author of a biography of André.

“This helicopter afforded absolutely no protection. It was entirely made out of aluminium and very underpowered,” he told RFI. “It was just a very difficult helicopter to work with.”

Developed by the American company Hiller, they were fitted with a stretcher on either side on which to carry wounded soldiers.

It was the first time the French army had used them, and André lobbied her superiors for the chance to fly one. Not only did she have the medical training, she pointed out, but she weighed less than most men.

“Since these helicopters had such terrible payload capacity performance in tropical environments, she said it would be possible not just to take two wounded soldiers back to a hospital, but possibly three,” said Evans. “One in the cockpit and two in the litters on the side of the helicopter.”

The head of the medical corps agreed and André returned to France to get her pilot’s licence. Redeployed to Vietnam, she began flying rescue missions.

These involved heading into the heart of areas where fighting was taking place, often escorted by fighter planes firing machine guns or dropping napalm to drive back the Viet Minh. They would have just minutes to land, load up the wounded and take off before the enemy regrouped, then fly long distances to a hospital.

Pilots were exposed to enemy fire, as well as mechanical failures. It was, Evans said, “incredibly, incredibly dangerous”.

“It was mainly afterwards it sank in,” André told RFI decades later. “In the moment, you had to get on with it.”

Under her call sign “Ventilateur”, between 1951 and 1953 she flew 128 missions and rescued 168 soldiers.

'A woman like any other'

After two tours, André returned to France. Soon the country was at war again, this time in Algeria. She flew another 350 missions there from 1959 to 1962, both evacuating soldiers and transporting troops.

After that she came back to France for good, serving as a medical officer on military bases. She was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, colonel and then, on 21 April, 1976 – her 54th birthday – brigadier general.

It was big news. A TV interviewer asked her husband – a fellow army rescue pilot – about her cooking, while André, her eyes hidden behind aviator sunglasses, told the reporter she was “a woman like any other”.

In fact, the French armed forces were structured to allow only exceptional women in. Quotas limited the percentage of female recruits each year that could go into the various branches, which meant only those with the very highest qualifications were picked.

In some cases, according to Evans, André saw men admitted to the medical corps with lower entrance exam scores than female applicants.

She lobbied to revise those quotas, and headed a commission that recommended allowing women into certain officer positions that were previously barred to them.

Today, the medical corps is the only branch of France’s armed forces where women outnumber men. Overall, they make up around 17 percent.


A quiet pioneer

Since André retired in 1981 as a three-star general, the French forces have dropped their quotas and opened all posts to women. It currently has 65 serving female generals, including its first with the highest possible five stars.

Defence officials say they expect that number to rise in the next five years, as women admitted to France’s top military academies in the 1990s – when they stopped capping the numbers of female students – climb the ranks.

André died in January 2025 at the age of 102, with a dozen medals to her name. She avoided calling out sexism in the military publicly, telling RFI: "As long as you do what’s expected of you, you set an example. It’s not a problem.”

Her autobiography contains a clue as to how she saw herself. “In my own way, I’ve always been a rebel, bucking against injustice and outdated traditions,” she wrote.

“But I’m a rebel who loves order… and taking risks.”

Why China’s decades-long ambition to green the desert could run dry

At the edge of China's Taklamakan Desert, rows of trees are slowly edging into one of the world’s harshest landscapes after decades of planting. Scientists say this shows how human action can transform extreme environments – but warn of the cost to water resources, and that such schemes might not be easy to repeat elsewhere.


Issued on: 19/04/2026 - RFI

Aerial view of the edge of the Taklamakan Desert in Bayingolin, Xinjiang, on 27 August 2025, where large-scale tree planting is reshaping the landscape. © CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty

The Taklamakan, in the vast Xinjiang region, is one of the driest deserts on Earth. Surrounded by mountains that block humid air, it has long been hostile to plant life.

China launched its Great Green Wall project in 1978 to slow the spread of deserts in the north of the country. The programme, which stretches across roughly 4 million square kilometres, is due to run until around 2050.

Authorities said in 2024 they had completed a green belt around the desert, planting 66 billion trees along roughly 3,000 kilometres.

A study published in January in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found this is already having an impact, with the region becoming greener, rainfall increasing and carbon absorption improving.

Chain reaction

Using satellite images and field data, researchers described a clear pattern: more trees brought more rain, more rain fed more vegetation and more vegetation pulled more carbon dioxide from the air.

During the wet season from July to September, rainfall rose by up to 16.3 millimetres per month. While that would be a low rainfall in most places, in a desert such as the Taklamakan it's a notable increase.

China’s forest cover has grown from 10 to 25 percent of its territory over recent decades. During the wet season, carbon dioxide levels in the regional atmosphere fall by around three parts per million compared with the dry season.

“We observed three very clear trends,” explained Yang Jiani of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which uses satellite data to study the Earth’s climate.

"First, vegetation cover has increased significantly over the past 20 years. Second, the intensity of photosynthesis has continued to grow. And third, the ecosystem’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide is also increasing.”

Each hectare in the planted zones absorbs around 1.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, Yang told RFI. Across the entire desert, that would add up to 58 million tonnes annually.

The findings show that human action can strengthen carbon storage even in extreme dry landscapes, co-author Yuk Yung told the news website Live Science.

Water pressure

While the results suggest the project is having a real impact on the desert environment, they do not answer a key question – what it means for water resources in such a dry region.

That concern has been raised by critics for several years. Mass tree planting could come at the expense of water resources for future generations, Jiang Gaoming of the Chinese Academy of Sciences warned. Grasses, which need less water, would be more effective in fighting desertification, he argued.

Other researchers have raised broader concerns about how such projects reshape fragile ecosystems. Planting trees in very dry regions could have unintended effects, French hydrologist Emma Haziza told RFI.

“Once you start modifying an extremely arid environment and planting on a massive scale, a huge number of factors will determine whether it is a good or a bad idea,” she said.

Planting trees in very dry regions can shift water out of the ground and into the air, Haziza explained, adding that moisture can later fall as rain somewhere else – sometimes far away – but the area where the trees are planted may lose water.

“We are dealing with a complex system that requires many variables to be taken into account,” she said.

A separate study published in October in the journal Earth’s Future, by Chinese and European researchers, found that changes in land cover between 2001 and 2020 shifted rainfall towards the Tibetan Plateau, while reducing it in eastern China and especially in the north-west.

The study did not directly assess groundwater or quantify the specific impacts on the regional water cycle. “This article does not allow us to confirm that there is a risk of overexploiting future water resources,” Yang said.

Long-term viability

The long-term stability of the desert’s carbon storage also remains uncertain.

“A green belt this vast, stretching thousands of kilometres, will certainly change the carbon sink, but for how long?” Haziza asked.

Carbon storage depends on the water cycle and soil moisture, she explained. “As long as the soil is fully moist, it can act as a carbon sink. Once it dries out, that function disappears.”

Other researchers say the picture is more complex. Changes to air circulation and the water cycle could produce unexpected results, Li Zhaoxin, a senior researcher at France’s national scientific research centre CNRS, told RFI.

The field is still new and sometimes produces inconsistent or even contradictory findings, with outcomes often depending on local conditions. This desert greening effort also has clear limits.

“The case of the Taklamakan Desert is relatively rare on a global scale,” Yang said, because it reflects decades of continuous investment by a single country and relies on locally adapted species backed by scientific monitoring.

The project also integrates engineering with ecology and is not a model that can be easily reproduced, she said. Rather than a universal solution, it is a demonstration that it can be done, and each country must adapt to its own specific situation.

An African echo

The Chinese model has travelled beyond the country’s borders, though not without challenges. Africa’s Great Green Wall, launched by the African Union in 2005, aims to stretch from Dakar to Djibouti, over 7,800 kilometres in a corridor 15 kilometres wide.

The project has had mixed results and has been slowed by political and financial difficulties.

Despite this, China continues to promote its experience in the Taklamakan as an example for African countries.

For Yang, the lesson is that such projects can work, but only under certain conditions.

“Our research mainly shows that with scientific management and long-term investment, even the most remote and arid desert areas can become functioning carbon sinks,” she said. “But a balance will have to be found between carbon gains and water security.”

This article was adapted from an article in French, using original reporting by Yang Mei for RFI's Chinese-language service.

Window to tackle Europe’s global heating deaths closing, experts warn

Heat killed 62,000 people across Europe in 2024, and deaths related to extreme temperatures rose in nearly every part of the continent over the past decade, a new report has found.

Issued on: 22/04/2026 - RFI

The arrival of the Asian tiger mosquito in France over the past decade has led to the spread of associated diseases, such as chikungunya. © Getty Images - Pawich Sattalerd

The window for meaningful action to tackle the intensifying impact of global heating on human health is "narrowing", according to the latest Lancet Countdown Europe report, published on Wednesday.

Compiled by 65 researchers from 46 academic and United Nations institutions, the annual report tracks how climate change affects human health.

It found that 820 of the 823 regions monitored recorded a rise in heat-attributable deaths between 2015 and 2024, compared with the period 1991 to 2000, with an average increase of 52 deaths per million inhabitants per year.

Over the same period, daily extreme heat warnings rose by 318 percent.

“Across Europe, the health impacts of climate change are intensifying faster than our response is keeping up,” said eco-epidemiologist Joacim Rocklöv, co-director of Lancet Countdown Europe.

Nearly all European regions monitored experienced an increase in deaths. The most severely affected were the Balkans, Italy, Spain and Mediterranean France.

Health impacts include heatstroke, sleep disruption, worsening of chronic diseases and adverse birth outcomes, with infants and the elderly the most vulnerable groups.

Climate change is also compounding food insecurity across Europe as a result of rising temperatures and ensuing drought. More than 1 million additional people across Europe experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2023 compared to the 1981-2010 baseline, researchers found.

Mosquito-borne diseases

The report also documents how climate change is speeding up the spread of infectious diseases, as higher temperatures encourage mosquito habitats.

The overall risk of dengue outbreaks in Europe has almost quadrupled over the past decade, rising by 297 percent since the 1980-2010 baseline, the authors noted.

Cases of the West Nile, Chikungunya and Zika viruses are also increasing across the region.

France is identified as the European country most affected by new transmission clusters of diseases carried by the tiger mosquito.

Meanwhile, the pollen season has lengthened by one to two weeks since the 1990s, with concentrations of birch and olive pollen rising by 15 to 20 percent in northern France.

“Rising heat, worsening household air pollution, exposure to infectious diseases and growing threats to food security are placing millions of people at risk today – not in a distant future,” said Rocklöv.

“The choices we make now will decide whether these health impacts worsen quickly or whether we begin moving towards a safer, fairer and more resilient Europe."

However, the report warns that political and public responses are failing to match the scale of the crisis. Of 4,477 speeches delivered in the European Parliament in 2024, only 21 addressed the link between climate change and health.

Fossil fuels

The report does highlight some progress – such as the rapid growth of renewable energy and a reduced dependence on fossil fuels, which has helped improve air quality.

“We are also seeing a decline in air pollution primarily coming from the energy sector, and the link between mortality and air pollution related to energy and transport continues to decrease overall, resulting in significant health benefits,” Rocklöv noted.

Nonetheless, the authors say governments remain "locked in a dependence on fossil fuels" that is worsening health risks and economic vulnerability.

In a context marked by the global energy shock caused by the war in Iran, the authors said: “As long as Europe remains reliant on fossil fuels, its economies, public budgets, and health will continue to be vulnerable.”

"The window for action is narrowing," said Cathryn Tonne, co-director of the report and a professor at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. "But Europe has an opportunity to reinforce its decarbonisation leadership and pursue rapid, coordinated and health-centred climate action."

 

EV sales spike nearly 50% in the EU in March amid Iran war energy fears

Copyright Lise Aserud/NTB Scanpix via AP

By Quirino Mealha

Published on 23/04/2026 - EURONEWS

EV growth in the EU is accelerating as Iran war disruption to the Strait of Hormuz tightens global oil and gas supplies, driving fuel price volatility.

In a landmark month for the European automotive industry, new battery-electric vehicle (BEV) registrations across the EU rose 48.9% in March compared to the same period last year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

The growth comes at a moment when Europe is facing an extended period of high petrol prices due to the Iran war and the disruption of global energy supplies.

Battery electric cars reached more than 20% share of the total EU market in March and a 19.4% share for the first quarter. This compares with 15.2% in the first quarter of 2025.

The ACEA's report explained that the shift was significantly bolstered by new and revised tax benefits and other incentive schemes introduced across major European countries.

While electric cars are gaining ground rapidly, hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) still hold the largest individual share of the market at 38.6%, and registrations surpassed 1 million units in the first quarter.

Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) also grew, rising to a 9.5% share from 7.6% a year earlier.

In contrast to the EV figures, internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) continue to lose ground.

Petrol car registrations decreased further across the EU in the first quarter, dropping significantly from last years' 28.7%, and diesel followed a similar path, with its share shrinking to just 7.7%.

ACEA said overall car sales grew by 4% in the first quarter compared with the same period in 2025, largely driven by new and revised tax incentives and support schemes introduced across major European countries.

ACEA also noted that, despite strong BEV growth, demand for hybrid vehicles remains robust.

This supports a “technology-neutral” approach to decarbonisation, allowing for a gradual transition that reflects differing consumer needs and uneven charging infrastructure across Europe.

Related

Western Europe’s 'Big Four'

The performance of the continent's major economies, often referred to as the "Big Four," played a key role in these results. Italy, France, Germany, and the UK showed varied but broadly strong trends toward electrification.

In the EU, Italy recorded the fastest growth, with a 65.7% increase in BEV registrations during the first quarter.

France followed with a robust 50.4% increase, while Germany recorded a 41.3% rise in the same category.

The UK mirrored this trend with significant volumes, registering over 86,000 new BEVs in March alone, a 24.2% increase compared to the same month in 2025.

However, the transition is not without its casualties.

Petrol and diesel car sales plummeted across these key markets. France saw the most dramatic contraction, with registrations falling by 40.3%.

Italy, Germany and the UK also reported double-digit declines in this category, reflecting a broader shift in consumer sentiment and policy.

Geopolitical pressures accelerate the shift

The transition toward electrification is also unfolding against a volatile and costly geopolitical backdrop.

The Iran war and the consequent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have created sustained pressure on global energy markets, leading to high and unpredictable prices for traditional fuels.

These external factors are effectively penalising owners of petrol and diesel cars, making the lower running costs of EVs increasingly attractive to European motorists.

If the conflict prolongs, it is expected that the trend of new buyers increasingly favouring EVs will continue, as it alienates consumers from the increased costs.

 

Iran war effects on Europe: Is a recession already unfolding?

By Piero Cingari

Published on 23/04/2026 - EURONEWS

The eurozone’s private sector slipped back into contraction in April, marking its weakest performance in nearly a year and a half since November 2024, as the war in Iran hit services and fuelled inflation.

The war in the Middle East, involving Iran, has now done what no trade dispute, tariff threat or industrial malaise of the past two years managed to achieve

According to a flash Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) surveys released Thursday by S&P Global, business activity across the euro area fell sharply in April.

The services sector, the engine of the bloc's 2025 recovery, posted its weakest reading since the pandemic lockdowns of early 2021.

Input costs surged to a more than three-year high. Business confidence dropped to its lowest since late 2022.

Weakest level in over a year

The flash Eurozone Composite PMI fell to 48.6 in April from 50.7 in March, well below the 50 line that separates growth from contraction. This is the weakest level in around a year and a half.

The services PMI dropped to 47.4 from 50.2, which is effectively the weakest reading since the pandemic lockdowns of early 2021.

"The eurozone is facing deepening economic woes from the war in the Middle East. The conflict has pushed the economy into decline in April, while driving inflation sharply higher," Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said.

Manufacturing, paradoxically, went the other way.

The factory PMI climbed to 52.2 from 51.6, a nearly four-year high, while the manufacturing output index rose to an eight-month high.

But the gain is misleading. Companies across the bloc are ordering inputs ahead of expected shortages and further price increases, lifting headline output figures in a way that reflects defensive stockpiling rather than recovering demand.

Suppliers' delivery times in the eurozone manufacturing sector lengthened to the greatest extent since July 2022, a direct consequence of the supply-chain disruption tied to the Middle East war.

"April's flash PMI has moved into contraction territory for the first time since late 2024, signalling a 0.1% quarterly rate of GDP decline after a 0.2% gain had been signalled for the first quarter," Williamson added.

Relat

The cost side of the survey is where the stagflation signal becomes unmistakable.

Input costs rose at their fastest pace since late 2022, while output prices hit a peak not seen in just over three years.

Every major economy recorded a downside surprise at the composite level.

Germany saw its first contraction in activity in almost a year, while France’s slowdown deepened to its weakest level in over a year.

"The recovery in the German economy has been stopped in its tracks by the war in the Middle East," said Phil Smith, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

In German manufacturing, input price inflation hit a 3.5-year high. In France, it touched a three-year high.

"The [French] service economy has deteriorated due to a diminishing willingness to spend — a typical consequence of uncertainty — pulling overall business activity levels lower," said Joe Hayes, principal economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

IMF slashes every major European forecast

The euro area took the biggest growth downgrade among major advanced economies from the International Monetary Fund's April 2026 World Economic Outlook.

IMF staff now expect euro area growth to decline from 1.4% in 2025 to 1.1% in 2026 and 1.2% in 2027.

Both 2026 and 2027 forecasts were revised down by 0.2 percentage points versus the January 2026 Update.

Germany absorbed the largest hit, with its 2026 and 2027 growth forecasts both cut by 0.3 percentage points.

Italy stayed stuck at 0.5% annual growth across both years, already the weakest baseline in the eurozone.

Relate

Spain decelerated from 2.8% in 2025 to 1.8% in 2027. France held flat at 0.9% on the annual measure but loses 0.3 points on the Q4-over-Q4 profile that captures end-of-year momentum.

The IMF attributed the revision to the effect of better-than-expected growth at the end of 2025, giving way to the negative impact of the Middle East conflict over time.

That, it noted, will add to the lingering effects of the persistent rise in energy prices since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, dragging on manufacturing, with additional pressure from the real appreciation of the euro relative to currencies of countries exporting similar products.

The ECB's stagflation dilemma returns

Data from April placed the European Central Bank in the same uncomfortable position it faced a month ago, only sharper.

The standard monetary policy toolkit offers no clean answers.

"The ECB once again has the unenviable task of deciding whether to raise interest rates in the face of the worrying inflation picture, or whether this price spike will prove temporary and its focus should instead be on the need to prevent the economy sliding into a deeper downturn," Chris Williamson said.

Prediction markets currently price the probability of an ECB rate hike in 2026 at around 72%, up sharply from low double digits before the Strait of Hormuz closure.

Goldman Sachs: This shock is not 2022

Goldman Sachs economist Niklas Garnadt argued this week that the current Hormuz shock differs from the 2022/23 European energy crisis along three dimensions.

First, the price move is smaller and less persistent. Goldman now sees Brent averaging $83 per barrel in 2026 versus $64 before the conflict, and European TTF gas at €44 per megawatt hour against €34 — a 20% to 30% annual increase.

By contrast, Brent averaged $99 in 2022 (up 40%), and TTF hit €133 (up 180%).

Second, this crisis is oil-driven, not gas-driven. Oil markets are global, so the damage is less concentrated in energy-intensive industries like chemicals and basic metals but more diffused across export-oriented sectors like autos, machinery and electrical equipment.

Third, Asia is not insulated this time. Chinese petrochemical prices have risen alongside European ones, Goldman's tracking shows. In 2022, European energy prices roughly doubled while Chinese prices barely moved — triggering a collapse in European net exports. That competitiveness gap is smaller now.

According to the bank, the current shock lowers euro area industrial production by almost 2% by the end of 2027, roughly half the 4% drag from 2022/23.

Brussels has an unused €80 billion lever

If the ECB is constrained, Brussels has an unused tool.

Goldman Sachs economist Filippo Taddei estimated that roughly €80 billion of the European Recovery Fund is unlikely to be disbursed before the programme's end-of-year deadline.

That envelope could be redirected. There is a precedent: in 2022, the EU created REPowerEU by amending the Recovery Fund regulation, a change passed by qualified majority.

Taddei argues the same mechanism could now fund grid modernisation — repurposing the money, he writes, would "improve the European power grid, which remains the oldest among major economic regions."

Bottom line: Is a recession forming in plain sight for Europe?

The April PMI data do not yet describe an outright recession.

A 0.1% quarterly contraction is a stumble, not a collapse, and the IMF is still forecasting 1.1% growth for 2026.

But the direction of travel, the speed of the deterioration and the inflation backdrop combine into a picture European policymakers thought they had moved beyond.

What has changed since March is that the survey data no longer describe a risk scenario. They describe the current one.

 

Trump envoy calls on FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at World Cup

Copyright AP Photo

By Gavin Blackburn

Published on 23/04/2026 - EURONEWS

Italy missed out on the World Cup for the third successive time after losing a penalty shootout to Bosnia and Herzegovina in their qualifying playoff final.

A US envoy has asked FIFA to replace Iran with Italy in the upcoming World Cup this summer, despite Italy's failure to qualify.

US special envoy Paolo Zampolli said he made the request as it would be a "dream" to see four-time World Cup winners Italy at the final tournament in the US, Mexico and Canada.

"I confirm I have suggested to Trump and (FIFA President Gianni) Infantino that Italy replace Iran at the World Cup," Zampolli told the FT.

"I'm an Italian native and it would be a dream to see the Azzurri at a US-hosted tournament. With four titles, they have the pedigree to justify inclusion," he added.

Italy missed out on the World Cup for the third successive time after losing a penalty shootout to Bosnia and Herzegovina in their qualifying playoff final.

Iran's participation in the World Cup has been thrown into doubt by the war that broke out on 28 February.

The FIFA World Cup trophy is reflected in different mirrors during an exhibition in Buenos Aires, 20 February, 2026 AP Photo

FIFA declined to comment on Zampolli's request, referring instead to Infantino's statement that the Iranian team will be participating "for sure".

"We hope that by then the situation will be ... peaceful. That would definitely help. But Iran has to come if they are to represent their people," Infantino said last week.

"They have qualified, and they're actually quite a good team as well. They really want to play, and they should play. Sports should be outside of politics."

While attending Iran's friendly against Costa Rica in Turkey last month, Infantino stated that Iran will be at the World Cup and that they will play "where they are supposed to be, according to the draw."

The Iranian football federation (FFIRI) had said in April it was "negotiating" with FIFA to relocate the country's World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico.

On Wednesday, an Iranian government spokesperson said the men’s national team is preparing for “proud and successful participation” in its World Cup games in the US.

“The Ministry of Youth and Sports made an announcement about the full preparedness of our national soccer team for presence in the 2026 World Cup in the US, by the order of the minister,” government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohejerani told state TV.

The team is due to arrive at its training camp in Arizona no later than 10 June, at least five days before its first game, as required by FIFA’s World Cup rules.

Paolo Zampolli, centre, walks on the red carpet after arriving at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport in Budapest, 7 April, 2026 AP Photo

Zampolli is an Italian-American socialite, businessman and former modelling agent who claims to have introduced Trump to his wife Melania.

Neither the White House, nor Italian or Iranian football federations have responded to requests for comment.

Can Italy replace Iran in the tournament?

The answer is yes and no.

Under FIFA rules, the governing body has "sole discretion" over selecting a replacement team in the event of a withdrawal or exclusion.

If Iran, which qualified for the World Cup on merit, were to withdraw, that would create another issue, with FIFA ideally aiming to replace them with another team from Asia to maintain the continental balance.

One option would be to replace Iran with the top-ranking national team that failed to qualify. According to the current official standings, this would be the 12th-ranked Italy.

Italy's Gianluca Mancini, left, and Bosnia's Edin Dzeko battle for the ball during the World Cup qualifying playoff final soccer match between Bosnia and Italy in Zenica, 31 M AP Photo

The suggestion was reportedly part of an effort to repair ties between Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after the US president called her "unacceptable" and lacking "courage" for not being supportive of the Iran war.

The unexpected public rift between the two leaders, who cultivated one of the closest transatlantic relationships over the past year, erupted after Trump criticised the pontiff for his anti-war stance on Iran.

"I thought she had courage, but I was wrong," Trump told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera last Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump greets Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during summit in Sharm El Sheikh, 13 October, 2025 Euronews

Meloni defended the Holy Father of the Catholic Church, calling Trump's criticism of the pope "unacceptable".

"The pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn all forms of war," Meloni said.

She added she would not feel comfortable living in a society where "religious leaders do as they are told by politicians."

Trump pushed back, telling the Italian daily, "She's unacceptable because she doesn't mind that Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if they had the chance."

Trump previously called Meloni "one of the real leaders of the world" and "full of energy, fantastic", while Meloni said she was able to speak to him "frankly even when we disagree."