European Union

A common and uniform registration process and more national protection centres are needed in the EU to help protection children fleeing the war in Ukraine, write Dragos Pislaru and Adrián Vázquez Lázara.

EU Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said on Tuesday that Poland's recovery plan could be approved within a week. This could also help unblock Warsaw's reluctance to agree to the tax deal.

Written by Clément Evroux (1st edition).

In the context of the twin digital and ecological transition, satellite communication is becoming a strategic asset for governments and civil society alike. Complementary to terrestrial networks, it can contribute to seamless digital communication, even when such networks are absent or disrupted. It builds on technological advances to ensure both low latency and global coverage, and the deployment of other emerging technologies such as quantum-based cybersecurity.

Today, the EU does not have the dedicated infrastructure (including space and ground segments) to offer satellite communication services to governments, the economy, and civil society. Several EU global partners and competitors are investing in parallel in such capabilities.

On 15 February 2022, the European Commission presented a proposal to improve the resilience of EU communications services by developing and operating multi-orbital connectivity infrastructure (with both space and ground segments) based on a public-partnership model. Governmental services would be operational from 2025, and private services at a later stage.

In the European Parliament, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) is responsible for the file; rapporteur is Christophe Grudler (Renew Europe, France). In the Council, work is ongoing in the working party on space.

Versions

• May 2022: EU secure connectivity programme: Building a multi-orbital satellite constellation (1st edition)

Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Union Secure Connectivity Programme for the period 2023-2027 Committee responsible:Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE)COM(2022) 57
15.2.2022Rapporteur:Christophe Grudler (Renew, France)2022/0039(COD)Shadow rapporteurs:Massimiliano Salini (EPP, Italy)
Ivo Hristov (S&D, Bulgaria)
Niklas Nienass (Greens/EFA, Germany)
Matteo Adinolfi (ID, Italy)
Evžen Tošenovský (ECR, Czechia)Ordinary legislative
procedure (COD)
(Parliament and Council
on equal footing –
formerly ‘co-decision’) Next steps expected: Publication of draft report

Fewer people may be crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya compared to recent years, but the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says underlying problems remain entrenched.

Fruits and vegetables produced in the EU are still contaminated with hazardous chemicals, despite years-old promises by EU member states to phase them out.

Some Western European politicians are reviving the chimera of a negotiated settlement. None of this makes the current, half-hearted approach towards sanctioning Russia look better — nor does it shed any favourable light on the cravenness of Hungary's current government.

Ukraine is finally understood — and hopefully Belarus will be soon too — as a self-standing society and state with close links to its EU neighbours, rather being relegated to Russia's backyard.

France says Ukraine will eventually join the European Union, even if takes 20 years. "I am convinced that Ukraine will be part of the European Union," said Clement Beaune, France's minister of state for European affairs. The comment follows a proposal floated earlier this month by French president Emmanuel Macron, who suggested also creating a "European political community" to knot closer ties with countries seeking EU membership.

Why do some European leaders keep saying that it may take decades before Ukraine can join the EU? Out of a pure sense of self-preservation.

In her closing speech at the Conference of the Future of Europe (CoFoE), Ursula von der Leyen made a historic declaration on the fundamental role of citizen participation. This has allowed reflection on another historical instant in the Brussels Parliament, writes Magali Plovie.

Ecological Transition Minister Amélie de Montchalin and Energy Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher will be working under the newly appointed Prime Minister in charge of 'ecological and energy planning'. EURACTIV France reports.

EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said "no stone should be left unturned" in helping Ukraine rebuild post-war, including possibly seizing and repurposing Russian central bank assets — a move which would likely be challenged under international law.

"Freedom is more important than free trade. The protection of our values is more important than profit," Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said in a speech referring to Russia and China at the World Economic Forum.

Russia is using food security as blackmail, the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in Davos on Tuesday. "Russia is now hoarding its own food exports as a form of blackmail — holding back supplies to increase global prices, or trading wheat in exchange for political support," she said. After the Ukraine invasion, food prices increased significantly globally. For example, bread prices in Lebanon jumped 70 percent. 

Environmental groups on Tuesday launched legal action against Dutch aviation giant KLM for their 2019 "Fly Responsibly" campaign, regarded by campaigners as greenwashing. The NGOs argued that the campaign falsely promotes the sustainability of flying and the company's plans to offset its climate damage. Last month, the Dutch advertising watchdog ruled that KLM ads using terms such as "CO2ZERO" and "CO2-neutral" are misleading for consumers.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has ruled out discussing the EU's proposed oil embargo of Russia at next week's summit of leaders. In a letter seen by the Financial times addressed to the European Council's president, Charles Michel, he said his country could not support the sanctions without more detail on the EU financing for Hungary to quit Russian oil.

“It is our moral obligation to create what I would call a European Political Community”. The words used by Emmanuel Macron as President of the Council of the European Union, to wrap up one year of work of the Conference on the Future of Europe (COFOE) confirms that a profound reform of the EU is becoming a moral imperative.

Japan scrambled jets after Russian and Chinese warplanes neared its airspace on Tuesday (24 May), when Tokyo was hosting the leaders of the Quad grouping of countries that includes the United States, Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi said.

Hungary will not drop its opposition to an EU embargo on Russian oil any time soon, and so EU leaders should not discuss the issue at next week’s summit in Brussels, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told European Council President Charles...

If EURACTIV were a sensationalist tabloid, the headline would have written itself: “EUROCRATS GIVE CHEAP FLIGHTS THE KISS OF DEATH”. It has the twin tabloid virtues of being grabbing and not entirely true.