European Union

EU member states spent €273bn last year on environmental protection, according to new statistics on Wednesday from Eurostat. Such national expenditure by EU countries has been rising on average by over two-percent each year, but overall has increased by 40 percent since 2006. As percentage of GDP, however, environmental protection has remained relatively stable over the last 50 years (between 1.8 and 2.0 percent of GDP).

The EU Commission and most MEPs have called on Hungary on Wednesday (7 July) to repeal discriminatory new laws against LGBTIQ people or face legal consequences. Meanwhile, the commission is assessing Budapest's Covid-19 pandemic recovery plan.

The European Institute for Gender Equality has estimated that the annual cost of gender-based violence against women in the EU at €290bn. One-in-three women in the EU aged 15 or over has experienced physical and/or sexual violence.

In the countries worst hit by Covid-19, hydrogen and renewable gases are set to receive more money than much-needed intensive care units and new medical equipment (Italy) or the entire national health system (Spain).

“Local and regional governments in Spain and across Europe are paving the way to the active implementation of the global goals”, writes Carlos Martínez Mínguez Mayor of Soria (Spain), CEMR Vice-President & Spokesperson on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable...

The list of EU-approved sustainable fuel sources should be expanded to meet the higher targets for second-generation biofuels under the updated renewable energy directive, according to the advanced biofuels industry.

Hungary on Wednesday (7 July) rejected a demand from the European Commission and many EU lawmakers to repeal new legislation banning schools from using materials deemed to promote homosexuality.

The European Union will propose a new agency to crack down on money laundering and new transparency rules for transfers of crypto-assets, EU documents showed as the bloc responds to calls for tougher action to fight dirty money.

Swedish Social Democrat leader Stefan Löfven was re-elected as prime minister by parliament on Wednesday (7 July), ending weeks of political turmoil since his resignation last month.

EU officials on Wednesday condemned the shooting of Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, who was fighting for his life after the attack in central Amsterdam. “This is a crime against journalism and an attack on our values of...

Press briefing ahead of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council will take place on 9 July 2021 at 13:15.

EU Court of Justice: appointment of two judges and two advocates-general of the Court of Justice.

Report by President Charles Michel to the European Parliament plenary session on the European Council of 24-25 June 2021.

Press briefing ahead of Foreign Affairs Council will take place on 9 July 2021 at 14.00.

The funds will help manage migration flows, ease integration of third-country nationals and improve border management.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The funds will help manage migration flows, ease integration of third-country nationals and improve border management.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Written by Beata Rojek.

Each year, millions of live animals are transported by road, sea, rail and air within, and to and from, the European Union, for a number of reasons, such as slaughter, fattening or breeding. To protect their welfare during those journeys, the EU adopted Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. An evaluation of the regulation showed that, when correctly implemented and enforced, it had a positive impact on animal welfare. However, in some areas weaknesses still persist, largely due to insufficient implementation. In the light of these conclusions, and bearing in mind its 2012-2015 animal welfare strategy, the European Commission announced its intention to revise the animal welfare legislation, including legislation on animal transport. Despite the action taken, however, in recent years, repeated breaches of the rules, resulting in accidents and severe animal welfare crises, have been highlighted by EU and national control bodies and by animal welfare organisations.

On 19 June 2020, the European Parliament set up the Committee of Inquiry on the Protection of Animals during Transport (ANIT). The work of the committee focused on investigating how EU rules laid down in Regulation 1/2005 are being implemented by Member States and enforced by the European Commission. It held public hearings with the participation of stakeholders, representatives of national authorities and experts. Insight from these debates fed into the committee’s report and recommendations to Council and the Commission.

This briefing is one of four requested by the ANIT committee to provide research and analysis following the results of a questionnaire sent out by the committee to Member States. It gives an overview of available data on the transport of live animals.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Protection of animals during transport: Data on live animal transport‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

HOT BLADE 21 (HB21), the 15th Blade exercise organised under EDA’s Helicopter Exercise Programme (HEP) came to a close last week at Beja Airbase, Portugal. Over a period of two weeks (16-30 June) and in strict respect of all applicable COVID measures, the exercise involved a total of 21 air assets from Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Portugal as well as some 1,500 military staff.

Observers had been sent by Italy and Slovakia as well as Switzerland and Serbia (two countries which have concluded Administrative Agreements with EDA). Other capabilities involved were a multinational Joint Tactical Air Controller (JTAC) team and an Electronic Warfare (EW) emulator system from Slovenia. Additionally, a mentor team involving Helicopter Tactics Instructors (HTI) from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden supported the delivery of academic lessons and provided mentoring during the planning and execution of all Composite Air Operations (COMAO) missions.

The main objective of HB21 was the performance of eight day/night COMAO missions in a realistic, harsh and complex environment, with the participation of all countries and assets involved. Furthermore, other national and multinational training activities such as formation flights, evasion manoeuvre training, sling load, helocast, rappelling and fast roping were also trained, resulting in 208 sorties amounting to around 500 flight hours. To maximise the training sorties, two Forward Arming and Refueling Points (FARP) were placed, to allow for ‘hot refuelling’ of the helicopters.

A Distinguished Visitors Day was organized on the 24th of June, with the participation of the Portuguese State Secretary of Defense, Human Resources and Veterans, Catarina Sarmento e Castro, as well as other military and civilian authorities. 

During the closing ceremony, EDA’s Project Officer for Rotary Wing, José Pablo Romera, thanked the Portuguese Air Force, in particular the Air Command, Airbase Nº11 and the Excon team for the outstanding organisation and execution of the exercise, as well as all the participants for their proactive involvement and cooperative mindset which resulted in the achievement of the expected training objectives.

The next EDA helicopter exercise, the Fire Blade 2022, will take place from 7th to 24th of June 2022 and will be hosted by Hungary, in Papa Air Base.

Background

Since 2009, 15 ‘BLADE’ exercises were held in eight different European countries (France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Portugal). In addition to that, 10 helicopter tactics symposiums, 67 Helicopter Tactics Courses, 6 Helicopter Tactics Instructors Courses and several other training activities, as Composite Air Operations (COMAO) planning courses and the Electronic Warfare (EW) courses have been carried out under EDA management, involving a total of 15 EDA Member States. Those trainings and exercises have contributed to enhancing the level of operational interoperability and helicopter cooperation among the helicopter crews of a large number of EDA Member States. Those programmes (HEP, HTC, HTIC) are now mature enough to be transferred to the future Multinational Helicopter Training Centre (MHTC) by the end of 2023.

More information:

• Hot Blade 21 website
• HB21 Flickr
• HB21 Video 
• EDA helicopter initiatives

A crowdsourced investigation has accused YouTube’s recommendation algorithms of fuelling harmful content. France and Germany were found to be particularly affected, along with other non-English speaking countries.

Two and a half months before the German parliamentary election, the campaign is stuck in a maze of political misgivings, ranging between bad taste and mud-fight, abounding in everything but content, it seems.