European Union

COVID vaccines are being mass-produced in plentiful supply. That should mean light at the end of a gruelling year. Yet vaccine nationalism is on the rise while, in the EU at least, case and mortality rates are soaring. It is a toxic combination.

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Turkey is not just a European-Turkish issue, but also an issue in our transatlantic partnership, and obviously, our partnership with NATO, senior EU officials have said.

EU countries expressed concern Thursday (18 March) that the European Commission’s sustainable battery proposal sets unworkable targets and deadlines and would increase bureaucratic costs for battery producers, raising the prospect that the legislation will require significant changes before entering into law.

The long history of negotiations on the Cyprus question has been unforgiving to its actors, hence the infamous characterisation of it as the “graveyard of diplomats”, littered with tombstones. It need not be this way, writes Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides.

This week on EURACTIV’s Yellow Room, we are talking about the EU climate law negotiations - the progress made so far and the obstacles to reaching an agreement.

The Bulgarian prosecutor's office announced on Friday (19 March) that it had broken up a Russian spy ring which includes officials of Bulgaria's defence ministry and its intelligence services, after an extensive police and counter-intelligence operation in and around Sofia.

Written by Aleksandra Heflich, Niombo Lomba and Klaus Müller, European Added Value Unit; Stefano Vettorazzi, Ex-Ante Impact Assessment Unit; Ekaterina Karamfilova, Ex-Post Evaluation Unit; Alessandro D’Alfonso, Gregor Erbach, Vivienne Halleux, Liselotte Jensen, James McEldowney, Marketa Pape, Henrique Simões, Frederik Scholaert, Jana Titievskaia and Ionel Zamfir, Members’ Research Service,

Photo by Alto Crew on Unsplash.com © European Union, 2021.

The European Green Deal aims at making the European Union (EU) climate-neutral by 2050, a target supported by all EU institutions. With this objective, the EU takes a leading role in addressing the global climate emergency. Achieving the climate-neutrality goal requires massive investment and an unprecedented transformation of all sectors of the economy.

This study explains the physical basis of climate change and highlights its expected impacts on the European Union; outlines international climate agreements, EU climate action and the climate policies of major economies; assesses the coherence of EU climate policy with other policy areas and presents the financing of EU climate action through the EU budget and other instruments. To assess the implications of the climate neutrality objective, the study analyses the challenges and opportunities for various sectors of the EU economy and its impacts on issues such as international relations and trade. Some of the main challenges and opportunities are summarised below.

Citizens support ambitious climate action and are ready to change towards more climate-friendly behaviours. Climate-friendly consumption choices can be supported by appropriate policies and information about the climate impact of consumer products. Policies to address climate change often also have co-benefits for human health.

Innovation policies and research and development (R&D) funding help to facilitate and accelerate the diffusion of innovative low-carbon technologies from the research laboratory to large-scale deployment in the market. This rapid innovation needs to be accompanied by measures to ensure a just transition for regions that are currently dependent on energy and emissions-intensive industries. Local action in cities plays an important role in reducing their vulnerability to climate change, through adaptation measures and in contributing to emissions reductions at the local level. Due to the large existing building stock, the buildings sector faces a challenge to accelerate energy-efficient renovation, which offers opportunities for job creation and addressing energy poverty. The finance sector faces the challenge of aligning financial flows with the transition towards climate neutrality and managing the risks associated with stranded assets.

Europe’s industry will need to become climate neutral and less energy intensive. Key enabling factors are markets for green products, infrastructure, and support for industrial innovation. The energy system faces the challenge of replacing fossil fuels with reliable emission-free energy sources. The transport sector will need to introduce clean alternatives to fossil fuels rapidly, to prevent European automotive and aerospace industries from falling behind in the transition towards low-carbon mobility.

Nature-based solutions offer great potential for climate mitigation and adaptation, but natural systems are also vulnerable to a changing climate. The same is true for agriculture, which is highly vulnerable to climate change, but also has a large potential to contribute to emission reductions and carbon sequestration. Oceans face various climate-related pressures, which also affect fisheries, while ocean energy and offshore wind offer large untapped potential for clean energy.

Since the EU is responsible for only a fraction of global emissions, global leadership and engagement with international partners through trade and diplomacy are vital. Development cooperation can also support adaptation to climate change in third countries and thereby address one of the drivers of migration.

The final chapter addresses the issues facing European policy-makers and the outlook for European and global climate action in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read the complete study on ‘EU climate action policy: Responding to the global emergency‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Hungary has been one of the most vocal opponents of accepting refugees and migrants from Africa and Asia. Yet, Iranian refugee Abouzar Soltani and his young son have decided to stay in the country, after spending 18 months in a detention centre there. EURACTIV's media partner Telex reports.

Environment ministers from the 27 EU member states confirmed they would continue to push for a 55% net greenhouse gas reduction target by 2030 during a meeting of the environment council on Thursday (18 March), despite calls from Parliament to increase the EU's ambition.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has given the green light for continued use of the Astrazeneca vaccine. It had launched a review after various EU countries stopped using it because a link to very rare cases of cerebral vein thrombosis could not be ruled out. Commentators welcome the review process and its outcome, but also warn against overreactions.

On Monday, the European Union initiated infringement proceedings against the UK for violation of the Brexit agreement. The move comes amid a row over checks on goods passing between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. London had unilaterally extended an exemption rule on this and complained that Brussels was trying to establish a new border within its national territory. How can the tensions be defused?

Denmark is seeking to toughen its laws to prevent 'parallel societies' in 'particularly vulnerable neighbourhoods'. The proportion of residents of 'non-Western' background in each neighbourhood is to be limited to no more than 30 percent within the next 10 years, according to a draft presented by the government on Wednesday. Commentators see this as unworthy of a humanistic country.