European Union

MEPs will, for the first time, be privy to the details of the first of the COVID vaccine contracts this week, although say that more must be done to achieve the level of transparency needed to improve trust and negate a rising ‘vaccine nationalism’.

Sports recycling centres have only appeared across France in the past few years, aiming to recycle sports equipment and work towards zero waste in sports. Although fairly recent, they have seen incredible growth, expected to continue in 2021. EURACTIV France reports.

Last week's storming of the Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters calls for serious reflection. EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has already published a blog post to that effect, titled “The events in Washington and what it means for Europe”.

Germany's largest lender, Deutsche Bank, will no longer do business with outgoing US president Donald Trump-affiliated entities, according to reports in the New York Times and Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, on Tuesday. The move comes after Trump incited a lethal riot in the Capitol last week. A bank spokesman declined to comment to EUobserver for "legal reasons". The bank has reportedly loaned the Trump Organization $340m [€280m].

The French senate is set to debate an inquiry committee report on soil pollution on Wednesday (13 January) after residents of the Ormes district in the Paris Commune of Romainville opposed a housing project on a very polluted plot of land, . EURACTIV France reports.  

Britain on Tuesday (12 January) accused China of human rights violations amounting to "barbarism" against its Uighur minority, as it announced new rules to ban imports of goods suspected of using forced labour.

As the European Commission fleshes out its Green Deal policy unveiled by Ursula von der Leyen one year ago, companies are looking at how they fit into the picture.

Europe's local politicians want a bigger role in establishing the future relationship between the EU and the UK. This was the overwhelming feeling among members of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) at Monday's meeting of the CoR-UK contact group. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday (12 January) called on the European Union to help source coronavirus vaccines, as he tries to stave off criticism for failing to secure any western-made jabs.

British authorities have had to set up a temporary morgues in some areas after local hospital mortuaries ran out of space due to a surge in deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Picture: European Parliament 

EDA has just launched a new study to assess the current framework and future prospects of Europe’s so-called ‘U-Space’, which is the airspace for large numbers of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS, or drones), with a view to facilitating a smooth and effective coexistence of civil and military operators into it. The U-Space notion was introduced by the European Commission in its 2016 blueprint for fostering a market for safe, secure and efficient drone operations in Europe. It refers to the low-level airspace and covers the ecosystem of services and specific procedures necessary for reliable and safe drone operations. 

With the expected sharp increase in the numbers of drones operating at low altitude in the coming years, early engagement between the military and civil airspace users as well as the relevant control authorities is paramount to avoid negative implications on safety, security, and defence. Indeed, this low-level airspace is regularly used by military aircraft for operations and training.  

However, military aircraft, different in nature and mission, cannot be expected to be compliant with all normal U-Space requirements applicable to civil aircraft. Hence the need to thoroughly analyse and assess the U-Space ‘ecosystem’ (services, procedures, regulations, etc.) with a view to ensuring that the views of the Armed Forces are duly taken into account during the implementation of the U-space, and their military activities can be seamlessly integrated into it.  

In this respect, the military’s main interests are:

• to maintain the level of safety for military (low-level) operations, to preserve operational effectiveness and to protect search and rescue operations 

• to guarantee the security of military infrastructures, assets and operations 

• and to quantify the financial impact of U-Space implementation on the military and to secure the necessary funding to maintain safety, guarantee security and ensure interoperability.

The overall objective of the study, which is expected to run throughout 2021, is to contribute to an efficient civil-military collaboration in the U-Space. 
  More information 

• EDA project page U-Space study 

 

German police have taken down the "world's largest" darknet marketplace, whose Australian alleged operator used it to sell drugs, stolen credit card data and malware, prosecutors said Tuesday (12 January).

Lack of transparency has recently fuelled uncertainty and disinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccination in Europe, say MEPs.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Lack of transparency has recently fuelled uncertainty and disinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccination in Europe, say MEPs.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The European Commission denied on Tuesday (12 December) the existence of bilateral vaccine contracts between individual EU countries and manufacturers, emphasising that this is not possible under the joint procurement agreement. This directly contradicts the Portuguese EU presidency, who confirmed such deals last week.

The centre-right government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been increasingly using "tyrannical" methods such as controlling the media to keep the opposition in check, Greece's former foreign minister Nikos Kotzias told EURACTIV.

Just a few days before Joe Biden's inauguration, the Democrats are set to launch impeachment proceedings against outgoing US President Donald Trump. The party introduced a resolution to this effect in the House of Representatives on Monday, charging Trump with "incitement of insurrection" before the assault on the Capitol. Europe's press is divided over the timing of the move and whether it is wise to impeach a president who has already been voted out of office.