European Union

The EU has appealed to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar to stop fighting, amid concern that a civil war could prompt more people to flee to Europe.

Matteo Salvini’s master plan to bring together the entire European right did not get off to a great start, as no representatives of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally or Austria’s ruling Freedom Party (FPÖ) showed up at a conference he called in Milan today.

A series of 'critical concerns' in the development of Artificial Intelligence may have future unforeseen "high-impact" ramifications, a European Commission-led project has suggested.

British prime minister Theresa May will fly to Paris and Berlin on Tuesday (9 April) to make a dramatic last-minute plea face-to-face with president Emmanuel Macron and chancellor Angela Merkel to grant a short Brexit extension, Downing Street announced on Monday. Her bid comes just 24 hours before an emergency EU summit on Wednesday to consider if, and how long, to grant another Brexit extension to the UK.

Committee and political group meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

The EU’s tropism towards business and technology comes at the price of neglecting its most precious realm: Europe’s public sphere, the precondition of its very existence, write Pieter Boeder, Christiane Lötsch and Péter Techet.

Gabriel Attal, the secretary of state at France's ministry of education, expounds on two of his favourite topics: developing the relationship between schools and SMEs and facilitating patronage. An interview with Gabriel Attal by EURACTIV France’s media partner La Tribune.

EU and Chinese leaders are meeting on Tuesday in Brussels as Europe seeks concrete guarantees from Beijing that it will treat EU firms fairly, and conclude agreements on trade and investment. But that might be a distant prospect.

Written by Eamonn Noonan,

Europe can no longer take prosperity, stability, or even democracy for granted. Fundamental changes in technology, in relations between and within continents, and not least in climate, demand vigorous responses. Challenges and Choices for Europe, a new report by the EU’s European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS), looks closely at the tasks that lie ahead.

The key European institutions, including the Parliament, the Council and the Commission, jointly examine global trends through an informal network, ESPAS. They have now published a major report offering a forensic and fast-moving tour of the future. It does not minimise the challenges ahead – such as the disastrous consequences of a rise of 1.5 degrees in global temperatures. Yet the report is neither despairing nor defeatist.

A three-cornered comparison with the US and China gives a bearing on Europe’s prospects. By economic size, the EU ranks alongside them as part of a G3. Will this still be the case in 2030? If Europe is left behind in the race for breakthrough technologies, many vulnerabilities will arise. Europe will also need to adapt to having a smaller and older population than other continents. At the same time, a new constellation of defence and security threats is emerging; what capacities and capabilities are necessary?

An embedded culture of democracy, underpinned by the rule of law and by codified individual rights, has driven the rise of Europe. Remarkably, these are now contested, even within. As the ESPAS report points out, democratic renewal and stronger social cohesion promise better economic outcomes and greater resilience to external threats.

Europe has advantages – and one of the greatest is the resourcefulness of its people. Talent is distributed evenly – but opportunity is not. More than most, Europe works to overcome this handicap by ensuring that education is for all, not just a privileged few. The ESPAS report stresses the need to go further, to reach a level of education and training suited to the 21st century.

Europe is also remarkable for its diversity of languages, cultures and beliefs. At a time when some seek to demonise diversity, we need to see it as a powerful resource, as Europe rethinks and redesigns its global role.

The ESPAS report was written by Florence Gaub of the EU Institute of Strategic Studies, with input from the EPRS Global Trends Unit and other parts of the ESPAS network.

Read the complete report Global trends to 2030: Challenges and choices for Europe.

Targeted manipulation of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) by Russia is a threat to aviation and maritime safety and underscores the country’s growing expertise in electronic warfare, a new study has found. The report by the US Center for Advanced Defense...

The European Parliament research service recently listed aquaponics – the symbiotic cultivation of fish and plants – as one of the ten technologies that could change our lives, producing local food without any chemical fertilisers, writes Robert Woods.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in several German cities on Saturday to protest rising rents. At the same time an initiative for a referendum was launched in Berlin calling for large real estate companies to be expropriated. Commentators inside and outside Germany discuss how to tackle the challenge of providing affordable living space for all.

Rwanda is commemorating this week the genocide that rocked the country 25 years ago. On 6 April 1994 the mass killing of members of the Tutsi minority by the majority Hutus began. 800,000 people were killed. UN Blue Helmet soldiers stationed in the country failed to intervene. Media look at the factors that sparked the genocide and the role played by the international community.