Host: Britain asks to rejoin the single market for goods — and gets a no. NATO debates how hard to push back on Russia. And the EU locks in a trade deal with Mexico. This is Europa Daily.

Host: A Guardian exclusive reveals that the UK government pitched the creation of a single market for goods with the EU as the centrepiece of an ambitious attempt to reintegrate British trade back into Europe. Michael Ellam, the Cabinet Office's top official on EU relations, presented the idea during recent visits to Brussels. Sources say it was rebuffed. The proposal would have represented a dramatic shift in London's post-Brexit ambitions — effectively seeking to restore the free movement of goods between the UK and the EU's twenty-seven member states, with all the regulatory alignment that implies. For manufacturers on both sides, from automotive plants in the Midlands to component suppliers in Germany and eastern Europe, a goods single market would have reshaped supply chains and competitive dynamics. But Brussels said no. And the rejection tells us something about where EU red lines now sit. The bloc has consistently insisted that the four freedoms — goods, services, capital, and people — are indivisible. A goods-only arrangement would break that principle. What comes next in this negotiation remains to be seen, but the fact that London floated the idea at all marks a significant evolution in the UK's posture toward Europe.

Host: At the NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Czech President Petr Pavel urged the alliance to, in his words, 'show its teeth' over Russia's repeated provocations on NATO's eastern flank. Pavel is worth listening to here — he's a former general and ex-chair of NATO's military committee. Speaking to the Guardian in Prague, he called for 'decisive enough, potentially even asymmetric' responses. He floated options including switching off Russia's internet access, cutting its banks from global financial systems, and shooting down jets that violate allied airspace. His warning was blunt: if NATO doesn't respond firmly, the Kremlin will only intensify. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington is monitoring what he described as a Russian campaign against the Baltics that could 'spark into something bigger.' But Rubio also confirmed that US troop numbers in Europe — currently around eighty thousand — are expected to drop following a review reflecting wider American commitments in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and the western hemisphere. Rubio called the upcoming NATO leaders' summit in Ankara 'one of the more important' in the alliance's history, saying leaders will have to address Trump's 'disappointment' with NATO's response to US operations in the Middle East.

Host: The EU and Mexico have signed an updated trade agreement that removes most remaining barriers to trade and investment between the two. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the deal was 'not contradictory' with Mexico's trade relationship with the United States — a pointed bit of diplomatic positioning as both the EU and Mexico navigate an era of American protectionism. For Brussels, this is trade diversification strategy made concrete. The deal matters for European car manufacturers, agri-food exporters, and pharmaceutical firms with operations in Mexico. It's also worth noting that the UK, outside the EU, lacks an equivalent agreement with Mexico — another gap in its post-Brexit trade architecture.

Host: Two developments from the Ukraine war with direct implications for the rest of Europe. The UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, reported that a fire broke out at the Dniprovska 750-kilovolt electrical substation due to military activity, causing a nuclear power plant to be partially disconnected from off-site power. Firefighters were tackling the blaze, but the partial disconnection of an operating nuclear plant from its external power supplies is precisely the kind of safety threshold the IAEA has been monitoring with alarm. Nuclear safety in Ukraine is not an abstract concern for the rest of Europe — it is a live one. Separately, a bipartisan group of US senators sent a letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth pushing back on delays in disbursing roughly six hundred million dollars in security aid. That money includes four hundred million for Ukraine and two hundred million specifically for defence programmes in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — all allocated by Congress last year. Friction has been growing between Congress and the Trump administration as lawmakers demand updates on where the funding stands. For the three Baltic states, this is a direct test of whether American legislative commitments to their security will actually be honoured.

Host: That's Europa Daily. We'll be back with more when the dust settles — or, more likely, when it kicks up again.

Sources

• The Guardian Europe: Ukraine war briefing: Putin promises revenge after blaming Kyiv for Luhansk attack he says killed six
• DW World: EU, Mexico sign expanded trade deal
• The Guardian Europe: UK pitched single market for goods with EU in pursuit of deeper trade ties
• BBC Europe: Russia's Putin vows retaliation after accusing Ukraine of hitting student dormitory
• The Guardian Europe: Czech president urges Nato to ‘show its teeth’ over Russia’s provocations
• France 24 Europe: Trump disappointed in NATO: Plan B?
• The Guardian Europe: US concerned Russian campaign against Baltics could ‘spark into something bigger’, says Rubio – as it happened