European Union

Find out how the Covid-19 pandemic has increased gender disparities in the EU in our infographics.

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

In any civilisation, one commodity is more precious than the others, and it naturally becomes the bedrock of power. Could be salt, could be gold, could be the US dollar. Now it’s the COVID-19 vaccines.

Ethiopian diplomats have stoked a growing diplomatic feud with the European Union after the bloc’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, and his envoy, Finland’s Pekka Haavisto, harshly criticised the government’s handling of the conflict in the northern Tigray province.

In an unusual move, European Council President Charles Michel invited Georgia's ruling and opposition parties for talks under his mediation over dinner during his visit to Tbilisi on Monday (1 March).

Portugal's agriculture minister Maria do Céu Antunes will convene by the end of March a joint negotiation meeting with all the three European parliament's rapporteurs to bring about a breakthrough in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) talks.

Until last week, the provincial town of Pokrov outside Moscow, lined with Soviet-era residential blocks and teetering wooden homes, had only one claim to fame: a monument to chocolate.

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to jail by a court on Monday, after being found guilty of corruption and influence-peddling. Sarkozy received a three-year term, of which two are suspended. He is expected to appeal, and is unlikely to spend any time in prison, given he can wear an electronic bracelet or remain confined at home. Sarkozy was president from 2007 to 2012.

Hungary's agriculture ministry has launched a scathing attack on the Greens/EFA political group after the publication of a damning report detailing the misuse of EU farming subsidy money in the country. 

Written by Rosamund Shreeves,

© VAKSMANV / Adobe Stock

In the midst of the current pandemic, adopting a gender perspective may seem a secondary concern. However, pandemics are known to affect women and men differently, making it essential to recognise these differences in order to understand the impacts on individuals and communities and to respond effectively and equitably.

There is already clear evidence that the ongoing health, social and economic crisis is having gendered impacts. Disaggregated data show that sex and gender are playing a role in exposure to the virus and risks of severe outcomes, and that some groups of women and men are particularly vulnerable. Lockdown measures have led to an increase in violence against women and disrupted access to support services. Access to sexual and reproductive healthcare has also been affected. Successive lockdowns have widened the existing gender divide in unpaid care work that was already keeping more women than men out of the labour market. Greater work-life conflict is one of the factors leading to women’s employment being worse hit than men’s, with potential long-term impacts on women’s employment, pay and career advancement. The pandemic has also brought the issue of women’s participation in decision-making to the fore.

Without a gender-sensitive approach, the pandemic could have far-reaching implications, including a real risk of exacerbating gender inequalities and sending progress into reverse. At the same time, gender mainstreaming tools such as gender impact assessments and gender budgeting exist that could, if used effectively, mitigate the negative consequences and contribute to achieving gender equality.

Internationally and within the European Union (EU), there have been calls for gender-sensitive emergency and long-term responses. In January 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution setting out recommendations on both aspects.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Covid-19: The need for a gendered response‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Sex-disaggregated data on confirmed cases and mortality in the EU

Banks in the European Union should publish a "green asset ratio" (GAR) as a core measure of their climate-friendly business activities, the EU's banking watchdog proposed on Monday (1st March).

Joe Biden has described last Friday's airstrikes against pro-Iranian militias in Syria as retaliation for rocket attacks against US bases and those of its allies in Iraq. But commentators believe there are other factors behind the new US president's first military strike.

Vaccines against covid-19 are currently one of the most sought-after commodities. But while Western countries have given priority to vaccinating their own populations as quickly as possible up to now, countries like China and Russia, and most recently also Israel, are taking advantage of the situation to do diplomacy with vaccines. Commentators warn against these offensives and also against vaccine nationalism.

Dutch writer Marieke Lucas Rijneveld has pulled out of a project to translate the poem read by young black poet Amanda Gorman at Joe Biden's inauguration after the plan triggered fierce criticism. Critics argued that Rijneveld's knowledge of English is inadequate, she has no experience as a translator and it would be inappropriate since she is white. Opinion is divided on the issue, and especially on the last point.