Europe’s economic and corporate landscape is shifting under the weight of sluggish growth, regulatory pressure, and rising geopolitical tensions.
The UK’s economy is barely expanding, Novo Nordisk faces a rare revolt from its own shareholders, and the Netherlands is heading to Beijing to ease a high-stakes tech dispute.
Meanwhile, Brussels has opened a new front with Google, probing whether its anti-spam policy is unfairly hurting news publishers.
A glance at the major developments in Europe today.
UK growth stalls in Q3
The UK economy barely inched forward in the third quarter of 2025, growing just 0.1%.
That’s slower than the 0.3% expansion we saw in Q2 and even fell short of the 0.2% growth economists were expecting.
The numbers point to an economy losing steam: services and construction offered only modest support, while the production sector actually slipped by 0.5%.
One major drag came from a cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover, which triggered a steep 28.6% drop in motor vehicle manufacturing in September and weighed heavily on overall industrial output.
On the brighter side, the economy is still growing year-on-year: UK GDP was up 1.3% compared with the same period in 2024.
But overall, the picture remains one of sluggish progress, with stubborn inflation and shaky consumer confidence holding things back.
Novo Nordisk faces boardroom revolt
Novo Nordisk is dealing with an unusual level of pushback from its own shareholders.
The company’s majority owner, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, is calling for a major shake-up of the board, and more than half of the 12 members, including Chair Helge Lund, are expected to step down.
The Foundation argues that the board hasn’t been quick enough to adapt to shifts in the booming obesity drug market, especially after slower-than-expected growth for Wegovy led to layoffs.
The tension highlights how tough it’s becoming to steer the company through rising competition and market pressures.
To sort things out, an extraordinary shareholder meeting is set for November 14, where new board members will be elected and the governance issues laid out more clearly.
Dutch delegation heads to Beijing
A top Dutch government team is heading to Beijing early next week to try to settle the ongoing dispute over Nexperia, the Dutch chipmaker owned by China’s Wingtech.
The trip comes just as things have started to ease up. China recently relaxed export restrictions on Nexperia’s semiconductor supplies, which had been causing headaches for European industries, especially carmakers.
Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Vincent Karremans stressed how crucial a steady, predictable chip supply is for industries around the world.
The whole situation began after the Netherlands invoked a national security law to keep a closer eye on Nexperia’s operations, underscoring broader worries about relying too heavily on one country for critical tech components.
Now, with diplomacy back in play, both sides are hoping to bring some stability to the relationship.
EU probes Google’s anti-spam policy
The European Union has launched a fresh investigation into Google, this time over worries that the company’s anti-spam policy may be unfairly pushing news publishers down in search results.
Regulators want to know whether Google’s approach violates the Digital Markets Act by treating publishers in a way that’s unreasonable or discriminatory, especially at a time when many news outlets are already struggling financially.
The EU is concerned that Google’s efforts to fight spam might actually be hurting legitimate publishers, limiting their ability to grow, innovate, or work with partners.
Google, for its part, says the policy is essential for keeping search results clean and protecting users from misleading content, and it calls the investigation misguided.
The probe could take up to a year, and if Google is found in violation, it could face significant fines.
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