European Union

Another summer of record temperatures, devastating forest fires, floods: in 2019 focus on the climate once again increased. The Fridays for Future protests spread across the globe. The new EU Commission is making climate protection a top priority. Commentators discuss whether the direction has really changed.

In 2019 people protested all over the world against corrupt governments and oppression, and for justice and climate protection. Will their protests bear fruit in the coming year?

Young women such as Greta Thunberg and Sanna Marin made a name for themselves in 2019. But established politicians like Jacinda Ardern and Ursula von der Leyen also figured prominently in the headlines. Is this the dawn of the age of women?

With Brexit, the UK will become the first country to leave the EU next year. Many see this as the climax of a long-standing process of alienation within the European community of states. The press discusses the cracks that divide the continent today, and how they could be filled.

EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan told the Irish Times newspaper that he was seeking to reset trade relations with the United States during a planned visit in Washington in January. "I will be seeking a reset of the EU/US trade relationship on issues like tariffs on steel and aluminium and the threat of US tariffs in response to a digital tax in Europe, " he said.

the UK chancellor of the exchequer Sajid Javid said the government will provide €3.4bn of funding over two years to support farmers as Britain leaves the European Union. "When we leave the EU and are freed from the Common Agricultural Policy, we will be able to support our vital rural communities," he said in a statement. EU funding accounted for over 60 percent of UK farmers' average income in 2014-17.

Jacques Vandenschrik, the president of the European Food Banks Federation, was quoted in the Guardian newspaper saying the EU's long-term budget proposal seeks to cut almost 50 percent of the €3.8bn in funding to feed the poorest in an effort to offset Brexit bills. "The explanation is that the overall budget of Europe needs to be tightened up. Brexit is one of the arguments," he said.