European Union

Brexit shouting until we are hoarse, Goulard’s ousting revealed at the source, and fake news website exposed by task force.

A Ukraine- and a Belarus-born businessman who helped President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani investigate political rival Joe Biden were arrested in a scheme to illegally funnel money to a pro-Trump election committee and other US political candidates, prosecutors said on Thursday (10 October).

Hopes of a Brexit deal were dramatically revived on Thursday (10 October) following three hours of talks between Boris Johnson and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Written by Mark English and Nicole Scholz,

On 1 October, the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) hosted the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC) for a policy roundtable on climate change and human health. EASAC brings together national science academies from across the EU, Norway and Switzerland.

With Greta Thunberg on the front pages worldwide, the urgent need to act on climate change is starting to capture the imagination of the public. Yet the specific threats that climate change poses to human health are less well-known, despite experts such as Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, sounding the alarm.

Drawing inspiration from the main findings of EASAC’s own June 2019 report, the roundtable focused on identifying the major health effects of climate change in Europe, analysing who is most at risk and assessing how EU policy might help. Cristian Bușoi, MEP, Vice-Chair of the Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) – a physician as well as a politician – gave the opening speech.

Speakers (the full list and bios are here) emphasised the gravity and immediacy of the threat and called for urgent action. Climate change will bring about a diverse range of risks for human health, through different pathways. Projections in Europe show a geographical gradient that increases towards southern Europe (Mediterranean region), but also with greater effects at the highest latitudes (Arctic). Extreme heat exposure will be particularly pronounced in cities (‘heat island effect’).

Health effects may be direct – from heatwaves, wildfires, storms or floods. They may also be indirect, resulting in a higher risk of vector-borne diseases (dengue fever, for example), due to the spread of disease-carrying insects into previously temperate zones. Negative health impacts from air pollution are also projected to rise, as are allergies (for instance, to ragweed pollen).

Vulnerable people, such as the elderly, children and marginalised groups, will be at a higher risk. Mental health effects likely to arise from climate change are also of serious concern. Moreover, climate change will potentially affect agriculture, thereby weakening food security. There is also a growing risk of forced migration, with a rise expected in the number of climate refugees.

According to the EASAC report’s findings, the top priority is to stabilise climate and accelerate efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing the current and future health effects of climate change can provide substantial economic benefits, and the health co-benefits of decarbonising the European economy are likely to save millions of lives. Recommendations include a ‘health in all policies’ approach.

The need to make better use of existing evidence, invest in research, and base policy more closely on the results was a recurring theme in the discussion. Speakers also stressed the importance of engaging the public in action on climate change and health, and the need to improve communication on health risks, including by doing more to counter misinformation.

The EU-funded INHERIT project (final conference on 10 December) was highlighted during the roundtable. The project explores the close links between climate change and social disadvantage and aims to identify ways of living, moving and consuming that protect the environment and promote health and health equity.

There was also a discussion on how focusing on health issues – which by their nature interest everybody – could help further raise awareness of climate change and widen participation in debate, for instance around the new European Green Deal.

Click to view slideshow. EPRS briefings related to the topic:

• EU policies – Delivering for citizens: briefings and podcasts on Agriculture, Environmental protection and Health and social security, June2019
• Hearings of the Commissioners-designate Frans Timmermans – Vice-President: European Green Deal, Stella Kyriakides – Health and Virginijus Sinkevičius – Environment and Oceans, September 2019
• Living in the EU: Climate change and energy infographic, April 2019
• The concept of ‘climate refugee’: Towards a possible definition, January 2019
• The EU, a world leader in fighting climate change, May 2018

Turkish forces have launched airstrikes this week and advanced deeper into Kurdish-held areas in northeast Syria during the second day of Ankara’s invasion in the region. The EU sat on its hands and then came up with a cautious, watered-down statement. Why?

A conference organised by EURACTIV on ‘Global Eurasia – connectivity as a driver for peace, stability and security’ raised questions such as “greener” connectivity, in line with Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen’s priorities. But diplomats from the region were more focused on infrastructure.

The Irish and British prime ministers, Leo Varadkar and Boris Johnson, said on Thursday they could "see a pathway to a possible deal" on Brexit, after talks in the north of England on Thursday. Although time is running out before next week's EU summit for a last-minute Brexit deal, solving the Northern Ireland border problem, that statement was more optimistic than expected, sending the pound up against the dollar.

After a test run in 2018, EDA has now completed the first fully-fletched Defence Energy Managers’ Course (DEMC)  in which participated a total of 17 students from eight EDA Member States. The course, one of the Agency’s most recent training and education activities, aims at increasing Armed Forces’ energy efficiency and reducing the military’s overall energy consumption through the introduction of defence-specific energy management systems based on the ISO 50001 standard.  

The DEMC provided both theoretical and practical training to energy managers from Member States’ ground forces and air forces as well as navies. The course was launched in November 2018 and attended by personnel from the Armed Forces and/or Ministries of Defence from Belgium, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom.  

The course was split into five distinct modules: three classroom-type sessions and two more practical modules which, in total, lasted some 11 months. Participants increased their knowledge of the complexities of managing energy within a defence organisation (energy management systems were applied to different military installations, from air and naval bases to governmental facilities) and learned how to structure and implement efficient energy management systems. Throughout the course, students were supported by mentors and members of the European Defence Energy Network (EDEN) which also allowed them to have permanent access to the networks’ on-line resources.

The successful completion of the first DEMC marks an important milestone in EDA’s efforts aimed to increase energy sustainability in defence sector and reduce the military’s environmental footprint, also building on the work done in the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CFSEDSS) sponsored by the European Commission and the Agency’s own Energy and Environmental Working Group.

Two additional courses are currently underway; they will be completed by May 2020.

The whole DEMC project is run by EDA’s Industry, Synergies & Enablers Directorate (ISE) and delivered by GEN Europe and the Centre for Renewable Energy Sources & Savings (CRES). 

More information

• Third Defence Management course launched
  
  

Romania's government collapsed on Thursday after losing a no-confidence vote - only weeks ahead of the presidential election. Prime minister Viorica Dancila was the country's third premier in seven months, while her Social Democrats party (PSD) had been in power since 2016. Romania has for several years been plagued by government corruption scandals. President Klaus Iohannis will now choose a replacement government. General elections are only due in late 2020.

A gunman killed two people and injured several on Wednesday, but his failure to open the Synagogue's door spared the German city of Halle from a massacre. EURACTIV's media partner Der Tagesspiegel reports.

The parliamentary committees rejected the candidacy of France's Sylvie Goulard for the Commissioner's post, officially on ethical grounds. However, her refusal is also a sign that German conservatives are finding it difficult to trust French President Emmanuel Macron. EURACTIV France reports.

France's nominee for the European Commission has lost the vote on her candidacy - with 82 MEPs against and 29 in favour - after tough ethics questions in a second hearing.

Greek environment and energy minister Kostis Chatzidakis and his Bulgarian counterpart Temenuzhka Petkova signed on Thursday an agreement about the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), reported Greek daily Kathimerini. This €240m project, partly funded by the EU, will allow Bulgaria to have greater access to natural gas from the Caspian sea. However, the European Investment Bank intends to stop any funding of fossil fuels, including natural gas, by 2020.

A new report from Oxfam reveals that many of the people producing the food on sale in European supermarkets are victims of poverty pay, harsh working conditions, gender discrimination, and human rights abuses.

Europe seems increasingly ready to face the challenges of the 21st century and to lead the way to a ‘greener’ and more sustainable future. But what role can the EU Parliament play in the face of recent unsubstantiated “objections” against GMOs?

Turkey's president Recep Tayyib Erdogan threatened in a speech to "open the gates to Europe for 3.6 million Syrian refugees who asked for asylum in Turkey" if the EU continues to criticise Turkey for its attack in northern Syria, and if it calls it an invasion. The EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini called upon Turkey "to immediately stop its unilateral military action", after it attacked Syria on Wednesday.

The European Commission is taking Poland to the European Court of Justice for undermining the principle of judicial independence. The country introduced a new disciplinary regime for Polish judges, which the commission says "does not ensure the necessary guarantees to protect judges from political control." The decision comes ahead of an election on Sunday, which the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party is expected to win.

The two largest political groups in the European Parliament, the centre-right EPP and centre-left S&D, have demanded the next EU budget, for 2021-2027, is financed through new own resources. The current budget is primarily financed through a levy on member states' gross national income (GNI). The European Commission's new own resource proposals includes a tax on plastics, carbon emissions and a rate applied to the common consolidated corporate tax base.

The Romanian parliament ousted the Social Democrat government of Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă on Thursday (10 October) with 238 votes in support of a no-confidence motion.

The European Commission referred Poland to the EU's Court of Justice on Thursday (10 (October) in order to "protect judges from political control" enforced by Poland's ruling conservative PiS party.