European Union

A Belgian government plan to boost domestic tourism got up and running on Monday (31 August), as applications for a free railway pass finally opened after a delay of a few months.

Member states have yet to ask the European Commission to help coordinate the relocation of some 350 migrants and refugees stranded for the past 10 days on the charity rescue boat Sea Watch 4. "So far we have not received a request to coordinate the relocation of those rescued by the Sea Watch 4 and by the Louise Michel vessels," a European Commission spokesperson told reporters on Monday.

Ireland's deputy prime minster Simon Coveney is reported to be the frontrunner for the post. MEPs will also discuss where negotiations on the EU's long-term budget with member states are heading.

The German state and federal agriculture ministers agreed to extensively restructure livestock farming on Thursday (27 August). In parallel, a national animal welfare label is to be introduced soon. On Monday (31 August), EU agriculture ministers will discuss a similar project at EU level. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The Proterina-3Evolution project has gathered fourteen Italian and French partners from the coastal region to fight against flood risks together, as they share the same risks and benefit from the same support fund, EURACTIV France reports.

Only if Europe is able to defuse crises in its neighbourhood on its own will Europe remain an attractive ally for the US, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Monday (31 August), after a week in which the bloc...

The Agency’s Steering Board has given its green light to the launch of a new EDA research project which aims to improve and harden Armed Forces’ communication and radar systems with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make them more resilient, even in contested electronic warfare environments. Three Member States - Germany, the Netherlands, Poland – will participate in the project. 

Armed Forces’ radiocommunication and radiolocation services are faced with increasing challenges: the spectrum is becoming denser and more users are contending for limited frequency bandwidth, while the risk of interference is increasing. In addition to that, scenarios are becoming more and more dynamic with mobile high-speed communication, highly agile targets, and electronic warfare methods that are much more efficient than simple noise jamming.  

Cognitive systems supported by AI technologies are a promising option to harden the equipment against such interferences as cognitive radios and radars have the capability to respond to dynamically changing environments. This allows them to offer stable communication based on optimal utilisation of radio frequency spectrum by sensing free spectrum availability and minimizing interference between users, e.g. managing reliable communication dynamically.  

EDA’s new project, called ‘Communications and Radar Systems hardened with Artificial Intelligence in a contested electronic warfare environment’ (CRAI), will produce a study which will significantly help to make progress in the use of AI-supported cognitive systems for the benefit of military communications and radar systems. More precisely, the study notably aims to:  

• investigate future military scenarios and use cases for relevant communication and radar systems, where cognitive methods, combined with AI, offer potential operational benefits; 

• identify potential new communication disturbance based on the past experiences; 

• review and adapt AI methodologies for spectrum Situational Awareness and surveillance; 

• specify the requirements for the common cognitive system acting in contested electronic warfare environments; 

• analyse potential AI techniques that could be used for cognitive communications and radars; 

• design and implement cognitive techniques combined with AI for both communication and radar systems using common interfaces; 

• do the testing, verification and evaluation of AI based communications and radar concepts; 

• and verify, validate and demonstrate the test system in a (field) exercise. 

The project is expected to last for 36 months, starting with the signing of the project arrangement expected to take place in 2021. It will also involve a number of European defence industry players active in the communications and radar domain.  

US President Donald Trump plans to travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday, where protests against racism and police violence began a week ago after a police officer shot black resident Jacob Blake seven times in the back. Two people have been killed in the rioting. Commentators discuss the tense mood after last week's Republican National Convention.

Around 38,000 people gathered in Berlin on Saturday to protest against Germany's coronavirus restrictions. Demonstrators tolerated neo-Nazis who also took part in the event, several riots broke out and aggressive protesters broke through security barriers and ran up the steps to the Reichstag in an attempt to force their way into the building. Press comments reflect shock and indignation.

The Berlinale film festival, which takes place every year in February, has decided that its performance prizes will be gender-neutral from next year on. Instead of for "best actor" and "best actress", the festival's Silver Bear trophies will be awarded for best leading and best supporting performance. The move aims to promote more gender awareness in the film industry, the organisers said. The decision has drawn a barrage of criticism in the commentary columns.