All EU-related News in English in a list. Read News from the European Union in French, German & Hungarian too.

You are here

European Union

Media advisory - Agriculture and Fisheries Council of 11-12 December 2022

European Council - Sat, 12/10/2022 - 00:20
Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.
Categories: European Union

Media advisory - Foreign Affairs Council of 12 December 2022

European Council - Sat, 12/10/2022 - 00:20
Main agenda items, approximate timing and press opportunities.
Categories: European Union

Vaccination: Council calls for combatting vaccine hesitancy and closer EU cooperation

European Council - Sat, 12/10/2022 - 00:20
Council approved conclusions about combatting vaccine hesitancy and preparing upcoming health challenges through EU cooperation.
Categories: European Union

Council updates its recommendation to screen for cancer

European Council - Sat, 12/10/2022 - 00:20
The Council proposes a new recommendation on cancer screening to bring down the mortality of cancer and cut the incidence of invasive cancers.
Categories: European Union

Digital justice: Council adopts negotiating mandates on two proposals to digitalise judicial cooperation and access to justice

European Council - Sat, 12/10/2022 - 00:20
The Council today adopted its mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament on the proposed regulation on the digitalisation of judicial cooperation and access to justice and proposed accompanying directive.
Categories: European Union

Council agrees its negotiating mandate on the environmental crime directive

European Council - Sat, 12/10/2022 - 00:20
This proposal aims to improve the investigation and prosecution of environmental crime offences. It defines environmental crime more precisely and adds new types of environmental criminal offences. It also harmonises the level of penalties for natural persons and for the first time for legal persons as well.
Categories: European Union

Press briefings ahead of the EU-ASEAN commemorative summit and European Council meeting

European Council - Sat, 12/10/2022 - 00:20
The EU-ASEAN commemorative summit will take place on 14 December. The European Council meeting will take place on 15 december
Categories: European Union

Council adopts conclusions on the fight against impunity in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

European Council - Sat, 12/10/2022 - 00:20
The Council today adopted conclusions on the fight against impunity regarding crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Categories: European Union

EU batteries to be the world’s greenest under new rules

Euractiv.com - Fri, 12/09/2022 - 19:06
Batteries produced in Europe will be the most sustainable in the world, under new rules agreed upon by EU lawmakers on Friday (9 December). 
Categories: European Union

European Parliament Plenary Session – December 2022

Written by Clare Ferguson with Sophia Stone.

Members return to Strasbourg for the final plenary session of 2022, with much of the agenda still reflecting issues we flagged up back in January in our analysis of the ‘ten issues to watch‘ this year – the green and digital transitions, energy supply security, defence and human rights. A ‘This is Europe’ debate is planned with the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Robert Golob, on Tuesday. The outcome of the recent COP27 climate change conference will be debated on Monday afternoon. European Commission representatives will give statements on relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union response to the United States Inflation Reduction Act, the Commission’s reports on the situation of journalists, and various human rights issues.

Supporting people’s basic rights and democratic values, both in the EU and the wider world, is one of Parliament’s top priorities. Parliament has awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for outstanding achievements in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms since 1988. Laureates Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad subsequently won the Nobel Peace Prize. Having taken a courageous stand for freedom and democracy in the face of great hardship since the Russian invasion, the 2022 award goes to the brave people of Ukraine. President Roberta Metsola is due to present the Sakharov Prize in a ceremony in a formal plenary sitting on Wednesday.

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

Accept YouTube Content

The war in Ukraine and its consequences are also having a considerable impact on the EU’s finances, with the multiannual financial framework (MFF) under extreme strain. The MFF was not designed to cope with emergencies with huge financial implications, such as COVID‑19 and Russia’s invasion of its neighbour. Members are therefore expected to debate a Committee on Budgets own-initiative report on Wednesday, calling for an urgent revision of the MFF to increase the EU budget and make it more flexible. The committee calls for the Commission to propose an upscaled 2021-2027 MFF to provide a resilient EU budget fit for new challenges – with a bigger and more flexible budget, fresh revenue streams, action on preserving the budget from fluctuations in debt repayment for the EU recovery instrument and greater scrutiny and transparency.

The consequences of Russia’s attack on Ukraine are also scheduled for debate on Tuesday, when Members are due to consider a Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) report on the European Commission’s proposal to amend EU energy legislation under the REPowerEU plan. The ITRE committee implicitly endorses the higher renewable and energy efficiency targets proposed, and goes further, calling for a reduction in the delays in approving renewable energy installations. The vote on the file should set Parliament’s position for trilogue negotiations.

The war in Ukraine and the COVID‑19 pandemic have also affected international relations worldwide. One such area is relations with China, which are undoubtedly set to change, posing questions as to the EU’s priorities in trade, particularly in sensitive areas such as telecoms. Members are set to hear the Commission’s answers on the protection of strategic infrastructure from China’s influence during the question time session scheduled for Tuesday.

However, access to strategic infrastructure is not uniform for EU citizens themselves. Over 80 % of total EU territory is rural, supplying much of the EU’s natural resources in terms of biodiversity, agriculture and more. Those living in many rural EU areas face challenges ranging from finding employment to connecting to the internet. To remedy the situation, the European Commission has drawn up a long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas to encourage their resilience in the face of an ageing population, poor connectivity, and lack of opportunity. Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) has responded with an own-initiative report, due for debate in plenary on Monday. The report underlines the key role of rural areas in the EU, and the need for action to support the needs of their populations, underpinned by dedicated funding.

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

Accept YouTube Content

Continued discrimination and a failure to ensure equal rights for persons with disabilities to participate in social and political life are compounded by a lack of suitable accommodation, among other things. On Monday, Parliament is scheduled to debate a Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) own-initiative report on progress towards implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the EU. While the report recognises the efforts made to meet the standards described in the Convention, the committee decries a number of serious failings, particularly the use of EU funding to construct institutions, despite an EU target to end the practice of placing persons with disabilities in care.

Finally, on Tuesday, Parliament is set to debate a Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) own-initiative report on the implementation of the new European agenda for culture and the EU strategy for international cultural relations. The first strategy sets social and economic objectives for EU cultural policy (for the post-pandemic recovery, employment) and touches on opportunities also identified in the second, for cooperation with non-EU countries on the role of cultural diversity and heritage in sustainable socio-economic development and driving peace. The CULT committee recommends, among other things, paying stricter attention to employment conditions for creative workers, easier access to funding for small entities, better synergies with programmes like Erasmus+, Horizon Europe and the New European Bauhaus initiative, and emphasises freedom of artistic expression as an indicator of respect for the rule of law. Looking to cultural relations outside the EU, the report regrets the lack of focus on sustainable development and warns against perceptions of cultural diplomacy as ‘Eurocentric’.

The full agenda is available here.

Categories: European Union

MEP: Go digital to help consumers navigate nutrition labels

Euractiv.com - Fri, 12/09/2022 - 18:07
Nutritional and health information should go digital to harmonise and streamline labelling systems and help consumers navigate complex dietary decisions, MEP Christine Schneider told EURACTIV in an interview.
Categories: European Union

Press release - Batteries: deal on new EU rules for design, production and waste treatment

European Parliament (News) - Fri, 12/09/2022 - 17:49
On Friday, Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement to overhaul EU rules on batteries and take into account technological developments and future challenges.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP
Categories: European Union

Press release - Batteries: deal on new EU rules for design, production and waste treatment

European Parliament - Fri, 12/09/2022 - 17:49
On Friday, Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement to overhaul EU rules on batteries and take into account technological developments and future challenges.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP
Categories: European Union

Wolf that killed von der Leyen’s pony to be shot

Euractiv.com - Fri, 12/09/2022 - 17:42
The German region of Hannover has issued an official shooting permit for a wolf that killed one of the ponies of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who said earlier that the EU executive will reevaluate wolves' protected status.
Categories: European Union

EU ministers adopt new cancer screening recommendations

Euractiv.com - Fri, 12/09/2022 - 17:33
The EU-27 health ministers finally adopted new recommendations on cancer screening on Friday (9 December), marking an important last-minute achievement for the Czech government before the end of their EU presidency.
Categories: European Union

MEP Atidzhe Alieva-Veli: Cybersecurity is a must for a successful digital transition [Promoted content]

Euractiv.com - Fri, 12/09/2022 - 16:30
The World Economic Forum has stated in its annual report that was published earlier this year that cybersecurity is one of the top ten risks for businesses globally. And evidently, this is very important from the viewpoint of small and medium sized companies. This is because we should re-call that SMEs contribute to half of European GDP at present.
Categories: European Union

The Brief — A border rift without winners

Euractiv.com - Fri, 12/09/2022 - 16:20
The backlash could not have been much swifter. The day after Austria and Netherlands decided to block the Schengen applications of Romania and Bulgaria, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had summoned its Ambassador to Vienna, Emil...
Categories: European Union

Avian influenza: Christmas foie gras rarer, more expensive

Euractiv.com - Fri, 12/09/2022 - 15:56
After a hard year due to bird flu, the foie gras industry is taking another hit as the holidays approach, meaning it could be missing from French dinner tables as Christmas comes.
Categories: European Union

EU Council set to revise cloud-related provisions in new data law

Euractiv.com - Fri, 12/09/2022 - 15:48
The new compromise text on the Data Act, circulated on Thursday (8 December) and seen by EURACTIV, introduces significant changes to the part intended to facilitate the switching from one cloud provider to the other.
Categories: European Union

EU, Chile conclude negotiations on new trade agreement

Euractiv.com - Fri, 12/09/2022 - 15:40
hilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonia Urrejola came to Brussels on Friday (9 December) to conclude negotiations on a new, more far-reaching "Advanced Framework Agreement" that slashes most tariffs between the EU and Chile.
Categories: European Union

Pages

THIS IS THE NEW BETA VERSION OF EUROPA VARIETAS NEWS CENTER - under construction
the old site is here

Copy & Drop - Can`t find your favourite site? Send us the RSS or URL to the following address: info(@)europavarietas(dot)org.