European Union

According to data provided by national police forces to Sole 24 Ore for its yearly Criminality Index, serious crimes decreased by 17.4% in Italy throughout the first half of 2021 compared to the same period in 2019. Due to the...

Ireland’s Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) has unveiled two five-year carbon budgets with the overall aim of reducing the country’s carbon emissions by 51% by 2030. The first five years will aim for average annual emissions reductions of 4.8%, while...

The emblematic French loaf might see its price increase by 5 to 10 cents due to rising energy prices and this year’s difficult weather conditions in Europe, Canada, Russia, and the US, which drove wheat prices to their highest level...

Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner announced a turning point in Austrian military spending with increased investments in defence autarky and the military’s ‘ecologisation’. She also used the occasion to criticise the European Union. While she emphasised that national defence will remain...

The upcoming government of the conservative coalition of SPOLU, the Pirate Party (Greens) and Mayors & Independents (EPP) would like to create the position of EU affairs minister to coordinate the EU agenda which the prime minister’s office previously managed....

The speakers of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s two houses of parliament sent a joint letter to the EU, the Council of Europe and US institutions seeking resolute action by the international community to stop plans for secession announced by the Serb...

While about 60% of Finns consider Russia a military threat and 45% hold a negative opinion of the country, support to join NATO has also seen a slight increase, a survey by The Business Finnish and Policy Forum (EVA) think tank,...

The ministry of economy and energy, led by caretaker minister Peter Altmaier, has completed its long-awaited analysis of the potential impacts of certifying the Gazprom pipeline Nord Stream 2, concluding that the pipeline does “not jeopardise the security of gas...

Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on Tuesday evening to ease existing restrictions on the use of vans or tucks without drivers hired from another EU country.
Committee on Transport and Tourism

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on Tuesday evening to ease existing restrictions on the use of vans or tucks without drivers hired from another EU country.
Committee on Transport and Tourism

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Written by Magdalena Sapała.

The extent of the negative impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the social and economic situation of women has triggered a debate on the urgent need to take a gender-sensitive approach to the policy response to the pandemic. In this context, the establishment of the EU’s biggest financial instrument supporting recovery in the Member States – the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) – is an opportunity to channel the extraordinary resources to the measures that take into account the principles of gender equality. It is also a chance to put in practice the EU’s long-standing commitments regarding the need to mainstream gender across different policies and apply gender budgeting principles to EU spending.

Offering an overview of how gender equality has been built into the RRF Regulation, this briefing explains what was expected from the Member States when they were preparing their national recovery and resilience plans (NRRPs) as regards gender equality. It also provides practical examples of reforms and investments where gender equality has been taken into account, from the approved NRRPs of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Austria, Portugal and Slovakia. In keeping with the RRF Regulation, all the NRRPs analysed declare gender equality to be a horizontal objective, to be given consideration in all measures. However, not all Member States have included dedicated reforms or investments addressing gender-related challenges explicitly, or indicating women as the main beneficiaries.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Gender equality in the Recovery and Resilience Facility‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

In a new discussion paper, economists of the European stability mechanism (ESM) suggest a simplification of the EU’s fiscal rules and their adaptation to changed economic circumstances.

The new law "on the regulation and protection of access to cultural works in the digital age" was published in the French official journal on Tuesday (26 October) and will set up a new authority to better fight piracy online.

Digital COVID certificate was originally set up as a tool to save the summer for European holidaymakers. Now that the fine weather is over, we can begin to wonder if it worked.

Europe is now battling new spikes of COVID-19 cases, especially in Eastern member states where there is a lower vaccination uptake. This not only stretches the health systems, but puts the conversation on measures needed to stop the virus spread...

Sharp-tongued critics will be quick to point out that the majority of delegates at the Conference on the Future of Europe plenary last weekend consisted of representatives from the European institutions (165) and national parliaments (108).

Service providers are arguing that for the European cloud market to develop, the new EU antitrust law should prevent anti-competitive practices by large software providers.

The EU should become more involved with Europe’s sporting landscape to encourage a fairer model that aligns with EU values of inclusiveness and fairness.
Committee on Culture and Education

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The EU should become more involved with Europe’s sporting landscape to encourage a fairer model that aligns with EU values of inclusiveness and fairness.
Committee on Culture and Education

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Ongoing attempts both at the European and national levels to restrict agency work risks jeopardizing the key contribution that the sector can make to the recovery of European economies and the sustainability of their labour markets.