European Parliamentary Research Service Blog

Written by Vasilis Margaras and Emmanuel Alvarez.

Discussions on the next EU multiannual financial framework are expected to begin soon. These talks on the allocation of future budget resources have a direct impact on all European Union policies, including EU cohesion policy. A reflection on the future of cohesion policy is underway, engaging EU institutions and advisory bodies, EU Member States, regional and local authorities, and stakeholders. The European Commission set up a high-level group of specialists to examine the direction of cohesion policy, which came up with a number of conclusions in March 2024. These conclusions fed into the ninth report on economic, social and territorial cohesion, which acts as a compass for the Commission’s reform options for the future design of cohesion policy. Nevertheless, there are still some crucial decisions ahead.

This reflection process not only entails technical matters, but also touches upon many other policy issues, some of which have highly political content. Negative scenarios for the cohesion budget, competing thematic priority allocations, a possible recentralisation of funds, or the future relationship with the Recovery and Resilience Facility, all have the potential for political friction. Issues requiring discussion include simplification and flexibility, better coordination of European Structural and Investment Funds with other instruments, and a more focused ‘place-based’ approach to cohesion policy. Local and regional authorities across all EU Member States highly value and support EU cohesion policy. However, political division between budget net-recipient Member States and net contributors could lead to cohesion policy being contested, especially in the light of new emerging priorities for the EU (e.g. in immigration, security and defence, or enlargement).

The appointment of a new College of Commissioners on 1 December 2024 and the beginning of a new legislative process provide a unique opportunity for regional and local stakeholders to influence national positions and those of the European institutions at an early stage.

This is an update of an October 2023 briefing by Balazs Szechy.

Read the complete briefing on ‘The future of cohesion policy: Current state of the debate‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

GDP per head (PPS) 2021 Population change in EU NUTS3 regions (2010-2021)

Written by Anja Radjenovic.

Over the past decade, the EU’s asylum and migration systems have been severely tested by several major events, including the 2015-2016 migrant crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and recent tensions at the EU’s eastern border. To address these challenges, in 2020 the European Commission proposed a pact on migration and asylum, a comprehensive legislative framework designed to streamline and harmonise the reception of asylum seekers in the EU. The pact was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in December 2023 and published in May 2024. This landmark agreement, heralding significant reforms, consists of 10 legislative acts that bring together policies on migration, asylum, integration, and border management. Its core objectives are to foster greater responsibility sharing, solidarity and effective border management among the EU Member States.

To facilitate the pact’s rollout, the Commission has developed a common implementation plan categorising the various obligations stemming from the pact into 10 distinct building blocks. The plan also identifies key milestones on the way to establishing the necessary legal and operational frameworks that would allow Member States to start applying the pact by mid-2026.

Despite the adoption of the 10 legislative acts, support for them is not homogeneous across the Member States. Additionally, there is pressure for further changes, and the migration debate has been increasingly politicised. Experts and stakeholders have highlighted key challenges and potential scenarios for the implementation of the pact and raised doubts as to whether the new rules will be able to tackle the complexities of migration while also protecting fundamental rights.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Implementation of the EU pact on migration and asylum‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Read also ‘EU response to the migrant challenge‘ on Europarl.

Written by Elena Lazarou with Panagiotis Politis Lamprou.

The Strategic Compass, adopted by the 27 EU Member States in March 2022 – only weeks after the onset of Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked aggression on Ukraine –emphasised the need for robust partnerships, for the EU to be able to achieve its objectives in the area of security and defence. Alongside ‘acting’ (operations), ‘securing’ (resilience) and ‘investing’, ‘partnering’ is one of the four main pillars of the Compass. The document itself outlines specific targets and deadlines to measure progress in this area.

While the EU has partnered with other security and defence actors (essentially states and international organisations) in the past, a new model of tailored security and defence partnership was launched shortly after the adoption of the Compass, as a reinforced framework for enhanced partnership. To date, the EU has signed six such partnerships – with (by date of signature) Norway, Moldova, South Korea, Japan, Albania and North Macedonia, and more are envisaged. While the partnerships vary in content, depending on the assessed mutual interests of the EU and each individual partner, some ten areas of cooperation are common to all six.

The European Parliament has highlighted the significance of the Strategic Compass’s partnership dimension and, in particular, the value of security and defence dialogues with partners from the Western Balkans, the Eastern Partnership, as well as with key partners in strategic maritime areas such as the Southern Neighbourhood and the Indo-Pacific. Parliament has underlined that cooperation with countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Ukraine, Georgia, the Western Balkans, Japan, Australia and certain African countries serves as a key element of the common security and defence policy. In 2023, it called for deeper military and defence cooperation with Japan and South Korea, and for closer cooperation with partners in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Read the complete briefing on ‘The EU’s new bilateral security and defence partnerships‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Hendrik Mildebrath.

The ‘datafication’ of everyday life and data scandals have made the protection of personal information an increasingly important social, legal and political matter for the EU. In recent years, awareness of data rights has grown considerably.

The right to privacy and the right to protection of personal data are both enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and in the EU Treaties. The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 gave the Charter the same legal value as the Treaties and abolished the pillar structure, providing a stronger basis for a more effective and comprehensive EU data protection regime.

In 2012, the European Commission launched an ambitious reform to modernise the EU data protection framework. In 2016, the European Parliament and the Council, as co-legislators, adopted the EU’s most prominent data protection legislation yet – the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – and the Law Enforcement Directive. The framework overhaul also included adopting an updated Regulation on Data Protection in the EU institutions and reforming the e-Privacy Directive.

The European Parliament played a key role in these reforms, both as co-legislator and author of own‑initiative reports and resolutions, seeking to guarantee a high level of data protection for EU citizens. The European Court of Justice plays a crucial role in developing the EU data protection framework through case law.

In the coming years, challenges in the area of data protection will include rectifying GDPR enforcement deficits, balancing the compliance and data needs of emerging technologies, granting data access for security purposes without excessively compromising privacy and data protection, and mitigating compliance burdens for small and medium-sized enterprises.

This is a further updated edition of a briefing originally written in 2020 by Sofija Voronova and updated in 2023.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Understanding EU data protection policy‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Alina-Alexandra Georgescu.

It is now 80 years since the liberation of Nazi Germany’s concentration and extermination camp, Auschwitz‑Birkenau, in Poland. A major commemoration event is taking place at the former camp on International Holocaust Remembrance Day; it will be attended by numerous Heads of State or Government, and other dignitaries, in a context of growing antisemitism across Europe.

Commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz

On Monday 27 January 2025 – International Holocaust Remembrance Day – a memorial event will take place at Auschwitz-Birkenau to mark 80 years since the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp was liberated. All remaining Auschwitz survivors have been invited to the event and some 50 are expected to attend. The main event will take place in front of the gate to the former Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp. To symbolise this moment of remembrance, a goods train wagon will stand in front of the gate. The German Nazis used this type of goods wagon to bring deported Jews to the camp. The wagons were manufactured in Germany and connected ghettos and hiding places with the ‘place of death‘. This particular wagon is dedicated to the memory of approximately 420 000 Hungarian Jews who were deported to Auschwitz between May and July 1944.

By the time the camp was liberated on 27 January 1945 by Red Army soldiers, the Nazis had murdered approximately 1.1 million people in Auschwitz. These people were mostly Jews, but also Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and people of other nationalities. There were only 7 000 prisoners left at the camp by the time of its liberation.

A number of survivors will be speaking at the ceremony. In addition, numerous public figures from the European Union (EU) and the Member States will attend, including the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the president of the European Council, António Costa. The events around 27 January in Poland are being organised under the auspices of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU. Many memorial events will be taking place across Europe around this date.

Importance of Holocaust Remembrance Day in the current context

For the whole world, Auschwitz – a place tragically inscribed in the history of Poland and of Europe – is the most potent symbol of the Holocaust and the atrocities of the Second World War. This 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp is an opportunity for a collective commemoration of the victims, and a global reflection on the significance of the Nazi genocide of Jews and Roma in Europe. The annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day is a reminder of the danger of indifference and the need for constant vigilance to overcome stereotypes and prejudice. The refrain of ‘never again’ is one that had a direct bearing on the creation of what has become the European Union today, at its origin a project of peace and reconciliation after World War II.

These efforts to remember the Holocaust and learn from history are critically important in the current context, characterised by antisemitism and Holocaust denial, and distortion and trivialisation of history, caused or amplified by digital technology, social media, and foreign interference and propaganda. In July 2024, the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) published the results of its latest survey of Jewish people’s experiences and perceptions of antisemitism. It covered 13 EU Member States, accounting for around 96 % of the EU’s Jewish population. This survey, conducted even before the Hamas attacks in October 2023 and the war in Gaza, found persistent high rates of antisemitism. Confronted with prejudice and hostilities, most Jewish people do not feel able to live openly Jewish lives.

European Union action to counter intolerance and antisemitism

In line with its fundamental values of respect for human dignity and freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the EU has stepped up its efforts to counter these worrying trends. According to his mission letter, the Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, is responsible for leading both the European Commission’s fight against antisemitism and the dialogue with religious and philosophical organisations under Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. Since 2015, the Commission has had a Coordinator on combating antisemitism and in 2021 it adopted an EU strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life (2021-2030). This strategy envisages numerous measures in the sphere of education, research and remembrance of the Holocaust (Shoah). The EU has been a permanent international partner of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) since 2018, working closely with other IHRA members to combat Holocaust denial and prevent racism, xenophobia and antisemitism.

Role of the European Parliament

In 1995, Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the establishment of a European Holocaust Remembrance Day in all Member States. In January 2005, on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Parliament adopted a resolution proposing 27 January as European Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust in the EU. In November the same year, the United Nations General Assembly designated 27 January as an annual international day of commemoration to honour Holocaust victims. Since 2005, the European Parliament has marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day every year. This year, Parliament is holding a formal Holocaust commemoration ceremony during a plenary session on 29 January, with a formal address by Holocaust survivor Corrie Hermann.

Simone Veil, who was elected European Parliament President following the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979 – and who was the first woman to hold that office – was herself a survivor of Auschwitz. She expressed her firm conviction that teaching about the Holocaust was essential for Holocaust remembrance. The European Parliament’s current Vice-President responsible for Holocaust Remembrance Day and the fight against antisemitism is Pina Picierno (S&D, Italy). The House of European History, a European Parliament initiative in Brussels, has devoted part of its permanent exhibition to the Holocaust.

In an October 2017 resolution, Parliament called on the Member States to mark 2 August as the date to remember the victims of the Roma Holocaust and to include this community in the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January. The same year, in a resolution on antisemitism adopted on 1 June, Parliament called on the Member States to adopt and apply the working definition of antisemitism employed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, in order to identify and prosecute antisemitic attacks more efficiently and effectively. An October 2018 resolution on the rise of neo-fascist violence in Europe drew attention to growing violence against Jews and called on the Member States to counter Holocaust denial and trivialisation, and to mainstream the issue in education.

Parliament regularly adopts resolutions on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union, focusing on a wide range of issues pertaining to respect for human dignity, freedom, minority rights and antisemitism. Parliament’s September 2022 resolution on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in 2020 and 2021, for instance, gave a general overview of antisemitism, racism, anti‑LGBTIQ, anti Gypsyism and xenophobia.

In 2023, Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs began work to extend the list of EU crimes in Article 83 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to include hate speech and hate crime. Its report was a reaction to the 2021 Commission communication ‘A more inclusive and protective Europe: extending the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime‘, ‘whether because of race, religion, gender or sexuality’. In this framework, Parliament and the Council may establish minimum rules concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions, to be applicable in all EU Member States. Parliament voted in support of the report in plenary on 18 January 2024. The European Parliament’s Working Group against Antisemitism, composed of more than 80 Members from across the political groups, cooperates with all EU institutions, other European Parliament intergroups, national parliaments, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). It is active in countering and preventing antisemitic acts and behaviours, and protecting those affected.

Read this ‘at a glance’ note on ‘International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2025: 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Clare Ferguson and Katarzyna Sochacka.

The first plenary session of 2025 featured a debate on the conclusions of the European Council meeting of 19 December 2024, with António Costa participating for the first time in his new capacity of President of the European Council. A debate on the programme of the Polish Council Presidency followed, with the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, who underlined the Presidency’s focus on prioritising EU security and defence.

Parliament’s President and political group leaders adopted a statement on the ceasefire in Gaza. Members also debated the consequences for Europe of US President Donald Trump’s second mandate. Members debated the need to counter the Russian shadow fleet’s sabotage of critical undersea infrastructure; the critical political situation in Venezuela and in Georgia; and the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. They also debated 2024’s record-breaking heat and the need for climate action; EU energy independence and innovation; the failed negotiations on a United Nations plastic treaty; the need to set global standards for cryptocurrencies; EU funding transparency; and the Hungarian government’s illegal espionage of EU institutions.

Belarus: Continued oppression and fake elections

Parliament has long criticised President Lukashenka’s regime and expressed concern about the human rights situation. As the situation in Belarus has deteriorated, Parliament has also called for the release of political prisoners, and accountability for human rights issues. Following a statement from the Commission, Members held a debate on the continued oppression and fake elections in Belarus, and adopted a resolution calling the presidential ‘elections’ (due to take place on 26 January) a sham.

Addressing EU demographic challenges: Implementing the Demography Toolbox

As the EU’s population ages, increasing mismatch between workers and jobs is beginning to stretch public budgets. Demographic change also has consequences for competitiveness, environmental and technological progress, and communities. Parliament has urged the use of cohesion policy instruments and EU funds to address these challenges. Members debated a Commission statement on the EU’s demographic challenge.

Facilitation of irregular migration by criminal networks

Over 90 % of irregular migrants to the EU pay for the assistance of smugglers. The migrant smuggling business brings considerable profits to the violent criminal groups involved – at great risk to the lives of those who use them. Parliament has consistently called for more cooperation and data-sharing to combat this challenge. Members debated EU measures to tackle criminal networks’ facilitation of irregular migration.

COP 16 desertification conference: Outcomes

Members debated a Commission statement on combating desertification, which follows the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention. While COP16 agreed financial support for land restoration and drought resilience initiatives, no legally binding framework was established to tackle drought.

Opening of trilogue negotiations

One decision to enter into interinstitutional negotiations ahead of Council’s first reading was announced, from the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee on a proposal for a regulation on preventing plastic pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution.

This ‘at a glance’ note is intended to review some of the highlights of the plenary part-session, and notably to follow up on key dossiers identified by EPRS. It does not aim to be exhaustive. For more detailed information on specific files, please see other EPRS products, notably our ‘EU legislation in progress’ briefings, and the plenary minutes.

Read this ‘at a glance’ note on ‘Plenary round-up – January 2025‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Anita Orav.

In recent years, the European Union has faced a significant number of asylum applications, with over 513 000 applications received in the first half of 2024 alone. Women and girls make up a substantial proportion of asylum seekers, with one in three asylum-seekers being female.

In international law, the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention is the main instrument regulating asylum. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Istanbul Convention provide a framework for protecting the rights of women who seek protection.

The EU has developed a common European asylum system that has gradually incorporated gender-sensitive elements in legal texts such as the Qualification Directive, the Asylum Procedures Directive and the Reception Conditions Directive. These directives offer special protection to vulnerable individuals, including women and children.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has played a crucial role in advancing a gender-sensitive approach in EU asylum law, acknowledging the specific experiences and circumstances of women and other vulnerable individuals seeking protection in the EU. The CJEU has recognised gender-based violence as a form of persecution and grounds for asylum or subsidiary protection. It has also acknowledged the importance of considering the individual circumstances and experiences of asylum seekers, particularly women and girls, who may face persecution or harm owing to their adherence to certain values or lifestyles. This aligns with a more gender-sensitive approach in EU asylum law and policy in recent years. Nevertheless continued progress is needed to address the human rights challenges faced by women and girls in asylum procedures.

Read the complete briefing on ‘The gender dimension of asylum claims‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

First-time asylum applicants in the EU by age and sex (non-EU citizens), 2023, (%)

Written by Gabija Leclerc.

Natural hazards, armed conflicts, human-induced or amplified disasters, and often, complex crises – a combination of these may result in humanitarian emergencies. Meeting complex humanitarian needs, especially in resource-scarce environments, requires intervention beyond national capacities. Therefore, broader humanitarian action is essential to save lives, preserve the health and dignity of victims, assist recovery, and improve prevention, preparedness and resilience. This action encompasses humanitarian assistance, its financing, advocacy, policy and legal frameworks, coordination, monitoring and evaluation efforts.

The main international humanitarian efforts are run by the United Nations, facilitating resource mobilisation, coordination and consistency of humanitarian action. However, regional and bilateral actions are equally important, especially given that, due to growing humanitarian needs and scarce financial resources, the humanitarian system is facing a severe funding crisis, compromising the delivery of assistance.

The EU is an important humanitarian donor and actor, with its toolbox consisting of humanitarian assistance, both through financing and operational means; international advocacy for more coordinated, efficient and prominent humanitarian assistance and increased resource mobilisation; support for the respect of international humanitarian law; and policy measures, most notably humanitarian exceptions to sanctions.

Since the creation of its humanitarian office in 1992, the EU has provided needs-based humanitarian assistance to more than 110 countries and territories, in line with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence and with a focus on gender-, age- and environment-sensitive approaches, among other things.

The European Parliament is significantly involved in the EU’s humanitarian action. As a co-legislator and a budgetary authority, as well as through its resolutions, diplomacy, outreach and numerous other activities, the Parliament shapes EU humanitarian policy, decides on the financing, and brings important issues into the spotlight.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Understanding EU humanitarian action‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Agnieszka Widuto.

Clean technologies are at the forefront of the EU’s ambition to pursue both decarbonisation and industrial competitiveness. The global clean tech market is expected to triple by 2035, covering sectors such as solar, wind, batteries, heat pumps and electrolysers for the production of hydrogen. While the roll-out of clean technologies is increasing in the EU, its global market share is falling and manufacturing is lagging behind. This is due to a combination of factors, such as high energy prices, import dependency on raw materials and key components, skills shortages and fierce international competition, fuelled by robust public support policies adopted by the EU’s main global competitors, such as China and the United States.

The EU has already taken some steps to boost manufacturing of clean technologies. The Net-Zero Industry Act of June 2024 seeks to enhance the manufacturing capacity of strategic net-zero technologies by streamlining administrative procedures, boosting investment and improving skills. It sets a target for domestic manufacturing capacity of strategic net-zero technologies to reach 40 % of EU annual deployment needs by 2030 and 15 % of global production by 2040. The Critical Raw Materials Act of April 2024 addresses the issue of import dependencies by seeking to diversify supplies and boost domestic capacity in mining, processing and recycling of critical raw materials.

However, some challenges remain for EU clean tech. These include ensuring adequate private and public funding, swiftly implementing the recently adopted legislative framework and reinforcing a favourable regulatory environment for investment. The Clean Industrial Deal to be announced in February 2025 by the new European Commission, together with the Competitiveness Fund under the future multiannual EU budget, are expected to provide an additional boost to clean technologies in Europe.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Clean tech in the energy sector‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

In 2024, people from across the European Union (EU) and all over the world turned to the European Parliament and its President, Roberta Metsola to request information, call for action to be taken, express their opinions, or suggest ideas on a wide range of topics.

The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (Ask EP) replied in the 24 official EU languages. It was indeed a special year for the European Parliament with the European elections taking place in June 2024 across the 27 EU countries.

People wrote to us on many topics, notably on how to visit the European Parliament, the European elections, the war in Ukraine, the situation in Gaza, seasonal time changes, or the political situation in Hungary. Ask EP also received questions related to the European Parliament and its Members, its traineeship offers and how to visit Parliament. In 2024, we received 10 578 individual messages and 90 709 campaign enquiries.

Most frequent topics in individual enquiries in 2024

The most frequently addressed topic in 2024 was issues concerning EU democracy, institutional and parliamentary law – followed by questions on migration and justice. Citizens expressed interest in the Members of the European Parliament and their activities, enquired about traineeship and job opportunities and the possibilities to visit Parliament. They also requested information on topics such as parliamentary questions, committee meetings and the right to petition the Parliament.

Many citizens also contacted Ask EP in 2024 on issues related to foreign affairs. In particular, people voiced their concerns about conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and their consequences.

Finally, the European Parliament received many enquiries about citizens’ personal situations, with requests for assistance to help them solve problems (financial support, legal aid, cross-border administrative issues, cases of discrimination, etc.). Although neither the European Parliament nor its President are able to resolve many of these types of requests directly, the Ask EP service provided citizens with a contact point and sources of information whenever possible.

Campaign messages sent to the European Parliament in 2024

As a response to political, humanitarian and economic events, citizens often send messages to the President of the European Parliament, expressing their views on current issues and/or requesting action from the Parliament.

In the largest campaign ever received by Ask EP, citizens wrote to the European Parliament to encourage Members to vote against including the right to abortion in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Over 59 000 citizens wrote on the issue. A resolution adopted in April 2024 by the European Parliament calls on the European Council (heads of state or government) to launch a procedure to include the right to safe and legal abortion in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. However, altering the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is a complex process, which would need modification of the Treaties and subsequent ratification in all EU countries.

Back in early 2024, Parliament received almost 16 000 messages in German, from citizens concerned about a proposal to regulate the recognition of parenthood across EU countries. Citizens urged Members to vote against the European Commission’s proposal. In their messages, citizens claimed that the proposal interferes with the legislative powers of EU countries.

The third largest campaign of 2024 was on climate targets, with Ask EP receiving almost 6 000 messages. Citizens wrote calling on the European Union to set a strict EU 2040 climate target to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5°C and to phase out fossil fuels. On fossil fuels, the Parliament calls for an end to all direct and indirect fossil fuel subsidies, at national and EU level, as soon as possible. The European Parliament also supports a global target to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency by 2030, together with a swift halt to all new investment in fossil fuel extraction.

Parliament received several campaigns on the arrest of Captain Paul Watson, an anti-whaling activist, in Greenland. Around 1 250 citizens wrote to the President of the European Parliament, asking her to intervene with the Danish authorities to stop Captain Watson from being extradited to Japan. In December 2024, Paul Watson was released from detention in Greenland.

Over 2 500 citizens wrote to the European Parliament President about animal welfare and the use of cages. They supported prioritising the ‘End the Cage Age’ European citizens’ initiative in its legislative work. In a 2021 resolution, Parliament called on the European Commission to propose a law to phase out the use of cages on EU farms, with the aim of ending cage-farming by 2027, following up the ‘End the Cage Age’ European citizens’ initiative. Parliament also set up a committee of inquiry on protecting animals during transport. Following on from the committee of inquiry, in January 2022, Parliament then called on the Council of the EU and the Commission to strengthen the protection of animals during transport both within and outside the EU.

Are you curious about our answers to other campaign messages in 2024? You can find replies to campaigns on the EPRS blog. A selection of answers to questions frequently posed to the European Parliament can also be found on the blog.

If you wish, you can put your questions and/or comments to the Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (Ask EP), using our contact form, the Citizens’ app, or by post. We reply in the EU language that you use to write to us.

We look forward to your enquiries in 2025 and beyond!

Your Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (Ask EP)

Written by Isabelle Gaudeul-Ehrhart.

At the beginning of a new year and, from an institutional perspective, of a new mandate, what should we focus on and understand to navigate the coming months? Out of so many competing issues on Parliament’s agenda, the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) selected 10 for closer examination.

The event was introduced by Jutta Schulze-Hollmen, Director at EPRS. She highlighted that if there is a tendency to consider every year as a special year, it is certainly not less the case in 2025. In these challenging times, she pointed to some notes of hope in the publication. Lasse Boehm, Head of the Economic Policies Unit, EPRS, moderated the event. He guided the audience through a 10-stage journey, starting with economic issues, zooming in on a few sectoral issues, and then zooming out again to look at the financial means to address the challenges, ending with the overarching issue of trust.

Martin Hoflmayr introduced the challenge of balancing scale with innovation for productivity. Liselotte Jensen explained what is as stake when it comes to setting the 2040 climate target. Marcin Szczepanski helped the audience understand what is behind the emerging concept of ‘European economic security’ – an issue complemented by Sebastian Clapp‘s talk on strengthening the European defence industry.

With the scene now set, the event focused on three sectoral policies: Maria Niestadt on helping the EU compete on artificial intelligence, Mathias Gullentops on European electric cars, and Costica Dumbrava on speeding up the return of irregular migrants.

The question of how to finance these challenges was addressed by Marianna Pari, who explored what it takes to shape the EU’s future finances. Alessandro D’Alfonso then discussed the need to strengthen capacity to invest in the future.

Naja Bentzen concluded the series of issues by addressing the all-important issue of trust.

After a time for audience questions and policy analysts’ answers and comments, Vice-President Victor Negrescu closed the event. He started by paying tribute to the work of EPRS policy analysts, pleased that such an event could give their back-stage work more visibility. Commenting on various issues from the publication, he concluded with thoughts on the growing need for democracy and on Europe’s potential to rise to the challenges.

The recording will be available soon.

Read the complete in-depth analysis on ‘Ten issues to watch in 2025‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Clare Ferguson.

A new year means a new start at the European Parliament, with the January session agenda seeing Members welcoming a new EU Council presidency and considering a number of current and foreign affairs issues, including issuing a statement welcoming the ceasefire in Gaza. Members are expected to hear Council and European Commission statements on the implications for transatlantic relations of the new Trump administration, Russian sabotage in the Baltic, on the political situation in Venezuela and in Georgia, and on the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

Looking ahead, a key debate scheduled for Wednesday morning focuses on the Polish EU Council Presidency‘s programme of activities for the coming six months. The programme covers seven linked aspects of security: external, internal, information, economic, energy, food and health, in line with its ‘Security, Europe’ motto and its priority to boost EU defence readiness in a deteriorating geopolitical situation. This follows a key debate on the conclusions of the December European Council meeting (the first chaired by its new President, António Costa), which followed an EU-Western Balkans Summit on 18 December.

As the human rights situation worsens in Belarus, with a continued climate of oppression in the country, the European Parliament has long criticised President Lukashenka’s regime and expressed concern about the human rights situation. It has called for the release of political prisoners and accountability for human rights issues, highlighting the cases of prisoners such as Nobel laureate Ales Bialiatski. The Parliament’s engagement with Belarusian democratic forces includes a cooperation agreement signed by President Roberta Metsola. In advance of presidential ‘elections’ due to take place on 26 January and following a statement from the Commission, Members are due to hold a debate on the need for EU action on the continued oppression and fake elections in Belarus, on Tuesday afternoon.

Online platforms have become an important space for public debate worldwide. Protecting this freedom of expression from foreign interference and bias has become a hot topic in recent months. Following Council and Commission statements on the need to enforce the Digital Services Act, Members are due to participate in a debate on Tuesday morning on protecting democracy online.

As the EU’s population ages, increasing mismatch between workers and jobs is beginning to stretch public budgets. Demographic change also has consequences for EU competitiveness, environmental and technological progress, and communities. Parliament has urged the simplification of cohesion policy instruments and enhancing coordination of EU funds to address these challenges. Members are set to debate the EU’s demographic challenge following a Commission statement on addressing demographic issues, scheduled on Wednesday afternoon.

Over 90 % of irregular migrants to the EU pay for the assistance of migrant smugglers. The migrant smuggling business brings considerable profits to the violent criminal groups involved – at great risk to the lives of those who use them to reach the EU. Parliament has consistently called for more cooperation and data sharing to combat this challenge. Following a Commission update on Wednesday, Members are due to debate criminal networks’ facilitation of irregular migration.

Finally, on Thursday morning, Members are due to hear a Commission statement on combating desertification, which follows the conclusion of the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention. While COP16 agreed financial support for land restoration and drought resilience initiatives, no legally binding framework was established to tackle drought.

• Outcome of the EU leaders’ meetings of 18-19 December 2024
• Priority dossiers under the Polish EU Council Presidency
• The Polish Parliament and EU affairs
• Belarus: Continued oppression and fake elections
• Information integrity online and the European democracy shield
• Addressing EU demographic challenges: towards the implementation of the 2023 Demography Toolbox
• Facilitation of irregular migration by criminal networks
• COP 16 desertification conference: Outcomes

Written by Anne Altmayer.

The Baltic has several unique features, comprising a mixture of saline and fresh water and a shallow depth, enabling a broad variety of habitats. Its fish species are rather limited in number, with the bulk of fish stocks spread among cod, herring and sprat.

The sea’s characteristics make it particularly vulnerable to environmental changes and many habitats and species of the Baltic Sea are not in good condition. The environmental deterioration is caused by several factors, including excessive nutrient input, pollution, climate change, invasive species and over-exploitation.

The worrying situation of the Baltic Sea habitats is leading to a dramatic decline in some commercial fish stocks, with fisheries losing economic and cultural importance.

A range of promising measures for specific fish species have been taken at EU level, the results of which could however be jeopardised if habitats cannot be restored.

Parliament has previously expressed concern about the state of the Baltic Sea over many years, and has played an important role in adopting measures to alleviate the situation.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Baltic Sea fishing area: Current challenges‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Top 10 species in landed weight and value, for EU Member States’ fleets operating in the Baltic Sea 2021 (tonnes, €)

Written by Ralf Drachenberg.

The focus of the December 2024 European Council meeting lay on two main issues: Ukraine and the European Union in the world. On Ukraine, the main message was that the EU will give full support to Ukraine for as long as necessary. In that context, EU leaders condemned Russia and those who support its war, and also discussed the path to peace. Regarding the EU in the world, EU leaders first examined developments in the Middle East, with a strong focus on the situation in Syria, and, over dinner, held a strategic discussion on the EU’s global engagement in the current geopolitical context. Notably, they discussed EU relations with the United States after the US elections, as well as the current ‘new positive energy’ in relations between the EU and the United Kingdom.

Additionally, based on the report by former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, EU Heads of State or Government considered ways of increasing EU resilience, preparedness and crisis prevention. They also discussed migration, reviewing progress in the implementation of past conclusions and calling for legislation with a migration component to be given priority. In addition, they endorsed the ‘strategic guidelines for legislative and operational planning within the area of freedom, security and justice’ for the 2024-2029 period. Finally, EU leaders discussed enlargement, developments in Moldova and Georgia, and the situation in Venezuela.  

The European Council meeting, which was the first one chaired by its new President, António Costa, was preceded by an EU-Western Balkans summit on 18 December.

1.      EU-Western Balkans Summit

The day before the European Council meeting, EU leaders met in Brussels for a summit with the Western Balkans (WB) countries, aiming to emphasise the strategic importance of the partnership between the EU and the WB region. EU leaders discussed ways of: i) boosting the EU-WB partnership through the growth plan; ii) increasing the EU’s political and policy engagement with the WB (including areas such as foreign and security policy); iii) building a strong economic base; iv) easing the impacts of Russia’s war on Ukraine and building resilience to Russia’s hybrid threats; v) cooperating in areas such as migration and tackling organised crime, terrorism and corruption; vi) building the social dimension of EU integration. At the summit, EU leaders also discussed the overall geopolitical challenges facing the EU and the WB, and agreed on a 17-page declaration.

2.     European Council meeting General

At the start of the meeting, EU leaders marked the 50th anniversary of the creation of the European Council as an informal body of Heads of State or Government. It formally became an EU institution with the Lisbon Treaty. The meeting began with the customary address by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. Subsequently, EU leaders held an exchange of views with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The meeting concluded with a report by the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, on the achievements of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Ukraine

The discussion on Ukraine covered three broad topics: i) the path to peace; ii) EU support to Ukraine; and iii) the condemnation of Russia’s aggression and of those supporting it. With peace recently coming more to the fore in EU discussions, the European Council emphasised that Ukraine, as the country that had been invaded, must be part of any peace initiative for it to be credible. It reiterated its support for a lasting peace based on the UN Charter, international law and the principles of the Ukraine Peace Formula. The conclusions contained a notable shift in tone – ‘Russia must not prevail’ – and did not refer to any ‘scenarios’ or to peace-keeping forces, which are considered premature.

The European Council reiterated the EU’s commitment to providing ‘political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes and as intensely as needed’. EU leaders reviewed efforts to deliver military support, calling for increased efforts to deliver air defence systems, ammunition, missiles, and training and equipment for Ukrainian brigades. They also reiterated the importance of developing Ukraine’s defence industry and its cooperation with the EU defence industry. Moreover, they called, once again, on the Council to accelerate work on strengthening the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine), which aims to strengthen the capacity of the Ukrainian armed forces through the provision of training support (almost 70 000 soldiers have been trained since the mission launched).

EU leaders welcomed the implementation of the Ukraine Facility, which delivered payments of €16.2 billion in 2024 but is expected to deliver almost €4 billion less in 2025. They also welcomed the swift implementation of the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) loans initiative agreed by the G7 in Italy in October 2024. The ERA initiative, which is funded by profits from immobilised Russian assets, will result in €45 billion of support to Ukraine’s current and future military, budget and reconstruction needs. The first tranche of funds is due to be released in January 2025. Furthermore, EU leaders highlighted the importance of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (to be hosted by Italy in July 2025) as part of the EU’s commitment to support Ukraine’s repair, recovery and reconstruction.

The European Council reiterated its condemnation of Russia’s deliberate attacks against Ukraine’s civilian and energy infrastructure, which seek to weaponise winter conditions. It called for increased support to keep Ukraine’s energy infrastructure running and for Ukraine and Moldova’s energy systems to be further integrated into the EU’s network. Member States were praised for their exports of electricity to Ukraine.

EU leaders welcomed the adoption by the Council of the 15th package of sanctions against Russia, underlining the need for further measures to counter the circumvention of sanctions, including through third countries, and for their full enforcement. Furthermore, they condemned, and urged the cessation of, actions and support by third countries for Russia’s war of aggression, with Iran and North Korea specifically mentioned for their arms transfers to Russia and deepening military cooperation, including the deployment of North Korean forces to Russia for use against Ukraine.

Main message of the EP President: We need a path to real peace. But the guiding principle must remain ‘Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine’.

Middle East

Developments in the Middle East, notably in Syria, were a central discussion point for EU leaders. The European Council saw in the new situation in Syria – after an offensive which toppled the Assad regime on 27 November – an historic opportunity to reunite and rebuild an inclusive Syrian-led political process in line with the principles of UN Security Council Resolution 2254. EU leaders agreed on the main points of the EU approach to the Syrian transition, which must aim to: i) preserve national unity; ii) ensure the protection of all civilians; iii) ensure the provision of public services; iv) create the conditions for an inclusive and peaceful political transition; and v) create the conditions for safe, voluntary and dignified returns of Syrian refugees. Considering the potential impact on Europe, EU leaders stressed the need to prevent the re-emergence of terrorist groups and to ensure the destruction of Syria’s remaining chemical weapons. In this respect, they invited the Commission and the High Representative to submit to the Council potential support measures for Syria.

On Lebanon, the European Council welcomed the 27 November 2024 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, which followed mediation efforts, in particular by France and the United States. EU leaders urged all parties to implement the ceasefire, which is still holding, despite violations. They also underlined their continuing support for the Lebanese state’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and state-building efforts, calling on Lebanese political leaders to overcome the political and economic impasse. Until the recent election of Joseph Aoun, the country had been without a president for several years and remains subject to a severe and lingering economic crisis.

Concerning Gaza, the European Council, reiterating its previous conclusions, called for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages, improved and sustained access for humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and an end to hostilities in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2735. EU leaders also declared their continuing commitment to international law and lasting peace based on the two-state solution. The European Council reiterated its continued support for the Palestinian Authority and for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides support to the civilian population of Gaza. Once again, it expressed concern over the consequences of Israeli legislation impeding the humanitarian work of the UNRWA.

Main message of the EP President: Dialogue, unity, respect for fundamental rights, and international law must guide the way forward. Now is our moment to step up.

EU in the world

Although there were no lengthy conclusions on the topic, President Costa noted that the EU’s global engagement had been an important focal point during this European Council meeting. EU leaders held a strategic discussion on the EU’s global engagement and priorities in the current geopolitical context. They also discussed EU relations with the United States, stressing the EU’s commitment to continue working with the US under the Trump administration, as well as relations with the United Kingdom and the current trend of ‘new positive energy’ since Keir Starmer became Prime Minister.

Resilience, preparedness, crisis prevention and response

The former President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, presented his report ‘Safer together: Strengthening Europe’s civilian and military preparedness and readiness’ to EU leaders. In the context of an evolving threat landscape and of an increasing number of natural disasters due to climate change and environmental degradation, the European Council reaffirmed the urgency of strengthening resilience, preparedness, crisis prevention and response capacities. With a view to the future preparedness strategy, EU leaders invited the Commission, the High Representative and the Council to pursue work on the different work strands and actions at EU level.

Migration

On migration, EU leaders took stock of the progress made in implementing past conclusions on the issue, notably regarding the external dimension of migration, the implementation of adopted EU legislation and the application of existing legislation.

The European Council reiterated its support for the Commission’s planned legislative proposal on returns, due to be submitted in early 2025, and called on the co-legislators to advance, as a matter of priority, on files with a migration dimension. It took note of the Commission communication on the weaponisation of migration and strengthening security at the EU’s external borders.

Other items

Enlargement: The European Council underscored the importance of enlargement as a geostrategic investment in peace, security, stability and prosperity. EU leaders stated that both the EU and aspiring members had a responsibility to make the most of this opportunity. They endorsed the Council’s 35 pages of conclusions on enlargement, agreed on 17 December 2024.

Main message of the EP President: Enlargement must remain merit-based, founded on our criteria. But we need to step up our efforts, too.

Moldova: The European Council praised Moldova for the successful conduct of the presidential elections, together with the referendum on enshrining EU accession in the Moldovan constitution, despite Russia’s hybrid interference. EU leaders invited the Commission to urgently provide options for the strengthening of Moldova’s energy security. They committed to working with Moldova to enhance the country’s resilience and stability, and to support its reform efforts on its European path, specifically through the Growth Plan and the Reform and Growth Facility.

Georgia:The European Council reiterated its serious concerns regarding the path taken by the Georgian government, expressing regret at the Georgian government’s decision to suspend the country’s EU accession process until 2028. EU leaders condemned violence against those peaceful protestors, politicians and media, and highlighted that the EU would support the Georgian people’s European aspirations, if the authorities reverse their present course of action.

Venezuela:Once again, EU leaders expressed their concern about the situation in Venezuela and committed to mobilising the tools at their disposal to support democracy and a peaceful transition in the country. They also called for the release of all political detainees and for Venezuela to uphold international law.

Hybrid activities: The European Council strongly condemned Russia’s hybrid campaign against the EU and its Member States. EU leaders also welcomed the adoption of the first listings under the framework for restrictive measures in view of Russia’s destabilising activities.

Freedom, security and justice:The European Council welcomed the Council Decision to lift the checks on persons at internal land borders with and between Bulgaria and Romania as of 1 January 2025. As flagged up in the EPRS Outlook briefing, the leaders endorsed the strategic guidelines for legislative and operational planning within the area of freedom, security and justice, a Treaty obligation with which the European Council did not comply during the 2019-2024 period.

Read this briefing on ‘Outcome of the EU leaders’ meetings of 18-19 December 2024‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Polona Car with Filippo Cassetti.

Dark patterns are deceptive techniques used by online platforms to manipulate users’ behaviour, often without their knowledge or consent. The EU regulatory framework against dark patterns is fragmented and lacks a unified legal definition. This can lead to legal uncertainty and inconsistent enforcement. Stakeholders and academics are calling for clearer definitions, stronger safeguards, and more effective enforcement of existing laws.

What are dark patterns?

Dark patterns or deceptive patterns can be described as ‘tricks used in websites and apps that make you do things that you didn’t mean to, like buying or signing up for something’. They are based on harmful online choice architecture. Their purpose is to influence a broad spectrum of consumer decisions, impeding the consumers’ ability to make informed choices. They intentionally affect users’ behaviour to manipulate them. Some dark patterns are designed to make the person feel compelled to purchase, either by the design of the website or by the ‘opportunity’ of the deal. Examples include fake urgency (for instance fake countdown timers) to pressure user action, disguised advertisement, and emotional manipulation to make users question their actions.

Absence of a single legal definition

There is no common definition of dark patterns in the EU legal framework. The Digital Services Act (DSA) describes them in its recital 67 as ‘practices that materially distort or impair, either on purpose or in effect, the ability of recipients of the service to make autonomous and informed choices or decisions’. According to the DSA, these practices are to be prohibited. The recent fitness check of EU consumer law on digital fairness defines dark patterns as ‘unfair commercial practices deployed through the structure, design or functionalities of digital interfaces or system architecture that can influence consumers to make decisions they would not have taken otherwise’. The various definitions nevertheless have two key features in common: the manipulative or deceptive nature of the practice and the resulting negative or harmful outcome. As this description is quite broad, to be able to determine whether a particular practice should be classified as a dark pattern, there are numerous guidelines and practical recommendations to consider.

Complexity of the existing legislative framework

Dark patterns were introduced into the EU’s legal framework by the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD). However, the UCPD does not use the term ‘dark patterns’. What it prohibits are ‘misleading’ and ‘aggressive’ commercial practices. The UCPD protects consumers against unfair business-to-consumer (B2C) commercial practices in advertising, sales and after-sales. To this ‘first level’ of protection, a series of subsequent legal acts were added, offering protection where the UCPD failed to offer adequate protection against new players and technological advances: the UCPD clearly forbids only a limited number of dark patterns that are mentioned in its Annex I and these prohibitions do not deal with digital interfaces.

The above-mentioned fitness check raised concerns about how Article 25 of the DSA interacts with other EU legal acts. While it prohibits online platforms from using dark patterns, it excludes practices covered by the UCPD and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This means that if a dark pattern of an online platform provider violates the GDPR, its legality will be assessed according to the requirements of the GDPR, not the DSA. This situation creates legal uncertainty. Although the GDPR does not address dark patterns explicitly, particular techniques to obtain consent from data users could be interpreted as such. This leaves space for interpretation that could minimise the impact of the DSA.

Similarly, the UCPD has such a broad scope, covering all B2C relations, that the space left for applying the DSA is limited. Consequently, the clear and general prohibition of dark patterns in the DSA may still lead to a reliance on the UCDP’s case-by-case analysis. As a solution, the fitness check report proposed adding specific prohibitions of dark patterns to the UCPD. This could be done by expanding the UCPD’s Annex I with explicit prohibitions addressing online interfaces.

Parliament’s December 2023 resolution on addictive design of online service and consumer protection arrived at similar conclusions. It called on the Commission to close regulatory gaps relating to dark patterns, and strengthen transparency provisions, as the current rules were not sufficient to mitigate adverse effects. It argued that several dark patterns could already be addressed under the current list in Annex I of the UCPD. Nevertheless, it asked the Commission to assess the need to extend Annex I as a matter of urgency, to prohibit the most harmful practices. Parliament considered that development of ethical and fair digital products free of dark patterns should constitute reasonable professional diligence.

Other legal acts also address dark patterns. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act introduces new prohibitions on dark patterns, without mentioning the term specifically. The AI Act prohibits subliminal techniques, purposefully manipulative or deceptive techniques or use of AI systems that exploit vulnerabilities based on age, disability or a specific social or economic situation (Articles 5(1)(a) and (b)) that could cause significant harm. Unlike the DSA, the AI Act requires case-by-case interpretation of specific terms such as ‘subliminal technique’ and ‘purposefully’ manipulative or deceptive. However, exploitation of some vulnerabilities under the AI Act (e.g. emotion-recognition) is classified as high-risk AI, but not prohibited.

For its part, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) includes an anti-circumvention rule (Article 13) aimed at capturing dark patterns used by gatekeepers to influence consumer decisions unlawfully. The Data Act mentions the prohibition of the use of dark patterns in relation to third parties and data holders when they are designing their digital interfaces (Recital 38). These should not be designed in a way to make decisions unduly difficult for the users. Specific prohibition of dark patterns was introduced for financial services, with the 2023 amendment to the Consumer Rights Directive (CRD). The amendment (Article 16(e)) prohibits traders from applying dark patterns when they are concluding financial services contracts at a distance. This variety of provisions used in different legal acts intended to address dark patterns could create a lack of coherence in implementation. This was outlined in the above-mentioned fitness check report, which established a need for further action. Based on this evaluation, the Commission announced a public consultation in preparation for the upcoming Digital Fairness Act in 2025, to remedy the situation.

Academic views

Inge Graef warns of risk of inconsistencies, leading to under-enforcement owing to the fragmented EU regulatory framework for dark patterns. Martin Brenncke underlines the difficulty of effective regulation as dark patterns act in between legitimate persuasive techniques and illegal methods of coercion and manipulation. In addition, dark patterns take advantage of consumer behaviour bias, while EU consumer legislation assumes that consumers are rational economic actors. Mark Leiser and Cristiana Santos underline the importance of clear labelling of dark patterns in enforcement, and publicising such actions to discourage deception. In addition, they highlight the need to update the EU acquis constantly, to confront emerging prohibited designs and forms of manipulation (for instance hyper-nudging).

Stakeholder positions

During the public consultation for the digital fairness fitness check, stakeholders expressed concern about the current legal framework, citing ambiguity, complexity and ineffective enforcement. A majority of respondents advocated enhanced protection against dark patterns and similar deceptive practices, recommending clearer and stronger safeguards. They proposed, among other things, a comprehensive ban on dark patterns, clearer definitions of key concepts to reduce uncertainty, and the placing of a ‘fairness by design’ obligation on businesses.

The European Consumer Organisation, BEUC, recommended ensuring better enforcement against dark patterns and in particular, reviewing the UCPD and CRD. For the two directives, BEUC proposed to introduce an anti-circumvention clause, modelled on the example introduced by the DMA. A March 2024 BEUC report proposed regulatory solutions, based on a horizontal principle of fairness by design.
Digital industry stakeholders meanwhile insist that a distinction must be drawn between deceptive practices and legitimate online persuasive methods, so as not to jeopardise innovation. In a recent report, Eurocommerce argued that dark partners are already sufficiently covered by existing legislation.

Read this ‘at a glance’ note on ‘Regulating dark patterns in the EU: Towards digital fairness‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Marketa Pape.

The recent cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated a longstanding problem with housing affordability in the EU. Higher building costs and mortgage rates, together with a related decrease in housing construction, have made access to home ownership more difficult. At the same time, investors use housing as a vehicle for investment. Growing numbers of people are struggling to access affordable housing, whether to rent or to buy, particularly in cities. Across Europe, homelessness is rising.

In addition, many residential buildings need to be made energy-efficient and decarbonised in order to achieve the EU’s energy and climate goals, lower energy consumption and reduce energy bills.

While the EU has no direct competence in the area of housing and only a limited scope of action to address social issues, it provides relevant guidance and funding, and has carried out several initiatives to support housing. Furthermore, certain EU rules have a indirect impact on housing provision, starting with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. In parallel, many sources of EU funding are available for various housing-related purposes in the current financing period.

In the run-up to the 2024 European elections, the lack of adequate and affordable housing, and the need to address it at EU level, emerged as a concern across the whole of the EU and the entire political spectrum. The new European Commission (‘von der Leyen II’) is giving housing policy visibility and weight by proposing a coordinated approach. For the first time, housing has become a distinct part of a commissioner’s portfolio. Dan Jørgensen, the new Commissioner for Energy and Housing, is responsible for dealing with several complex issues relating to housing.

The European Parliament voted on 18 December 2024 to set up a special committee on the housing crisis in the EU. Building on recent developments, the Commission’s 2025 work programme is expected to outline the next steps for the EU.

Read the complete briefing on ‘A coordinated EU approach to housing‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Pieter Baert.

Equality between men and women is one of the key foundational principles of the European Union. Despite much progress, however, significant gaps persist between men and women regarding employment opportunities and income levels. Taxation can either mitigate or exacerbate these gender inequalities. On 13 January 2025, the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC) is due to hold a public hearing on the topic.

Implicit gender biases in joint taxation systems

In general, Member States do not differentiate explicitly between men and women in their tax systems. However, certain tax provisions may inadvertently carry implicit gender biases, often rooted in broader socio-economic and cultural factors.

One notable example is joint taxation, where married couples (or civil partners) file joint declarations, with household income taxed as a single unit. While a joint declaration does decrease the overall tax burden for the household, especially where there is significant income disparity between the two partners, it can also lead to a disproportionately higher marginal tax rate for the secondary earner (lower income earner), who often is a woman. This effect can make additional earnings less financially rewarding, discouraging women from entering the labour market or transitioning from part-time to full-time employment.

The consequences of these tax structures can contribute to broader gender inequalities by limiting women’s career advancement and undermining their economic independence in the long term. Joint taxation systems are increasingly being phased out, although several (European) countries continue to have them in place, on either a voluntary or a mandatory basis.

Although taxation remains largely a national prerogative, the European Commission has actively encouraged Member States to reform tax incentives that deter secondary earners from participating in the labour market. For example, the European Commission argued that Germany’s national recovery and resilience plan failed to address concerns about the country’s joint taxation system (‘Ehegattensplitting’), which, in the Commission’s opinion, reduces women’s potential for participating in the labour market.

VAT rates on feminine hygiene products and gender-based price discrimination

Over the years, the tax cost of menstrual products has been a topic of growing public debate. Since these products are used exclusively by women, the issue has gained attention for its gendered economic impact. Advocates for lowering or removing value added tax (VAT) on menstrual products argue that the tax places an unfair, systematic financial burden on women, and contributes to ‘period poverty‘. Unlike other consumer products, these goods are considered a matter of necessity rather than an expression of consumer choice.

In April 2022, a revision of the EU VAT Directive introduced greater flexibility for Member States to reduce VAT rates on female sanitary products. This change allowed Member States to lower the VAT rate to as little as 0 %, compared with the previous minimum rate of 5 % (Annex III, paragraph 3). The European Parliament urged Member States to take advantage of this increased flexibility. However, while several Member States have since reduced their VAT rates on such goods, practices remain quite divergent, as illustrated in Figure 1 below.

VAT rate on tampons (EU, 2024)

Tax policy experts are generally cautious about VAT rate reductions, citing the likelihood for suppliers to bypass these reductions by increasing their profit margins instead. However, a recent study by academics from the University of Vienna, which looked at VAT rate cuts on menstrual products in Austria, Belgium, France and Germany, found that the tax reduction had been fully passed on to consumers over time. With the lower price, households purchased products of higher quality, and low-income households increased their purchase volume of menstrual products, highlighting the potential of such reforms to improve access for disadvantaged groups.

While reducing VAT rates is one approach to making female hygiene products more affordable, some Member States and local governments have chosen to provide these goods for free in schools, public restrooms and other public spaces.

A related, and puzzling, phenomenon is that of gender-based price discrimination. Although not an explicit tax as such, this refers to the situation where women sometimes incur extra costs for products and services marketed to them compared with similar items for men, with the products differing often only in superficial aspects, such as colour, name or description. Common examples include shampoo, razors and hairdressing services. While no comprehensive EU-wide research has been conducted to assess the prevalence of such practices, a study by the German Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency examined over 1 500 products in Germany and found that female variants were priced higher in 2.3 % of cases, while male variants were more expensive in 1.4 % of cases.

EU Directive 2004/113 already prohibits discrimination in access to goods and services based on gender. In 2023, the European Commission said it had no plans at the time to introduce additional measures in that directive to address gender price discrimination.

Read this ‘at a glance’ note on ‘Taxation’s impact on gender equality in the EU‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Etienne Bassot.

The ninth edition of this annual publication presents 10 issues to watch in 2025, selected by the Members’ Research Service of the European Parliament. Some of these issues feature high on the 2025 European political agenda as they reflect the three pillars of the ‘competitiveness compass’ that the von der Leyen II Commission has identified for its 2024-2029 mandate: balancing scale with innovation for productivity, setting the 2040 climate target, and taking the next steps towards European economic security. Other subjects are more specific, such as waiting to move up a gear: European electric cars, and helping the EU compete on artificial intelligence. For some issues, progress has long been too slow and new impetus is needed: strengthening the European defence industry, and speeding up the return of irregular migrants. All these issues, as well as other issues beyond this list of 10, require financial means and investment, which in turn raises the additional challenge of shaping the EU’s future finances and strengthening capacity to invest in the future. The overarching issue of restoring trust in the public sphere – in traditional news media, social media, governments and institutions, and business – meanwhile affects all of the above.

As a new political cycle begins for the European institutions, with the latest mandates having started on 1 December 2024, this list of issues could seem daunting. Alternatively, they can be seen as a list of new opportunities for the European Union to assert itself, bounce back, and move ahead.

History teaches that it has been when under the pressure of events that the European Union (EU) has made most progress. It is already becoming clear how Russia’s war on Ukraine and changes in transatlantic relations have made the EU move ahead on security and defence. The challenges that are accumulating are the very same that offer the EU a chance to get stronger and assert itself on the world stage. These issues demand choices; they also offer opportunities. The European Parliament, as the place for debate among directly elected members and as co-legislator, will have an important role to play when it comes to deciding on the EU’s future course. The year 2025 will be a year of decisions – a theme that runs through this publication – as illustrated by its cover image.

These choices – these decisions – call for independent, objective and authoritative information: the motto of the European Parliamentary Research Service. EPRS publications rely on research, robust facts and figures, and informed analysis to provide the European Parliament’s Members with the elements they need to do their work, and ultimately build the trust that must underpin any democracy.

Readers will find analysis on issues that do not feature on this list of 10 in previous editions of this publication (listed under the ‘Further reading section’) and in the thousands of publications that EPRS has issued online and in paper over the years, enriching Parliament’s knowledge environment.

We hope that you will find this latest edition of ‘Ten Issues to watch’ informative and useful as you consider the challenges and opportunities of 2025.

Read the complete in-depth analysis on ‘Ten issues to watch in 2025‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Events that will shape 2025

Written by Yann-Sven Rittelmeyer and Rafał Mańko.

The Constitution of the Republic of Poland, in force since 1997, sets out a unitary, democratic state ruled by law and implementing the principles of social justice. The President of the Republic and the Council of Ministers (government) serve as the executive, while the Sejm (lower house) and the Senate (upper house) are vested with legislative power (Article 10). The Senate is considered a repository of democratic legitimacy on an equal footing with the Sejm, but the dominance of the Sejm in the legislative process is constitutionally guaranteed. The Sejm alone ultimately decides on the appointment of the government, on the wording of legislation, and on the acceptance or rejection of a presidential veto, among other things.

Members of the Sejm and Senate are elected for four years, on the same day, by universal, direct and secret ballot. Senators are chosen in single-member constituencies, while for Deputies a proportional open list system of multi-member constituencies applies, with a threshold of 5 % for political parties and 8 % for coalitions of parties. The Sejm may shorten its term of office by a resolution passed by a majority of at least two-thirds of the votes of the statutory number of Deputies. This simultaneously shortens the term of office of the Senate. The directly elected President of the Republic can also end a legislative term if the Sejm is unable to pass a vote of confidence in the government or adopt a budget within the constitutional deadline.

The government, composed of a prime minister and ministers, is accountable to the Sejm. It needs a vote of confidence by an absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of Deputies to be appointed. Once in place, the Sejm can pass a constructive vote of no confidence in the government (Article 158) or in an individual minister (Article 159). The debates in both assemblies are presided over by the Marshal or one of the Vice-Marshals elected from among their members. The two Marshals represent their assemblies in external matters and safeguard their rights.

Both houses have equal powers to amend the Constitution, with the Senate having (alongside the President and one-fifth of the Deputies) the right to initiate constitutional amendments; its consent is required for an amendment to be adopted. A majority of two-thirds in the Sejm and an absolute majority in the Senate are required to amend the Constitution.

When sitting in joint session, the Sejm and the Senate constitute the National Assembly. It has the power to declare that the President has a ‘permanent incapacity’ to exercise his/her duties and to indict him/her for infringing the Constitution or a statute, or for committing an offence.

Read the complete briefing on ‘The Polish Parliament and EU affairs‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Written by Eszter Balázs (Legislative Planning and Coordination Unit, Directorate-General for the Presidency).

INTRODUCTION

Poland assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January, and will hold the office until 30 June 2025. This is the second Polish Presidency after the country’s first stint in 2011. Poland is the opening member of a new trio, along with Denmark and Cyprus. Following Poland, Denmark will take over the presidency on 1 July 2025.

State and government

The Republic of Poland (Rzeczpospolita Polska) is a parliamentary republic, with a president as head of state and a prime minister (formally, the president of the Council of Ministers) as head of government.

The current head of government is the former President of the European Council, Donald Tusk (Koalicja Obywatelska, Civic Coalition). He had a previous spell as prime minister between 2007 and 2014, before his election to head the European Council. The coalition government he leads took office on 13 December 2023. His predecessor as prime minister was Mateusz Morawiecki (Zjednoczona Prawica, United Right, 2017-2023).

After parliamentary elections, the prime minister is nominated by the president and, together with its cabinet and agenda, are approved by the parliament.

The current president is Andrzej Duda, who was an MEP in 2014 and 2015. As president-elect, he resigned his membership of the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS, Law and Justice) party but was endorsed by PiS. His second term started in 2020. The next presidential elections are set for May 2025, during the country’s EU presidency. President Duda will stay in office until at least August 2025.

The president’s position in Poland is not as strong as, for instance, in France, but still much stronger than in countries such as Germany. Most importantly for the current governing coalition, the president can veto legislation (which can be overridden only by a three-fifths majority in the lower house of parliament). The president may also refer a law to the Constitutional Tribunal to check its compliance with the Polish Constitution. The president shares power with the government in defence and security, is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and represents Poland internationally.

Parliament

The Polish parliament is bicameral, with a lower house (Sejm) and an upper house (Senate). The Sejm has 460 deputies and the Senate 100 senators. On ceremonial occasions and for the removal of the sitting president, the two houses convene as the National Assembly.

Members are elected for four-year terms, by first-past-the post voting for the Senate, and proportional representation for the Sejm. For the latter, a 5 % entry threshold applies to parties, and 8 % to coalitions.

For a bill to become law, it has to be approved by both houses, although the Sejm can override a refusal of the Senate to pass a bill.

The last Senate and Sejm elections took place on 15 October 2023. Amid record-high voter turnout of 74.4 % and almost 22 million votes cast, the United Right alliance of PiS took 35.38 % of the vote, securing 194 seats in the Sejm and coming first for the third consecutive time. However, it was the opposition alliance Koalicja Obywatelska (KO) that formed a government: it obtained 30.7 % of the vote, translating into 157 seats, and teamed up with parts of the Trzecia Droga (Third Way, TD) coalition (14.4 %) and the coalition Lewica (The Left) (8.61 %). The governing coalition currently has 241 seats.

In the Senate the opposition alliance Pakt Senacki 2023 (Senate Pact 2023) won the plurality of votes and a majority of seats.

The election results mean that both the Senate and the Sejm are in the hands of the current government, while the president remains on the other side.

Parties and coalitions in the Sejm:

Government (241)

• KO (EPP in EP) – 156 members
• Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe (Polish People’s Party, PSL-TD) (EPP in EP) – 32 members
• Polska 2050 Szymona Hołowni (Szymon Hołownia’s Poland 2050, PL2050) (Renew in EP) – 32 members
• Lewica (S&D in EP) – 21

Government is at times supported by (6)

• Razem (5)
• Independent (1)

Opposition (212)

• Zjednoczona Prawica (ECR in EP) – 190 members
• Konfederacja Wolność i Niepodległość (Confederation Liberty and Independence, KWiN) (ESN and PfE in EP) – 18 members
• Kukiz’15 (K’15) – 4 members

Parties and coalitions in the Senate:

• KO – 41 seats
• ZP – 34 seats
• TD – 11 seats
• Lewica – 9 seats
• Independent – 5 seats

The next elections for both houses are due to take place in October 2027.

European elections

The 2024 European elections in Poland were held on 9 June. Of the 53 seats for Poland, the governing coalition (EPP) secured 21 (+6 ) seats with 37.1 % of the vote, a coalition of the main opposition party PiS (ECR) obtained 20 seats (-7) with 36.2 %, and the anti-EU right-wing KWiN carried six seats with 12.1 % – three of them sit in ESN, two in PfE and one remains non-affiliated. The Nowa Lewica (New Left) coalition obtained three S&D seats (-1) with 6.3 %, while two members of the TD coalition (13.8%) sit with EPP and one with Renew.

The results mean that in this EP legislative term, there are nine more Polish MEPs in the EPP, five fewer in S&D, and seven fewer in the ECR, while Renew again has a Polish member.

State of play

During the previous PiS-led governments, clashes between the EU and Poland were frequent and resulted in the launch of an Article 7 TEU procedure and a delay in the disbursement of RRF and cohesion policy allocations. With the Tusk-government’s willingness to address rule of law concerns, RFF financing was released and the Article 7 procedure was closed in early 2024.

According to the most recent standard Eurobarometer survey, Poles consider the increased cost of living (42 %) as the main challenge for their country. They broadly support EU action in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including sanctions (86 %), Ukraine’s status as a candidate for EU membership (75 %) and the supply of military equipment to Ukraine (80 %). Some 59 % of the population have a positive image of the EU.

POLITICAL PRIORITIES OF THE POLISH PRESIDENCY

‘Security, Europe’ is the motto of the Polish Presidency, motivated by the geopolitical reality of the erosion of the rules-based international order. In its programme presented on 10 December 2024, the presidency covers seven intertwined facets of security: external, internal, information, economic, energy, food and health. The programme is short on climate and environment pledges, apart from their impact on security. The Polish programme leans on parts of the 18-month programme of the Poland-Denmark-Cyprus trio of which it is the first member.

In the external dimension of security, Poland will push to boost the defence readiness of Europe, by raising defence spending and by strengthening cooperation with NATO and like-minded countries. It wishes to engage with the US to increase the resilience of the transatlantic relationship.

Poland is one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression, stressing that it is in the EU’s existential interest to stand by the country which is fighting for values that the EU shares. The presidency will work to maximise support to Ukraine militarily, economically and politically, with various Ukraine-linked points raised in several areas. The presidency will push strongly for further sanctions against Russia as well as for the use of profits from the Bank of Russia’s immobilised assets.

The Polish Presidency will pursue the integration of candidate countries. In parallel to that process, it will work on the four strands – values, policies, budget and governance – of future EU reform.

To ensure internal security for Europeans, and looking at migration through this lens, the presidency will work to protect the external borders and find innovative solutions to migration, including by establishing safe spaces in third countries. It aims to find an adequate answer to hybrid threats, such as the instrumentalisation of migration, of which Poland itself has been a victim.

The focus of the presidency on information security will extend to defence of democracy issues, including steps against information manipulation and foreign interference, to reduce the impact of hostile action in cyberspace. The presidency expects to fight against disinformation in areas such as environmental and climate policies.

Under economic security, Poland will look at how to make the EU economy more competitive and resilient. It intends to continue with robust cohesion policies, encourage the creation of innovative industries and cut red tape. For economic security, it considers a clean energy transition and affordable energy prices to be further essential elements. As drivers of climate policies, the presidency prefers incentives instead of penalties and restrictions.

To make Europe’s energy supplies more secure and versatile, the presidency seeks full withdrawal from Russian fossil fuel imports while providing access to sufficient energy, at lower prices, for the sake of competitiveness.

The presidency will focus on food security, through discussions on a common agricultural policy that encourages rather than forces farmers to limit climate change. In the broader focus on agriculture, it intends to protect vulnerable agricultural sectors, increase overall resilience and ensure that non-EU producers comply with EU standards. 

For secure public health policies in the EU, the presidency will concentrate on the digital transformation of healthcare, improving drug security in the EU and the mental health of children and adolescents.

During its tenure, the Polish Presidency will start discussions on the new post-2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF), currently in preparation, although formal negotiations are not expected to kick off during its tenure. In February 2025, it will hold a conference on the next MFF, including on a new own-resources system that includes financing for higher defence spending.

Legislative work

Poland takes over the presidency from the trio of Spain, Belgium and Hungary. Its predecessor, Hungary presided over the inaugural period of the 10th legislature as well as the selection of the members of the new Commission, during which work on legislation largely ground to a halt, with only nine files closed with trilogue agreements. The to-do list for the Polish Presidency has thus remained largely unchanged, although several additional files have now arrived at the negotiation phase. The topics to be addressed by the presidency include the following issues.

Defence and security

In line with the presidency’s singular focus on security, Poland has the ambition to start and conclude negotiations with the Parliament on the European Defence Industry Programme once Parliament is ready with its position.

Economy, finance and budget

The Polish Presidency is expected to steer a number of ongoing negotiations to conclusion, and to open others that are ready for talks, including the bank crisis management and deposit insurance framework.

Parliament has been waiting for the Council to reach a general approach on a series of other economic and financial topics. From among these files, the Polish Presidency wants to make progress in particular on the payment services package, the digital euro files, the Union Customs Code and Customs Authority, and the Late Payment Directive. In the field of taxation, Poland wants to continue work on administrative cooperation and energy taxation.

In the area of the budget, the Presidency is keen on starting talks with the Parliament and closing the legislative process on Moldova’s Reform and Growth Facility, once Parliament is ready.

Migration

The Polish Presidency is ready to start trilogue negotiations on the two files on smuggling of migrants (relating to transport operators and Europol) and on the revision of the Visa Suspension Mechanism when Parliament is ready. The presidency is also keen to start negotiations on the EU Talent Pool once the Parliament establishes its starting position, possibly in the second half of the Presidency’s term. The presidency expects to find agreement with Parliament on the recently proposed temporary derogation from the Entry/Exit System.Expected new versions of the Returns Directive (early 2025) and the instrumentalisation of migration are two priority subjects the Polish Presidency would steer in the Council once the Commission has tabled them.

Justice and home affairs

Both institutions are ready to start trilogue negotiations on combatting child sexual abuse and combatting corruption. They will continue negotiations on protection of victims of crime, compulsory licensing of patents and the enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation. The presidency will continue work on rules to prevent unauthorised entries to the EU, judicial cooperation for the protection of adults, harmonising insolvency law and third-country interest representation.

Environment

Trilogue negotiations are currently under way on the Soil Monitoring Law and the Waste Framework Directive. The Polish Presidency intends to start negotiations with Parliament on several other important files for which the Council has already agreed on its position. These include priority substances in groundwater pollution, the Green Claims Directive, the accounting of greenhouse gas emissions of transport services, detergents and surfactants and the three files of the ‘one substance one assessment‘ package. The presidency will strive to reach a general approach on the proposed regulation on end-of-life vehicles.

Internal market and trade

On the files on the safety of toys and alternative dispute resolution for consumers, trilogue negotiations can start immediately. The Polish Presidency intends to start interinstitutional talks as soon as Parliament has a position on the screening of foreign investments. It will also continue in-house negotiations to find a full general approach on harmonising insolvency law.

Transport and tourism

Transport is another area where several topics have stayed in the pipeline of trilogue negotiations. The Hungarian Presidency kicked off talks on driving licences, driving disqualification, the single European railway area and on the Maritime Safety Agency. The Polish Presidency wants to make progress inside the Council on maximum weights and dimensions (for vehicles) currently blocked in the Council, the transport of animals, the Combined Transport Directive revision and on the long-stalled topic of air passenger rights. It will be able to start trilogue negotiations on river information services and the Package Travel Directive once Parliament establishes its mandates. Work on a pending revision of the roadworthiness package will start as soon as the Commission tables the proposal, the presidency said.

Employment and social affairs

The Polish Presidency will start negotiations with the Parliament on European Works Councils and restart them on the Coordination of social security systems. In addition, the Polish Presidency takes over the task of finding a general approach on the Traineeships directive and the long-stalled Equal Treatment Directive. The presidency also wants to conclude work on the Eurostat-related file on population and housing statistics.

Agriculture and fishery

The presidency expects to negotiate with the Parliament on the welfare of dogs and cats.

It will also concentrate its efforts to encourage Member States towards general approaches on new genomic techniques for plants, and the marketing of plant and forest reproductive material, files on which Parliament stands ready to start negotiations, and on forest monitoring, on which neither institution has a position yet.

Health security

Poland will continue the previous presidency’s efforts to clinch a deal on a general approach on the two files of the pharmaceuticals package, as comprehensive drug safety is among its priorities.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Priority dossiers under the Polish EU Council Presidency‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.