European Union

Plenary session, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

Campaigners have urged European governments and the UK to clarify their 'confused' policies to guide UK citizens living in the EU through the post-Brexit “no man’s land”, following the publication of two new reports on Friday (6 March).

The EU is willing to provide more money for migrants stranded in Turkey, but Ankara must refrain from using them as a bargaining chip, the bloc's foreign ministers announced after an extraordinary meeting about the crisis in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, held in Zagreb on Friday (6 March).

Written by Marketa Pape,

© MNBB Studio / Shutterstock.com

Transport is a strategic sector of the EU economy. Essential to ensuring free movement, it enables people and goods to overcome distances, borders and natural barriers, directly affecting the everyday lives of all EU citizens. Maintaining the flow of goods from producers and manufacturers to consumers makes efficient transport systems a backbone of European integration. For the single market to function well in all regions, the EU needs sustainable, efficient and fully interconnected transport networks.

As the demand for transport services grows, reducing transport emissions and negative impacts on human health and the environment has become one of the main challenges. New technologies, such as digitalisation, and connected and automated mobility, open new possibilities to improve transport safety, security and efficiency, and to reduce emissions, but also transform the employment in the sector in terms of working conditions and required skills. Collaborative economy developments, such as car-sharing and bike-sharing services are changing user behaviour and mobility patterns. EU transport policy needs to help the sector cut emissions drastically by running on less and cleaner energy, utilise modern infrastructure, and reduce its impact on the environment.

The new President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has put transport on a fast track towards becoming decarbonised and digital. This transformation is to be a key part of her European Green Deal and ‘making Europe fit for the digital age’ priorities. In 2020, the Commission will propose a ‘climate law’, committing the EU to becoming climate neutral by 2050. The European Council has endorsed this objective and Parliament had already called for ambitious goals and a corresponding long-term EU budget. While concrete steps towards this ambitious goal remain to be defined, it will require a step change to make transport modern, sustainable and decarbonised.

Read the complete Briefing on ‘EU policies – Delivering for citizens: Transport policy ‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Listen to policy podcast ‘Transport policy‘ on YouTube.

The European Defence Agency (EDA) confirms that two additional staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. Both staff members have been at home in self-isolation since 2 March and have thus not returned to the Agency since symptoms appeared.

Given that both staff members had been in close contact with the first staff member who has tested positive, the Agency, while awaiting test results, has proactively taken additional precautionary measures to those already outlined in its statement of 4 March.

The additional precautionary measures include: 

• EDA has personally informed all individuals who were in close contact with the two colleagues four days prior to the appearance of symptoms;
• EDA has asked its staff members in close contact to self-isolate themselves for 14 days as a precaution.

All three EDA staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19 are at home and have not reported any adverse change in their health.

EDA will continue to closely monitor the situation and remain in close contact with the responsible health authorities (Belgian health authorities as the host nation, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the EU Inter-Institutional Medical Board and the World Health Organisation) in order to strictly follow their guidance.

 

The Council today adopted conclusions on air quality which give political guidance for further work to combat air pollution.

The EU is complying with the pledges made in the Paris Agreement. Today, the Council adopted the submission of the EU's mid-century, long-term objective to the United Nations

In his opening speech at the Centre for European Policy Studies - Ideas Lab 2020, President Michel outlined his vision for the single currency and how the euro could play a more prominent role internationally.

The Council extended the asset freezes directed against certain persons responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian State funds until 6 March 2021.

Main agenda items, approximate timing, public sessions and press opportunities.

The chaotic situation with thousands of migrants and refugees stranded at the Greek-Turkish border has attracted the interest of Nazi groups across Europe, who have already visited the EU’s external frontier with the aim of spreading nationalistic hatred, Greek media have reported.

3.8 billion. That’s how many women and girls there are in the world. Zero: that’s the number of countries set to achieve gender equality by 2030. This week, on Women’s Day, people all over the world will stand up for women’s rights, writes Hannah Neumann.

ExxonMobil officials urged the EU in November to weaken guidelines on vehicle emissions, according to information obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

For several days now Greek police have been using tear gas and water cannons to push back refugees and migrants on the country's border with Turkey. Thousands have gathered there in the hope of being able to enter the EU after Turkey opened its borders. Some media condemn Athens' hard line as inhumane and unlawful - other see it as a necessary evil for upholding Europe's interests.

During their meeting in Moscow on Thursday Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed on a ceasefire for the embattled Syrian province of Idlib. The fighting continued until shortly before midnight but since then there has been "relative calm", according to news agency AFP. Some observers say Moscow has the upper hand, while for others Ankara has emerged as the winner.