European Union

Inflation is boring a hole in the budgets of EU states’ COVID recovery plans, with delayed implementation compounded by increasingly louder voices calling for fresh cash to battle rising costs while new administrations question previous commitments. An EU spokesperson told...

Half of the world's democracies are in a state of decline amid worsening civil liberties and rule of law while already authoritarian governments are becoming more oppressive, an intergovernmental watchdog group said on Wednesday (30 November).

Ahead of Thursday’s (1 December) meeting of EU industry ministers, the fight over whether to include the financial sector in the scope of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) is still ongoing.

NATO allies promised more arms for Kyiv and equipment to help restore Ukrainian power and heat knocked out by Russian strikes, as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow's forces were attempting to advance in multiple regions.

Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on Tuesday asked for air defence systems and generators, as Russia has been pounding Ukraine's vital energy infrastructure.

Victims of the widening spyware scandal in Spain are demanding justice and reparations, following the revelations that journalists, lawyers, civil society and politicians had been targeted.

Written by Vivienne Halleux (1st edition).

Under the farm to fork strategy, part of the European Green Deal, the EU has set itself a double target: a 50 % reduction in the overall use of and risk from chemical plant protection products, and a 50 % reduction in the use of more hazardous ones by 2030. The proposal for a regulation tabled by the European Commission on 22 June 2022, which would replace the 2009 sustainable use directive, would require Member States to contribute collectively to achieving these EU-wide targets through the adoption and attainment of binding national targets. To protect biodiversity and citizens’ health, the use of all plant protection products would be banned in specific, sensitive areas. Monitoring and reporting obligations would be strengthened.

Stakeholders are strongly divided on the proposal. While environmental organisations are pushing for more ambition, the farming community is concerned about the lack of alternatives for farmers, the broad coverage of sensitive areas, and consequences for business continuity. Indicators used to track progress towards the targets are also subject to criticisms from various sides.

In Parliament, the proposal has been referred to the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI). In the Council, work is ongoing at working party level.

Versions

• November 2022: Sustainable use of plant protection products (1st edition)

Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the sustainable use of plant protection products and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 Committee responsible:Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI)COM(2022) 305
22.6.2022Rapporteur:Sarah Wiener (Greens/EFA, Austria)2022/0196(COD)Shadow rapporteurs:Alexander Bernhuber (EPP, Austria)
Maria Arena (S&D, Belgium)
Jan Huitema (Renew, the Netherlands)
Anja Hazekamp (The Left, the Netherlands)Ordinary legislative procedure (COD)
(Parliament and Council on equal footing
– formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Publication of draft report

As the current leading financial market in the EU, France has a particular responsibility to uphold the values of sustainable investment and not cave to the financial lobby, argue Richard Gardiner and Flora Rencz.

Let us be clear, Qatar is not a democracy, it is a conservative Muslim country that does not give foreign workers the rights and protection these workers deserve.

On 2 December, EU institutions will present to citizens who participated in European and national panels and events their follow-up on the Conference and its proposals.

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

On 2 December, EU institutions will present to citizens who participated in European and national panels and events their follow-up on the Conference and its proposals.

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

The EU Commission will launch a plan to certify the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but experts warn the rules are too 'vague' and prone to misuse, lobbying and accounting tricks.

Young people are statistically underrepresented in both national and EU parliaments, EU data shows. This, in combination with the ageing population of European countries, leaves young people 'de facto' at the margin of politics, 

A recent wave of initiatives in national parliaments could revive the historiographical debate over Holodomor - the infamous Great Famine in Ukraine in the 1930s - and shed more light on this horrific chapter of history.

Consumers, especially the most vulnerable, risk facing the brunt of the green transition. The FIA discusses the aspects of how consumers can be affected, and where the EU and mobility stakeholders could step in.

In the heart of Brussels, just five minutes away from European Parliament, you can find an urban farm tucked away on the rooftop of a supermarket. L[ag]UM is an experimental and educational research project exploring the best ways to grow...

In the current environment characterised by a starting recession in Europe, growing public deficits and debts and instability in the Eurasia space, there is one country that goes against this trend: the Republic of Georgia, writes Vazil Hudak.

The European Union’s plans to further increase tobacco taxation and reduce already declining smoking rates across the bloc have pleased public health advocates. At the same time, however, the industry warns that tax revenues may be disrupted by the rise of illicit markets that flourish when taxes are high.

Written by Marcin Grajewski.

After decades of growing global integration, the world is becoming more fragmented in a number of areas, many analysts say. Deglobalisation can be defined as movement towards a less connected world, characterised by powerful nation states, local solutions, and border controls, rather than global institutions, treaties, and free movement.

The recent growth of protectionism, problems with supply chains, the diminishing role of global institutions, geopolitical shifts, technological rivalry and falling foreign investment, as well as energy and food crises, have been accompanied by events such as Russia’s war on Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, authoritarianism in China and populism in the US and elsewhere. On the other hand, phenomena such as the coronavirus pandemic, international crime and climate change demonstrate the continuing relevance of global collaboration.

This note offers links to recent commentaries, studies and reports from international think tanks on the shifting balance between gobalising and deglobalising forces.

Does digitizing government payments increase financial access and usage?
Brookings Institution, November 2022

Renewing global climate change action for fragile and developing countries
Brookings Institution, November 2022

Human development in an age of uncertainty
Brookings Institution, November 2022

Introducing hyperlocal: Place governance in a fragmented world
Brookings Institution, November 2022

The free world and its enemies: What Putin’s war and China’s global ambitions mean for us
Brookings Institution, November 2022

Deglobalisation and protectionism
Bruegel, November 2022

Is globalisation really doomed?
Bruegel, November 2022

Is climate cooperation trumping human rights?
Carnegie Europe, November 2022

Democratic innovations from around the world: Lessons for the West
Carnegie Europe, November 2022

The globalization myth
Council on Foreign Relations, November 2022

China’s growing interference in domestic politics: Globally and in the United States
Council on Foreign Relations, November 2022

A reliable global cyber power
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, November 2022

Has Globalisation really peaked for Europe?
European Centre for International and Political Economy, November 2022

Principles for global order: How Europeans and the global south can shape the international order together
European Council on Foreign Relations, November 2022

The geopolitics of space – The economy of space: Evolution and forecast
Istituto Affari Internazionali, November 2022

International trade: Globalisation is here to stay
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, November 2022

‘Fragmentegration’: A new chapter for globalisation
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, November 2022

The Biden-Xi meeting in Bali: What changed, what didn’t?
Peterson Institute for International Economics, November 2022

The portfolio of economic policies needed to fight climate change
Peterson Institute for International Economics, November 2022

How the G20 can advance WTO reform
Peterson Institute for International Economics, November 2022

Blockchain technology: Pain, perspective and positivity
Wilson Center, November 2022

China and the West: Growing apart as geopolitical tensions grow
Bruegel, October 2022

Geopolitics of the energy transition
Brussels School of Governance, October 2022

Supply chain sovereignty and globalization
Center for Strategic and International Studies, October 2022

China between lockdowns and the 20th Party Congress: What can we expect for the EU and globally?
Egmont, October 2022

The American order is over, and China is ready to dive in
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, October 2022

Globalization is in retreat for the first time since the Second World War
Peterson Institute for International Economics, October 2022

The global minimum corporate tax will not end forces that drive tax competition
Peterson Institute for International Economics, October 2022

The globalization of remote work: Will digital offshoring make waves in the U.S. labor market?
Rand Corporation, October 2022

The challenge to cultivate global semiconductor talent
Wilson Centre, October 2022

Getting ready for post-pandemic border policy
Wilson Centre, October 2022

The age of fuzzy bifurcation: Lessons from the pandemic and the Ukraine War
Brussels School of Governance, September 2022

La transition géopolitique européenne
Groupe d’études géopolitiques, September 2022

Policy options for an equitable re-globalization
Hellenic Foundation for European and Security Policy, September 2022

Developments in the global gas markets up to 2030
Institute of Energy Economics at the Cologne University, September 2022

Fault lines: Global perspectives on a world in crisis
Open Society Foundation, September 2022

Russia is intensifying the global food crisis
Centre for Eastern Studies, August 2022

The U.S. could cope with deglobalisation, Europe could not
Centre for European Reform, August 2022

Water stress: A global problem that’s getting worse
Council on Foreign Relations, August 2023

Global value chain disruptions: Challenges and opportunities
Atlantic Council, July 2022

The awakening of geopolitical Europe?
Carnegie Europe, July 2022

Geopolitics of oil and inflation
Center for Strategic and International Studies, July 2022

The great rewiring: How global supply chains are reacting to today’s geopolitics
Center for Strategic and International Studies, July 2022

The de-globalisation of oil: Risks and implications from the politicisation of energy markets
Istituto Affari Internazionali, July 2022

Global economies disrupted, local communities responding
Center for Strategic and International Studies, June 2022

The great reset: towards an existential geopolitical order?
Friends of Europe, June 2022

Russia’s status as an energy superpower is waning
International Institute for Strategic Studies, June 2022

Read this briefing on ‘‘Deglobalisation’‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Berlin and Brussels say they are ready to respond to the growing global challenge posed by dedicated industrial policies now favoured by major powers, like America's Inflation Reduction Act.