European Union

The rise in gas prices in Europe that has been attributed to Ukraine's recent invasion of Kursk is expected to add to Russian revenues from selling fossil fuels, further widening the gap between such revenues and the total amount of EU support to Kyiv.

Eastern Germany could be on the brink of a tectonic shift in the upcoming state elections, with the far-right AfD and the left-populist BSW predicted to make unprecedented gains, fuelling fears of future ungovernability in large parts of the country.

The EU reacted "extremely" quickly to Greece's request for EU aid to fight wildfires that reached the outskirts of Athens, an EU Commission spokesman said on Tuesday, describing a response that began 12 hours after the government had asked for help.

Written by Anne Altmayer.

Aquaculture is an important sector of the EU’s blue economy and has the potential to play a more vital role as a sustainable food supplier under the European Green Deal.

However, while fish farming is one of the fastest growing food production sectors in the world, the EU, with its 1.1 million tonnes of farmed fish produced in 2022, accounts for less than 1 % of global production. For comparison, Norway’s aquaculture output in the same year alone exceeded that of the EU as a whole.

The EU’s self-sufficiency rate for fishery and aquaculture products is rather low, making the EU dependent on imports of these products.

Within the EU, aquaculture production is concentrated mainly in four countries, which for their part are specialised on the farming of particular species.

Despite the European Commission’s efforts to promote the development of aquaculture within the EU, the production rate is stagnating.

The constraints and barriers hampering the sector’s growth range from high administrative burdens, to limited access to space and water, to trade-related aspects and governance issues.

Over the past 20 years, the European Parliament has recurrently highlighted the EU’s strong dependency on imports of fisheries and aquaculture products, and called for remedies to strengthen the position of EU fish farmers.

Possible future developments could include a change in policy, with a view to improving the sector’s position as a major food supplier, and a change in production towards less cost-intensive and more sustainable methods.

Read the complete briefing on ‘EU aquaculture: State of play‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Global aquaculture production, 1990-2020 Composition of EU aquaculture production by main commercial species (in volume), 2021 Aquaculture products: EU supply balance by volume (million tonnes)

Intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces near a pipeline Russia uses to supply European countries with gas has not disrupted supplies, network operators and gas companies said on Tuesday (13 August).

More than two weeks after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claimed reelection victory, the US and other Western countries are showing little sign of swift tough action over what many of them have condemned as voting fraud.

A far-right Israeli minister drew international condemnation Tuesday (13 August) by praying with thousands of Jews at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in annexed east Jerusalem, defying a ban on Jewish prayer at the flashpoint site.

Greece's worst wildfire of the year eased on the outskirts of the capital Athens on Tuesday (13 August) thanks to weaker winds, pausing progress of a destructive blaze that killed one person and torched cars, buildings, fields and forests.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will step down in September, ending a three-year term marred by political scandals and paving the way for a new premier to address the impact of rising prices.

Ukraine kept pounding the Russian border region of Kursk with missiles and drones on Wednesday (14 August), as Kyiv said it had made further territorial gains in an incursion that US President Joe Biden called a "real dilemma" for the Kremlin's leader.

Bluetongue virus cases have shot up in several European countries, data gathered by AFP on Tuesday (13 August) showed, as farmers are worrying about consequences for sheep and cattle.

Bluetongue virus cases have shot up in several European countries, data gathered by AFP on Tuesday (13 August) showed, as farmers are worrying about consequences for sheep and cattle.

On Monday (12 August), the World Health Organisation (WHO) published a report revealing a significant surge in mpox cases, albeit with significant gaps in reporting.

MEP Alvise Pérez, the controversial leader of Spain's new far-right formation Se Acabó la Fiesta, began his weekend “raffling” his MEP salary in exchange for participants handing over a large amount of personal data, which experts say could violate national and European data protection rules. 

Iran's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that calls for restraint regarding Israel from France, Germany and Britain "lack political logic and contradict principles of international law".

US entrepreneur Elon Musk, multi-billionaire and boss of the social network X, is one of the most influential people in the world. He backs former President Donald Trump's election campaign, provokes with his political statements and interprets freedom of speech very broadly on X. European commentators take a closer look at the immense power he wields.