European Union

The longest in the history of UN climate negotiations, the COP25 ended on Sunday (15 September) with almost no significant decisions being made. Julia Panzer gives her take about the business implications of the Madrid climate talks.

A draft €100-billion “Just Transition Mechanism” outlined by the European Commission as part of its Green Deal last week will eventually see the light in January, EU officials have said. The amount of “fresh money” under the new fund is however expected to be limited.

The European Defence Agency has today published its annual Defence Data report for the year 2018, detailing spending by the 27 EDA Member States. Total defence expenditure stands at €223 billion, representing a 3% increase on 2017  and marks the fifth consecutive year of increased defence spending. EDA’s report also finds that Member States are not meeting spending commitments in key areas.   
 

Total defence expenditure returns to pre-financial crisis levels  

The year’s report finds that overall defence spending by the 27 EDA Member States has almost returned to pre-financial crisis levels, €225 billion in 2007 compared to €223.4 billion in 2018. This level of spending represents 1.4% of GDP and 3.1% of total government expenditure. Although overall spending fell by 11% between 2007 and 2013, since 2014 Member States defence expenditure is increasing in line with economic growth.  

“It is extremely positive that defence budgets have almost fully returned to pre-financial crisis levels, with 2018 marking the fifth consecutive year of increased spending. Our report is evidence that Member States have put a renewed impetus into defence spending after suffering heavily in the years following the financial crisis. Nevertheless, EDA’s findings do paint a mixed picture in terms of European collaborative defence, with a worrying fall in both equipment procurement and R&T spending in a European context. While European collaborative defence R&T still remains significantly below 2008 levels, it is encouraging that the value and number of ad-hoc R&T projects under EDA is increasing”, Jorge Domecq, EDA’s Chief Executive, commented. 
 

Shortfalls on collective spending commitments  

Despite the rise in total defence expenditure, spending on fulfilling collective benchmarks has failed to keep pace. Spending on areas where collective benchmarks have been agreed namely: Defence Investment; Defence Research and Technology; European Collaborative Defence Equipment Procurement; and European Collaborative Defence R&T all still remain below 2008 levels. EDA’s report provides detailed analysis of how current spending relates to these four collective benchmarks agreed at the EDA Steering Board in 2007, as follows:

• €44.5 billion on Defence Investment (procurement of new equipment and R&D), representing 19.9% of Total Defence Expenditure against a collective benchmark of 20%; 
• €6.4 billion on European Collaborative Defence Equipment Procurement, representing  17.8% of Total Defence Equipment Procurement against a collective benchmark of 35%; 
• €2.1 billion on Defence Research and Technology, totalling 0.9% of Total Defence Expenditure against a collective benchmark of 2%; and, 
• €153 million on European Collaborative Defence R&T, totalling 7.3% of Total Defence R&T against a collective benchmark of 20%.    
   

Key findings  

However, among the 27 EDA Member States some disparities in achieving these benchmarks can be observed:  

• 14 Member States spent 20% or more of their defence budget on investment in 2018, up from 7 states in 2014;     

• 21 Member States now dedicate more than 10% of defence budget on investments;  

• 8 Member States combined account for 96% of total defence research and technology spending, with the largest four accounting for 85%.   
   

Background 

EDA collects defence data on an annual basis, and has done so since 2006, in line with the Agency’s ministerial Steering Board decision of November 2005. The Ministries of Defence of the Agency’s 27 Member States (all EU Member States except Denmark) provide the data. EDA acts as the custodian of the data and publishes the aggregated figures in its booklets. 

All data is collated (“Total incorporates 27 EDA Member States”), and it has been rounded. Defence expenditure figures are provided in constant 2018 prices in order to take inflation into account and allow for a comparison across years.  
 

More information  

• EDA Report: Defence Data 2017-2018 Key Findings and Analysis  

The European Commission has been driven into the uptake of a fresh startup mindset in its efforts to develop a value chain for batteries in the last two years, said the Head of Unit for Automotive and Mobility Industries at the DG GROW Joanna Szychowska.

Far-right trolls commonly target women and minorities and seek to subvert the work of politicians, journalists and activists. But technology platforms and their supporters tend to resist legislation that could help tame the trolls.

The hearing over the arrest warrant issued by Spain for the extradition of three Catalan leaders, Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Lluis Puig, was postponed again on Monday by a Brussels court, until 3 February. The European Court of Justice will announce its preliminary ruling on the parliamentary immunity of Catalan MEP Oriol Junqueras on Thursday, which may affect Puigdemont's and Comín's cases as they were also elected MEPs.

EU member states have asked the European Commission to develop a new strategy for the protection and welfare of animals, calling it "an issue of high importance to European citizens". The ministers recognised on Monday the need to update the current legislation for animal transportation over long distances, the welfare of cattle over six months, pet-breeders and animal slaughter.

EU ambassadors have agreed on a slightly-modified version of the EU sustainable investment taxonomy - which aims to clarify which sectors are fully sustainable. The previous version was blocked last week by nine countries (France, UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia), because they wanted more guarantees regarding "technological neutrality". Now MEPs will have to decide if the newly agreed council position is strong enough.

MEPs want to stop the decline of bees and other insect pollinators in the EU and are calling for more measures to protect the diversity of pollinator species.

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

MEPs want to stop the decline of bees and other insect pollinators in the EU and are calling for more measures to protect the diversity of pollinator species.

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

Written by Marta Latek and Eric Pichon,

© United Nations

In 2015, the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to be attained by 2030, as a follow-up to the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) and the Rio+20 Summit (2012). Unlike their predecessors, the SDGs commit both developed and developing countries, and embrace the economic, environmental and social aspects of development. The SDGs and the broader 2030 Agenda for sustainable development of which they form the core, are based on the findings that human activities have triggered dramatic changes in the conditions on Earth (climate change and biodiversity loss), which in turn have contributed to the deterioration of human well‑being. To reverse the trend, there is an urgent need to simultaneously address the multiple causes and consequences of environmental depletion and social inequalities, by developing synergies and managing trade-offs between the SDGs.

Challenges in pursuing the SDGs include the fact that countries do not necessarily have an equal start and, even more importantly, that regardless of their stage of development, they can no longer afford to apply the current development model, where production and consumption happen at the expense of natural resources. According to many observers, such a model creates unsolvable tensions between SDGs, notably between the safeguarding of natural resources and the aspirations for improved well-being. The structural transformation that would bring about the desired change requires a joint effort by the international community, but equally so by natural and public or private legal persons, to urgently speed up the process. The European Union has been a leader in drafting and implementing the SDGs; however, the European Parliament considers the EU could go further in devising a common SDG strategy.

Read this briefing on ‘Understanding the Sustainable Development Goals‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

As member states are locked into negotiations over the next EU budget, research has become an easy target for cuts. Meanwhile, EU-funded scientists urge that frontier research is becoming more important than ever with new challenges ahead.

A Turkish drone meant to help seek hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean landed at an airport on the divided island of Cyprus on Monday (16 December), a Turkish official said, in a move that could further stoke tensions between Turkey and Greece.

On Monday, MEPs will assess whether EU values are at risk in Hungary and Poland, with Commissioner Didier Reynders and Finnish Minister Tytti Tuppurainen.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

On Monday, MEPs will assess whether EU values are at risk in Hungary and Poland, with Commissioner Didier Reynders and Finnish Minister Tytti Tuppurainen.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

The results of the Climate Change Conference in Madrid have disappointed many participants as well as environmentalists and scientists. Key divisive issues were postponed for later discussion while relatively undemanding declarations of intent were adopted. Europe's commentators wonder whether climate protection - like the two-speed Europe - is an area where certain countries need to strike out on their own.