European Union

Finnish presidency approach on the economy of wellbeing was a milestone for a successful reorientation of health services towards a multisectoral approach in designing, building and delivering people-centred care, said Anna Żakowicz, Director of Programs at AHF Europe.

Greenpeace have accused the incoming European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen of preparing draft new climate and environmental laws whose measures are "too weak, half-baked or missing altogether".

Ursula von der Leyen’s speech in Strasbourg this week touched on the idea of a ‘geopolitical Commission’ without specifically mentioning Africa. But that’s not a surprise or a slight.

Ursula von der Leyen and her new team of commissioners will have their first meeting on Wednesday. In the meantime, Malta descends into political turmoil over the death of an investigative journalist.

The outgoing president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, appeared before the press for one last time on Friday (29 November) and said he regretted that the Spitzenkandidaten system that landed him the top job in 2014 was not upheld this time.

The new European Council President Charles Michel called on Friday (29 November) for a more assertive role for Europe in the world, and promised to be “more cautious” on Twitter than his predecessor Donald Tusk.

Finland, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden will join the INSTEX mechanism for trade with Iran, the six countries declared in a joint statement on Friday (29 November) ahead of further talks between parties to the Iran nuclear deal in Vienna next week.

Written by Ivana Katsarova,

© Ico Maker / Fotolia

Between 1985 and 2019, 60 cities have held the title of European Capital of Culture – most recently Matera in Italy and Plovdiv in Bulgaria in 2019. Initiated in 1983, by Greece’s then Minister of Culture, Melina Mercouri, the concept took shape two years later as an inter-governmental initiative under the name of the ‘European City of Culture’. The success of the event was such that in 1999, the Council of the EU transformed it into a Community action, and created a more transparent rotational system for the designation of the titleholder.

The selection procedure – last modified in 2014 – places particular focus on the monitoring of proposals, the enhanced European dimension of projects, improved competition between candidate cities, and the redefinition of the selection panel role.

As more and more cities enter the European Capitals of Culture race, substantial sums of money are being spent, including on the bidding process. While in the early years of the programme (1985‑1994) the average operating budget was around €25 million per city, this amount has more than doubled to reach some €60 million per city for the period 2007-2017.

With rising budgets, there is also increased scrutiny of cities, national governments and the EU, as to the wider benefits in terms of the cultural development, social cohesion and city image that most bids promise. This, in turn, has led to more frequent and sophisticated monitoring and evaluation of the whole process, both by the European Commission and by the host cities themselves.

The symbolic celebration of European cultural identities is however closely tied to the economic success of the operation. According to experts, over time a number of conflicts and tensions have become apparent due to the multiple and sometimes contradictory objectives of the event, e.g. economic and cultural, to name just two. Additional criticism includes failure to enable local ownership, difficulty in overcoming social divides and exhaustion of local resources. Notwithstanding that, ex-post evaluations of the event show that in general it boosts economic growth and tourism, helps build a sense of community and contributes to urban regeneration.

Read the complete briefing on ‘European Capitals of Culture: In search of the perfect cultural event‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Since the German government abolished the mother sheep premium in 2005, shepherds have been suffering financially. But given that 22 other EU member states still award such a premium and since Germany could reintroduce such a bonus at any given time, shepherds continue to protest. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Malta's finance minister, Edward Scicluna, is to face a criminal inquiry on his role in the sale of three Maltese hospitals, a local magistrate has ruled. The affair comes after other senior government figures recently resigned over alleged links to the murder of a journalist in 2017. "A eurozone finance minister under money laundering investigations is unbearable" and Scicluna ought to "step down," Sven Giegold, a German Green MEP, said.

The incoming European Commission of Ursula von der Leyen is preparing a raft of new climate and environmental laws as part of a European Green Deal due to be unveiled on 11 December. EURACTIV got hold of a first draft, which is still subject to change.

A growing number of companies are using the last Friday in November to lure customers with attractive deals under the Black Friday slogan. The idea is to kick off the Christmas season with a US-style shopping spree. For commentators, the discount day highlights how our society indiscriminately indulges in consumption. But they also point out that for some it's easier to forego the bargains than for others.

Under the "climate emergency" declared by the European Parliament after a vote passed by an overwhelming majority the EU Commission and the member states must in future assess all their decisions in terms of their impact on the climate and the environment. Individual cities and states had already passed similar resolutions. Journalists are not very impressed.