European Union

A press conference with a representative of the 2023 LUX Award winner will take place on Tuesday, after the announcement at the award ceremony.
Committee on Culture and Education

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

With environmental legislation perceived as excessively burdensome by various member state capitals, farmer groups, business lobbies, and some groups in the EU parliament, what does that mean for the Green Deal ahead of the 2024 European Parliament elections?

The fishing industry is struggling to balance the EU's demands for sustainability with economic viability. Will fishing have a place in a greener future?

The weekend Wagner uprising has undermined Russian leader Vladimir Putin at home and abroad, EU foreign ministers said on Monday.

It actually did not take a great number of Wagner fighters to deal the greatest blow to Putin's authority so far. Prigozhin claimed that he had 25,000 fighters, but in reality the number was unlikely more than 10,000.

The Environment Committee will continue to vote on the draft report on nature restoration on Tuesday 27 June at 10.30.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

The Environment Committee will continue to vote on the draft report on nature restoration on Tuesday 27 June at 10.30.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

Opinion on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on information security in the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Urmas Paet

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Sunday said the turmoil caused by the unprecedented challenge to Russian president Vladimir Putin by Wagner mercenaries may not be over yet and could take weeks or months to play out.

The World Bank is expected to find $200bn [€183bn] in extra financing for developing countries by taking on more risk — but critics said promises made did not represent "anything new" and failed to address global debt problems.

The EU has urged Kosovo to back down in a dangerous confrontation with ethnic Serbs seeking more independence.

The Erasmus+ experience for students coming from more modest backgrounds is a real challenge, and we are not referring to the academic aspect.

On 27 June 2023, the Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a hearing on the "EU's preventive diplomacy - practise makes (not yet) perfect". Members will discuss with three expert speakers what aspects are still missing in EU's foreign policy to successfully carry out preventive diplomacy.

The link between EU's internal and external security, the lack of understanding of the local or cultural context when it comes to EU's actions regarding development or state-building and the lack of will on the part of Member States to step away from their individual interest and to build joint capacity will be examined in order to assess ways for the EU to increase its standing and leverage in conflict prevention. This hearing will serve as input to the upcoming AFET Recommendation on "EU preventive diplomacy in tackling frozen conflicts around the world, missed opportunity or change for the future."

Location : Antall 4Q2
Draft Programme
Poster
Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

On 27 June 2023, the Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a hearing on the "EU's preventive diplomacy - practise makes (not yet) perfect". Members will discuss with three expert speakers what aspects are still missing in EU's foreign policy to successfully carry out preventive diplomacy.
The link between EU's internal and external security, the lack of understanding of the local or cultural context when it comes to EU's actions regarding development or state-building and the lack of will on the part of Member States to step away from their individual interest and to build joint capacity will be examined in order to assess ways for the EU to increase its standing and leverage in conflict prevention. This hearing will serve as input to the upcoming AFET Recommendation on "EU preventive diplomacy in tackling frozen conflicts around the world, missed opportunity or change for the future."
Draft programme
Poster
Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

Unsafe in times of peace, these dams become a mortal danger in times of war, civil unrest, and terrorist insurgence. This disaster also represents a glaring reminder of the dangers that dams can pose.

China’s footprint in European critical assets has grown steadily over time, without any centralised mechanism that could give the European Union (EU) and Member State agencies visibility and scrutiny over projects of strategic significance for Europe’s defence and security. China’s footprint poses specific challenges to Europe’s efforts to protect its critical infrastructure. China’s party-led political system does not allow clear distinctions between commercial, political and military interests, often viewing Chinese state and private companies’ international activities as instruments helping the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) expand its influence in foreign countries and undermine geopolitical rivals. The CCP’s military-civil fusion (MCF) strategy incentivises civilian actors to contribute to the modernisation of the People Liberation Army (PLA) through technology transfer. Chinese companies’ access to EU critical infrastructure thus calls for an analysis of threats to Europe’s defence and security architecture. Using research with original Chinese-language sources, this paper analyses the involvement of China state-linked entities in selected critical sectors — ports, rare metals and undersea cables — to identify short-, medium- and long-term threats to the EU’s strategic sovereignty. These cases expose how entities linked to the Chinese party-state can gain access to and exert influence on assets that are vital to Europe’s security and defence, including transport infrastructure, critical resources and telecommunications networks. This research demonstrates that traditional approaches to infrastructure protection based on direct ownership are insufficient, since China’s party-state can obtain access to critical infrastructure through indirect, equally effective channels. As these cases show, infrastructure protection mechanisms, whose codification and implementation remains incomplete, must be extended to be able to scrutinise the risks that China’s leverage over non-science investors and Chinese state-linked contractors pose to the EU’s critical infrastructure.
Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

This in-depth analysis (IDA) focuses on how to implement the Strategic Compass’s partnership dimension in the field of security and defence, and how to maximise the potential of the EU’s different strategic partnerships. The report not only provides an up-to-date overview of the most important security and defence partnerships, but also places them in their wider historical context, and in the context of future challenges within a fiercely changing geopolitical landscape. The report maps the EU’s different partnerships and their institutional arrangements, as well as the main policy fields in the realm of security and defence. It offers an in-depth analysis of the core challenges of each major partnership and charts out concrete recommendations for gearing each partnership towards a more impactful realisation of the Strategic Compass’s goals. It also examines how existing cooperation arrangements can be improved, and how new fora can be utilised in a more comprehensive manner. Overall, this IDA seeks to examine and assess in detail how the Strategic Compass’s emphasis on security and defence partnerships can be implemented in practice, and what role the European Parliament can play in this process.
Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

The press briefing ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council will take place on Friday, 23 June 2023 at 14.00.

On 21 June 2023, the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union hosted the EU-U.S. Ministerial Meeting on Justice and Home Affairs in Stockholm.