World
For the EU’s prosperity, we must empower the single market now
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.
The EU rests on its single market, its singular crowning achievement. To ensure the EU’s future competitiveness and prosperity, its leaders must act now to truly empower it, Jacques Pelkmans writes.
When the EU marked 30 years of the single market in 2023, a report should have been written about it but was not even requested.
The core of the unwritten report would have concluded that the union’s single market is far weaker than assumed and not nearly as “single” as the name suggests.
It is full of shortcomings and contains hundreds of barriers and distortions that seriously and detrimentally impact the EU’s ability to stimulate and encourage investment.
This must be addressed by EU policymakers as a matter of urgency. We need immediate and sustained action to deepen and strengthen the single market at the highest political level.
This is why the “other” report that should have been commissioned and written last year is so strategic — even though the term “strategic” is mightily overused in today’s EU.
But for the health and dynamism of the EU’s economy over the long term, there is no action more important and more strategic than empowering the single market. It truly is the EU’s trump card in an increasingly unstable and uncertain global order.
Real ownership required
The EU could gain as much as 9% of its current GDP if concrete steps are taken now to empower the single market, tantamount to the current combined GDP of the Czech Republic, Belgium and Ireland.
If the EU could induce a greater sense of dynamism via start-ups/scale-ups and a heavier emphasis on R&D and patents, the extra boost in GDP would be even higher.
To achieve this requires real ownership by the EU’s political leadership, however. There needs to be firm action by the European Council right after the start of the new European Commission’s mandate and the formation of the new European Parliament later this summer.
The new CEPS In-Depth Analysis report “Empowering the Single Market” (arguably the unwritten report on the single market that should have been commissioned last year) calls for a medium-term programme that would be decided by the European Council but embraced and implemented by the European Commission, in partnership with the EP. The plan would include regular and rigorous oversight to ensure progress doesn’t stall.
At the European Council level, the troika of national presidencies ought to be as active and enterprising as during the early Delors period (late 1985-1988).
There should be a dedicated Commissioner for the internal market, ideally a Vice-President to clearly signal that the single market is a political priority.
The rest of the report’s programme mostly outlines substance rather than institutional issues, with one key exception — enforcement. Infringements are often costly for the single market but hardly so for the relevant member states, even over a period of several years.
Thus, in serious instances, a fast-track procedure or the suspension of a national law should be possible. Finally, the European Parliament’s IMCO committee should have annual single market enforcement sessions, with accompanying reports, and extensive hearings giving consumers, citizens and businesses a clear voice.
No pain, no gain
The substance of the proposed medium-term programme ought to be ambitious. It must be accepted that, in the short run, some measures are bound to be painful for some, otherwise, genuine progress will never be more than piecemeal.
The credibility and effectiveness of the programme hinges first of all on services, with two parallel action plans proposed.
The first is about removing barriers and distortions in services falling under the 2006 Services Directive, with an emphasis on professional services, retail (all the way down to the local level) and construction services.
The second is about services falling under dedicated sector regulation, such as rail freight, as well as effective progress in achieving competitive and larger European capital markets — crucial for ensuring EU businesses, including start-ups, can access risk capital.
ADVERTISEMENTThe second plan also stresses the need for the full integration of banking services, the better facilitation of cross-border consumer (and other) finance and more investment in cross-border interconnectors.
The proposed programme’s credibility would also rest on ending “hard fragmentation”, namely consolidating the EU’s telecoms market, stricter rules to coordinate spectrum frequencies between member states, the fully-fledged Europe-wide operation of air traffic control, and shifting from a myriad of national copyright rules to a single EU copyright regime.
Ambitious and far-reaching is the only way
Other significant moves include the European Commission abandoning its revised approach to harmonised European standards — this has no useful purpose.
Regulating on issues that are better left to diplomacy, which has severe costs for European companies involved in global value chains, also needs to be stopped.
And finally, support for EU start-ups must be improved to encourage and stimulate more dynamism in the EU economy.
ADVERTISEMENTMake no mistake, all of the above is highly ambitious. Enacting such a far-reaching programme will require much political skill, resolve and capital. But the consequences of not doing it would be far worse.
The EU rests on its single market, its singular crowning achievement. To ensure the EU’s future competitiveness and prosperity, its leaders must act now to truly empower it.
Jacques Pelkmans is Associate Senior Research Fellow at CEPS and professor at the College of Europe in Bruges.
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Dave Chappelle is delivering a holiday treat for standup fans by surprise dropping a new Netflix special called “The Unstoppable.”
Before the main event during the Dec. 18 Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua fight night, Chappelle stopped by the livestream with a short clip to announce the news.
“I wanted to shout out my hometown, Washington, D.C., and thank everybody that came out in October to support me at that show,” Chappelle said in the video. “I just want you to know that show will be streaming on Netflix tonight after the fight. My new special drops, and I hope you love it. Thank you very much.”
Chappelle has had a long professional relationship with Netflix. This upcoming program will be his eighth standup special with the streamer, following “The Age of Spin,” “Deep in the Heart of Texas,” “Equanimity,” “The Bird Revelation,” “Sticks & Stones,” “The Closer” and “The Dreamer.” Netflix also released a recorded speech the comedian gave at his alma mater, the Duke Ellington High School of Arts, titled “What’s in a Name?”
The Paul vs. Joshua fight brought Netflix notables and other celebrities ringside in Miami, including Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria, director Benny Safdie, comedians Bert Kreischer and Matt Rife, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, singer Shaggy and more. In addition to the main event, earlier matches included Alycia Baumgardner defeating Leila Beaudoin, Anderson Silva defeating Tyron Woodley and Jahmal Harvey defeating Kevin Cervantes.
As for the fight itself? Joshua ended up the winner by knockout, with Paul lasting six rounds.
World
Former Hamas hostage warned Australian leaders about dangers of antisemitism months before Bondi Beach attack
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A former Hamas hostage told Fox News Digital that he warned Australian leaders to take antisemitism more seriously months before the deadly shooting at Bondi Beach.
Eli Sharabi, who spent 491 days as a hostage in Gaza, said the attack on Bondi Beach was “crazy,” but far from unpredictable. Sharabi told Fox News Digital that while in Australia in June, he met with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong and warned them that rising antisemitism would lead to something worse.
Sharabi recalled telling the officials that a hate crime would take place in Australia and that he would “see the fears” of Jewish people walking on the streets. He urged them to speak out against antisemitism before it was too late.
RABBI KILLED IN SYDNEY HANUKKAH ATTACK HAD WARNED AUSTRALIAN PM ABOUT RISING ANTISEMITISM
Rabbi Yossi Friedman speaks to people gathering at a flower memorial by the Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, following a shooting in Sydney, Australia. (Mark Baker/AP Photo)
He recounted to Fox News Digital the moment he told Marles and Wong, “When it happens, a hate crime here, it will be your responsibility because you have to have a stronger voice against antisemitism.” Though, Sharabi said he did not know why he told them that at the time.
“Unfortunately, it happened. And that’s crazy, it’s crazy. Really, I’m so sorry for that,” he said.
A spokesperson for Wong said that she “deeply appreciated her meeting with Eli Sharabi and thanks him for sharing his insights and experiences.”
“Minister Wong has consistently condemned antisemitism and antisemitic attacks,” the spokesperson said. “In response to the horrific antisemitic terror attack at Bondi, we are further strengthening laws against those who spread antisemitism and online abuse, ensuring our education system properly responds to antisemitism, and lowering the threshold to cancel visas for those who come to Australia to spread antisemitism.”
The spokesperson also conveyed Wong’s sympathies to the loved ones of the Bondi Beach shooting victims.
Sharabi told Fox News Digital that the attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach that left at least 15 dead and dozens wounded, reminded him of the persecution of European Jews in the 1940s.
“Suddenly you feel like it’s the 1940s again, and we are in 2025, 90 years later, all these things are happening again,” Sharabi said.
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A member of the Jewish community reacts as he walks with police toward the scene of a shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Dec. 14, 2025. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
On Feb. 8, 2025, Sharabi was released from Hamas captivity, 491 days after he was taken hostage from Kibbutz Be’eri during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. He did not know until after he was freed that his wife, Lianne, and their daughters, Noiya and Yahel, had been killed when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel.
Since his release, Sharabi has traveled the world speaking to Jewish communities, world leaders and various audiences about his experience as a hostage, something he recounted in his book, “Hostage,” which has been translated into multiple languages.
Israeli hostages Or Levy, Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross by Hamas under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Israel, in Deir al Balah, Gaza, on Feb. 8, 2025. (Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)
After he was released, he learned that while he was in the hands of terrorists, there were people around the world praying for him and demanding he and the other hostages be freed.
He said that while he was in the hospital in the days following his release, he was slowly exposed to the work that people in Israel and around the world did to advocate for him and the other hostages. It started with revelations about his family and friends, then his realization that people in Israel and around the world also took part in the fight for his release.
He soon joined the fight, advocating for the release of all hostages, including Alon Ohel, someone who Sharabi bonded with during his time in captivity.
“It was an amazing feeling to see him released. He’s like my son,” Sharabi told Fox News Digital.
Sharabi said that he and Ohel have seen each other a few times as free men and that they try to speak every day.
Eli Sharabi, who spent 491 days in Hamas captivity, and whose wife and two daughters were killed by terrorists, speaks at the United Nations. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
OPINION: AUSTRALIA’S HANUKKAH MASSACRE: THE HORROR OF BEING PROVEN RIGHT
Sharabi told Fox News Digital about his life after captivity. Now a free man for nearly a year, he said he appreciates every moment.
“First of all, I’m alive. Second, I’m free, and I’ve learned that freedom is priceless,” he said. “Every morning I wake up, I say thank you very much for what I have and for my freedom, and I can be able to choose whatever I do that day and not to ask permission from anyone to eat or drink or speak,” he told Fox News Digital. “I’m happy with my life. The memory of my wife, my daughters and my brother will be with me until my last day.”
Former Hamas hostage Eli Sharabi and Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon hold a photo of Sharabi’s family that shows his wife and daughters, all three of whom were murdered on Oct. 7, 2023. (Perry Bindelglass/Israeli U.N. Mission)
Sharabi told Fox News Digital that while in captivity, he promised himself that he would move his family to London, where they could live a peaceful life. He said that he made the decision because of the fear he saw in his daughters’ eyes on Oct. 7.
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While his plans on relocating to London have changed, Sharabi envisions himself living a quiet life and focusing on his own healing once the body of Ran Gvili, the last remaining hostage in Gaza, is returned to Israel. However, Sharabi said that he cannot go back to Kibbutz Be’eri and that he will likely seek a fresh start a bit further north in central Israel.
“I can’t go back to Be’eri. It’s something I need to solve with myself and with my therapist, of course. How can I get into my house again? For me, living in Be’eri, it’s not an option. In every corner, I can see the tragedy,” Sharabi said. “I need a new place, a new restart for my life, so it cannot be in Be’eri.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Marles’ office for comment.
Khan and his wife have denied accusations that they misrepresented the value of state gifts, including jewellery, and profited from them.
Published On 20 Dec 2025
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to 17 years in prison after a Pakistani court found them guilty of illegally retaining and selling valuable state gifts.
The sentence, handed down on Saturday, capped a years-long saga that saw the duo accused of selling various gifts – including jewellery from the Saudi Arabian government – at far below market value. They have denied all charges.
In order to keep gifts from foreign dignitaries, Pakistani law requires officials to purchase them at market value and to declare profits from any sales.
But prosecutors claimed that the couple profited from the items after purchasing them at an artificially low price of $10,000, compared with their market rate of $285,521.
Khan’s supporters were quick to denounce the ruling, with his spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari saying that “criminal liability was imposed without proof of intent, gain, or loss, relying instead on a retrospective reinterpretation of rules”.
His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, wrote on social media that the proceedings were a “sham” and criticised international media coverage of the case.
The 73-year-old former leader served as Pakistan’s prime minister from 2018 until April 2022, when he was ousted in a no-confidence vote.
He was imprisoned starting in August 2023 on various charges of corruption and revealing state secrets, all of which he has denied and claimed to be politically motivated. He has been acquitted of some charges.
An internationally famous cricket player in the heyday of his sporting career, Khan remains popular in Pakistan, with his imprisonment leading to protests throughout the last two years.
The former leader is now confined to a prison in the city of Rawalpindi and “kept inside all the time”, his sister, Uzma Khanum, told journalists earlier this month.
Khanum, a doctor who was the first family member allowed to visit Khan in weeks, described him as “very angry” about the isolation, saying that he considered the “mental torture” of imprisonment to be “worse than physical abuse”.
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