European Union

Nicaragua on Monday (19 August) shuttered 1,500 NGOs, bringing to more than 5,000 the number of such entities scrapped in a crackdown on opponents by President Daniel Ortega.

A European Commission deadline for Hungary to respond to questions about the easing of entry requirements for Russian and Belarusian nationals expired on Monday (19 August).

Cyprus will propose former agriculture minister Costas Kadis as a new EU commissioner, the government in Nicosia announced on Monday (19 August).

Two German warships await orders from Berlin, their commander said, to determine whether next month they will be the first German naval vessels in decades to pass through the Taiwan Strait, drawing a rebuke from Beijing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday (19 August) his country's assault on Russia's Kursk region showed that Kremlin threats of retaliation were a bluff, and he urged Kyiv's allies to loosen curbs on using foreign-supplied weapons.

The political crisis raging in Bulgaria for over three years is about to turn into a constitutional deadlock after President Rumen Radev refused on Monday to appoint a new caretaker government to hold early parliamentary elections.

Slovakia's Ice Hockey Federation SZLH has announced its squad for the Olympic qualifiers, confirming the return of players from the Russian KHL after a two-year hiatus caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Slovakia's Ice Hockey Federation SZLH has announced its squad for the Olympic qualifiers, confirming the return of players from the Russian KHL after a two-year hiatus caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Fresh allegations of a left-wing plot to persuade magistrates to investigate Arianna Meloni, sister of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, have sparked outrage and led to a heated exchange with former prime minister and Italia Viva leader Matteo Renzi.

Poland’s former prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, is vying for the leadership of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, a role currently held by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish media reports.

Poland’s former prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, is vying for the leadership of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, a role currently held by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Polish media reports.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday (19 August) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted a US proposal to tackle disagreements blocking a ceasefire deal in Gaza, and urged Hamas to do the same.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday (19 August) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted a US proposal to tackle disagreements blocking a ceasefire deal in Gaza, and urged Hamas to do the same.

Lithuania on Monday (19 August) began construction of a military base, which will accommodate up to 4,000 combat-ready German troops once completed by the end of 2027, in the first permanent foreign deployment for the German military since World War Two.

Lithuania on Monday (19 August) began construction of a military base, which will accommodate up to 4,000 combat-ready German troops once completed by the end of 2027, in the first permanent foreign deployment for the German military since World War Two.

The European Union is increasingly in the crosshairs of international drug lords, new data from the EU's drugs agency (EMCDDA) shows. Host Giada Santana explores the issue with Euractiv's health editor Catherine Feore and EMCDDA director Alexis Goosdell.

The European Union is increasingly in the crosshairs of international drug lords, new data from the EU's drugs agency (EMCDDA) shows. Host Giada Santana explores the issue with Euractiv's health editor Catherine Feore and EMCDDA director Alexis Goosdell.

Alain Delon, whose death was announced on Sunday, was a film star whose impact was far beyond his country of France, including in Eastern Europe during the communist era, where he was an icon of Western and European culture writes Georgi Gotev

Venezuela could soon enter a ‘serious crisis’ if the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, insists on claiming that he won the 28 July national elections, without being able to prove it, by publishing all electoral rolls, EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell...

Written by Antonio Albaladejo Román and Eric Pichon.

On 8-17 July 2024, the UN high-level political forum on sustainable development assessed progress towards SDG 2: ‘End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture’. It is unlikely this goal will be met by 2030. Instead, food insecurity, malnutrition and food prices have worsened globally.

The primary causes of food insecurity are threefold: conflict, economic instability, and extreme weather conditions, which frequently intersect and exacerbate one another. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has hindered the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and worsened the worldwide food crisis. This has shown that several food systems are unsustainable, relying too heavily on vulnerable global chains. This unsustainability is also highlighted by the fact that a third of the food produced globally is wasted or lost. In the EU itself, food inflation owing to the impact of extreme weather events, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine has led to more than eight EU citizens in 100 being unable to afford a proper meal on a regular basis, while 50 in 100 are overweight.

Better nutrition and agricultural sustainability are at the core of the EU’s new common agricultural policy and the ‘farm to fork’ and biodiversity strategies. These are now being put to the test by the impact of COVID-19 and Russia’s war on Ukraine. In poorer countries, the EU and its Member States act on food insecurity through humanitarian aid and development cooperation. The EU bases its external action towards SDG 2 on comprehensive strategies in conflict areas, substantial research capacities and the promotion of international cooperation. However, its impact is difficult to assess, while other EU policies, particularly on trade, have a spillover effect on other food systems around the world.

This briefing updates a previous edition by Anna Caprile and Eric Pichon, published in January 2022.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Achieving food security: Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) – The EU’s role in ending hunger and improving nutrition‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Hunger and food insecurity in 2022 Acute food insecurity by key drivers (2023) Food system contradictions