European Union

The Spanish cabinet is today discussing a bill put forward by the leftist government that would entitle women to three additional sick days per month in cases of severe period pains. The announcement has triggered a debate about whether the law could have a negative impact on women's access to the labour market. The Spanish press argues against such reservations.

Russia will not get away with trying to redraw Ukraine's borders by creating facts on the ground, German chancellor Olaf Scholz said on 16 May, insisting that the West would not stand for a "diktat," forced on the country.

Heating & cooling account for half of the final energy consumption in Europe, and most of this is still based on fossil fuels. Energy efficiency is the foundation for decarbonizing this essential sector. To make it happen, we need strong political signals – now – says Jürgen Fischer, President at Danfoss Climate Solutions.

The French Presidency has issued a new compromise text on the AI Act, proposing changes to the transparency obligations on different AI systems, amongst other measures. 

Find out how countries in the EU and the world are rated for press freedom in 2021 and how the situation evolved compared to previous years.

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

Find out how countries in the EU and the world are rated for press freedom in 2021 and how the situation evolved compared to previous years.

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

Almost one billion children and adults with disabilities, as well as older persons, do not have access to the assistive technology they need, warned a new report by the World Health Organisation, whose chief urged all the countries to make this issue a priority.

MEPs seek to better regulate the green bond market, improve its supervision, reduce greenwashing, and add clarity when money goes to gas or nuclear.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

MEPs seek to better regulate the green bond market, improve its supervision, reduce greenwashing, and add clarity when money goes to gas or nuclear.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

Meeting today at EDA’s ministerial Steering Board, Defence Minister discussed the “Scoping EU defence investment gaps” analysis the Agency has produced and transmitted to the European Commission as its contribution to the tasking given by the Heads of State or Government at their informal meeting in Versailles on 10/11 March. 

At that meeting, EU leaders had “invited the Commission, in coordination with the European Defence Agency, to put forward an analysis of the defence investment gaps by mid-May and to propose any further initiative necessary to strengthen the European defence industrial and technological base”.

 EDA’s analysis is notably built on the Invest chapter of the Strategic Compass, the Capability Development Plan (CDP) and the detailed findings of the first Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) presented in November 2020. 

The findings of the analysis, which will feed and be integrated into the European Commission’s document/proposals to the European Council, cover three partially overlapping time horizons:

• an immediate step should be to work on combat readiness of forces and capabilities; 
• starting in 2022-23 with an impact within the next five years, the focus should be placed on augmenting the mass and volume of existing capabilities; 
• in the mid-to-long term (10 years and beyond) the focus should be put on a structural reinforcement and modernisation of capabilities.

Hub for EU Defence Innovation established

The Steering Board also approved the establishment of a Hub for EU Defence Innovation (HEDI) within EDA. HEDI will strengthen the Agency’s existing innovation activities but also initiate new ones, in close cooperation with Member States and other EU stakeholders to ensure synergies and complementarity, as well as coherence with NATO innovation initiatives.  More information here.

The Netherlands to lead focus area ‘Enhanced Military Mobility’

At the Steering Board, the Dutch Minister also announced that the Netherlands will take up the role of facilitator for developing the so-called ‘focus area’ on Enhanced Military Mobility. In the first CARD report presented by EDA in November 2020, Member States are recommended to concentrate their cooperation efforts on six specific focus areas: Main Battle Tanks (MBT); Soldier Systems; Patrol Class Surface Ships; Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (Counter-UAS); Defence applications in Space; Military Mobility. As facilitator, the Netherlands intents to connect the dots on a number of topics that are part of military mobility, with a specific focus on capability development.

More information:

• Press release on establishment of Hub for European Defence Innovation (HEDI)
• HEDI factsheet 

 

EDA Defence Ministers, meeting today at the Agency’s ministerial Steering Board, have approved the establishment of a Hub for EU Defence Innovation (HEDI) within EDA. The Hub will strengthen the Agency’s existing innovation activities but also initiate new ones, in close cooperation with Member States and EU stakeholders. Today’s decision comes after the Strategic Compass for Security and Defence, approved in March, called for the creation of such a Hub in 2022.

HEDI will act as a platform to stimulate, facilitate and support cooperation on defence innovation among Member States while ensuring synergies with related European Commission activities, notably the EU defence innovation scheme, and coherence of output with NATO innovation initiatives such as the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA).

HEDI will operate at the intersection of EDA’s already existing innovation activities, serving as a catalyst and amplifier. The existing Innovation Framework in EDA contains the necessary tools to support collaborative defence innovation and is based on three pillars: - identification of innovative ideas and innovators; - implementation of these ideas; - outreach to increase the awareness of the solutions produced and their application to the defence domain. HEDI’s activities will be focused on the agreed EU priorities for capability development (Capability Development Plan), defence research (Overarching Strategic Research Agenda) as well as industrial capabilities (Key Strategic Activities).

The Head of EDA, HR/VP Josep Borrell, said: “Less than two months after the adoption of the EU’s Strategic Compass, we deliver on one of the Compass’ main priorities by establishing the European Defence Agency’s Defence Innovation Hub. Working closely with the Commission, the Hub will help our Armed Forces to step up their innovation efforts to be better prepared for the future battlefield and the next generation technologies”.

EDA Chief Executive, Jiří Šedivý said: “With the rapid development of new and often disruptive technologies and their fast weaponisation, innovation has become a geostrategic factor shaping the international security environment and the global balance of power. The establishment of HEDI is a clear signal that our Ministries of Defence take innovation seriously and that they want to invest more in it, and act together. HEDI will help develop the synergies needed to connect existing innovation efforts and stimulate the launch of new ones, for the benefit of European Defence”.

THREE STEP APPROACH

Three steps have been defined for the Hub to progressively grow and fulfil its role:

• Step 1: inspiring and promoting innovation at EU level. During this ramp-up phase, the Hub will focus on networking and situational awareness activities, making the most of existing EDA resources. Activities to be deployed during this initial phase include the exchange of best innovation practices across the EU and the organisation of a first European Defence Innovation Day on 31 May 2022.  HEDI will also contribute to creating a ‘common picture’ of defence innovation in Europe. For this purpose, it will organise stakeholder groups and workshops and set up and manage networks of defence innovation organisations and researchers who will be invited to exchange views on these topics once or twice a year.
• Step 2: facilitating innovation across Member States and EU institutions.  This second phase will see HEDI drive activities such as the upgrade of the existing EDA Defence Innovation Prize (increase in the number of prizes awarded and of domains covered), the funding of proof-of-concept of innovative ideas, the organisation of European Defence Innovation Shows, the launch in cooperation with partners of so-called Innovation Challenges (a specific R&T methodology targeting short cycles of development from proof-of-principle to minimum viable product), as well as specific actions to support the uptake of innovation ideas/concepts towards capability development.
• Step 3: making of HEDI an EU-wide platform for cooperative design and experimentation embedded in the EU capability development process. The activities to be undertaken will be decided by Member States at a later stage.  

EMBEDDED IN EDA

HEDI will be embedded within the existing EDA framework and staffed by EDA personnel. According to guidelines approved today, the launch of the new Hub should not come at the expense of existing EDA activities. It will function under EDA’s 3-Year Planning Framework with a yearly reporting and evaluation in the starting phase. EDA shall regularly report to the Steering Board on the progress and way ahead, specifically on the impact, lessons learned, and possible updates of the stepped implementation plan. The Steering Board will evaluate the progress of the HEDI and its proposed activities for the next year. 

BACKGROUND

The work that led to the creation of HEDI initially started in May 2021 when the Foreign Affairs Council called for reinforcing EDA’s role in fostering defence innovation and tasked the HR/VP and Head of EDA, Josep Borrell, to present options by the end of 2021. Among the options put on the table (and now approved) was that of establishing a Hub for EU Defence Innovation within EDA.

The Dutch government intends to ban new fossil fuel-centric heating system installations as of 2026, while introducing the mandatory use of heat pumps or connections to heat networks.

The EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell put pressure on Sofia on Monday (16 May) to lift its veto over North Macedonia starting EU accession negotiations, by saying that the lack of solution is “a present for Russia”.

C-693/19 SPV Project 1503, C-831/19 Banco di Desio e della Brianza e.a., C-725/19 Impuls Leasing România , C-869/19 Unicaja Banco
Approximation of laws
Unfair terms in consumer contracts: national procedural principles cannot impede the rights that individuals derive from EU law

Hungary is continuing to block an EU oil embargo on Russia, but there is optimism its objections can soon be overcome — perhaps within a few days to "a week or two", according to some EU foreign ministers.

Join this EURACTIV Virtual Conference to discuss how the revision of the EPBD can support a healthy indoor climate while accelerating a decrease of energy costs and decarbonising our buildings.

More European Union countries have shown signs of impatience with the ongoing reform of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), which critics say impedes international efforts to phase out fossil fuels, according to leaked diplomatic cables seen by EURACTIV.

Written by Luisa Antunes.

The recent coronavirus pandemic will not be the last public health emergency. To discuss future pandemic preparedness and response, the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) and the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Association co-organised a roundtable on 11 May 2022. Etienne Bassot, Director of the EPRS Members’ Research Service, reminded participants of the link to the first edition of an annual EPRS publication on Future Shocks 2022, in particular the sections on ‘Another major pandemic’ and ‘Responding better to future pandemics’, written by Luisa Antunes and Clément Evroux.

Ronald de Bruin, Director of COST, introduced the association, its mission and actions. Funded by Horizon Europe, its network of researchers from 40 countries focuses on interdisciplinary, out-of-the-box thinking that transcends science and engages with policy-makers for long-term impact.

Kathleen van Brempt, Member of the European Parliament (S&D, Belgium) and Chair of the Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic (COVI), raised the importance of a coordinated, interdisciplinary approach to solving public health crises. COVI will base its work on four main pillars: health; socioeconomic impact; democracy and fundamental rights, and international cooperation. Preparedness for future pandemics involves rethinking vaccine production, worldwide supply, inequalities and hesitancy, finding a balance between health investment and containment strategies, and refocusing scientific advice at EU level.

Ilaria Capua, Director of the One Health Center of Excellence at the University of Florida, introduced the concept of ‘Circular Health’. This expands on the 1960s ‘One Health’ concept, which drew on the interconnectedness of animal, human and environmental health, by including macroscopic factors such as social sciences, policy, legislation and governance, food practices, conflicts, mobility and transport, population growth, refugees, international trade and gender equality, amongst others. While antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat, a possible roadmap solution could build from the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), not forgetting the importance of digitalisation and data sharing.

Jeremy Webb, Professor of Microbiology, University of Southampton, expanded on AMR as one of the major public health threats of the century. A silent pandemic, it leads to extended hospital stays, prolonged bacterial infections and 1.3 million annual deaths worldwide (equivalent to total joint HIV and malaria mortality). It is expected to kill 10 million people annually by 2050, exceeding cancer as second largest cause of death worldwide. Its causes are the misuse, overuse and spread of antibiotics in humans, agriculture and the environment. The dearth of investment in public health, including lack of rapid diagnostics and research and development (R&D) into new antimicrobials further aggravates the issue, in a context where, unlike cancer, antimicrobial R&D is not lucrative for the private sector. New models and reimbursement mechanisms are needed. The United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) has developed a subscription model strategy as an incentive for the private sector to develop new antimicrobials. Multidisciplinary cooperation between academia, the industry and politicians is essential, as is education and changing the public perception.

Andrea Ammon, Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) introduced the importance of multisectoral and multidisciplinary crisis preparedness, acknowledging the ‘One Health’ approach and risks such as globalisation and climate change, and investing in public health and digitalisation. The amended ECDC mandate will extend the role of the agency in Member State-joint preparedness and strengthen its ties with the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Community engagement and citizens’ trust are essential and depend on good risk communication and collaboration between scientists and policy-makers.

Nicolas Collin, CEO of the Vaccine Formulation Institute (VFI), presented the VFI as an EU-funded non-governmental organisation (NGO) that develops open-source adjuvants for the benefit of the entire world. Adjuvants decrease costs, improve vaccine efficacy, prolong the immune response and augment the number of available doses in one vial. Fast vaccine development requires, ahead and in advance of a new pandemic, the existence of an established network of researchers, strong expertise and logistics, and human-validated technology. Funding is essential to maintain expertise, to ensure regular testing in clinical trials and to have many options ready prepared when a pandemic hits.

Sylvie Briand, Director at the World Health Organisation (WHO) introduced WHO’s International Health Regulations (IHR). First applied in response to the 2009 swine flu pandemic, they aim to accelerate the detection of new outbreaks and ensure global response coordination whilst minimising unnecessary economic and travel impact. The WHO is working on a new treaty for international collaboration that has so far received 131 panel recommendations, grouped in four areas: leadership and governance; systems and tools; finance, and equity. A white paper is open to consultation. Preparedness plans are, nevertheless, inadequate if not implemented; an impairment with the Covid-19 crisis was that a few countries had not consulted or updated their pandemic preparedness plans following the 2009 flu pandemic. Citizens’ trust also poses issues, especially when linked to privacy and data sharing, which require working together.

Clément Evroux, Policy Analyst at EPRS, presented the EU response to the Covid‑19 crisis, including health and economy instruments, such as the EU Health Union package and the SURE instrument to mitigate unemployment losses. EMA and ECDC mandates were updated, as well as the regulation on serious cross-border health threats. The European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) was created to carry out preparedness and decision-making on vaccines and medicines. Ways forward will involve joint efforts in public health, transport, the internal market, research, education and trade. A ‘One Health’ approach is essential to bring socio-economical stakeholders together and engage citizens, as well as to ensure a green transition and EU’s strategic autonomy in digital technologies applied to therapeutic countermeasures.

Alain Beretz, President of COST, summarised the event, identifying three transversal issues: time, multidisciplinarity and geopolitical context. A global approach to a future pandemic will have to include networking and data sharing. Scientific advice to politicians is key and strong emphasis should be placed on basic research, focusing on long-term sustainable goals and values, and addressing the technological and non-academic issues of science, including citizens’ trust.