European Union

What happened in the world of digital policy during 2018? Here's a review of all the big stories, brought to you by Euractiv's Digital Affairs Editor, Samuel Stolton.

Romania's press freedom is "in free fall" as it takes over its EU presidency, Reporters Without Borders has warned, amid wider EU concern on judicial meddling and corruption.

France's ambassador to Poland has said he was "shocked" by the Polish foreign minister's remarks that France had become the "sick man of Europe".

The EU has repeatedly called on outgoing president Joseph Kabila to hold elections. It said the expulsion was "completely unjustified".

French president Macron's former security aide, Alexandre Benalla, has allegedly been using a diplomatic passport for business trips to at least 10 African countries including Chad in December, where he met president Idriss Deby ahead of Macron's visit to the country. The foreign ministry said it had asked Benalla to return his diplomatic passport after his dismissal in summer. Benalla told Le Monde he was working as a "consultant".

Turkey's news agency Anadolu has exposed the location of French army bases in Syria, just days after French president Emmanuel Macron criticised a decision by the US to withdraw forces from Syria, leaving France's approximately 200-man strong special forces units as the largest Western troop contingent in Syria. "In four of nine military locations the French are protected by Americans," Anadolu said.

John Major's government discussed holding a referendum about the European Union already in 1994 in order to ease Eurosceptic pressure, but it could not agree what the referendum question should be, files released by the National Archives on Thursday revealed, the Guardian reports. Michael Heseltine, the then trade and industry secretary, supported the proposal, while William Waldegrave, the then chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, warned it might strengthen eurosceptics.

The European Union has condemned Israeli plans to build more than 2,000 homes in the West Bank. "All settlement activity is illegal under international law and it undermines the viability of the two-state solution and the prospects for a lasting peace," an EU foreign affairs spokesperson said on Thursday. After announcing new elections, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fast-tracked approval of settler homes in the West Bank.

With European elections coming up in May 2019, you probably want to know how the European Union impacts your daily life, before you think about voting. In the latest in a series of posts on what Europe does for you, your family, your business and your wellbeing, we look at what Europe does for astronomers.

Twitter Hashtag #EUandME

European astronomers have always been leaders in exploring the final frontier. The EU helps to continue this tradition, regardless of whether astronomers are amateur or professional. In 2017, for example, a Belgian astronomer made international headlines with the discovery of seven Earth-like planets orbiting another star (Trappist-1 system), and a French astronomer discovered the existence of a ring around a dwarf planet in our own solar system (Haumea). Both discoveries were made possible through EU financial support.

© AZP Worldwide / Fotolia

The EU helps to fire up the next generation of astronomers through its financial support to the ‘EU-Universe Awareness project’. This initiative uses astronomy to inspire and encourage a lifelong interest in science among young children (aged 4 to 10). The EU’s support was used to develop the project in five EU countries from 2011 to 2013, and it has since grown into an international network of 16 EU countries.

The EU also pays for the development of world-class research infrastructure to ensure that professional astronomers can continue to conduct cutting-edge research. One example is EU funding of the ‘ASTERICS project’, supporting future collaboration between four new large telescopes. At the same time, the EU provides grants to ambitious astronomers, to encourage further important discoveries.

Every astronomer, whether working from an observatory or from their backyard, can enjoy the remarkable results of EU-funded projects, and hopefully future generations will be inspired to boldly go where no one has gone before!

Further information

• European Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation, https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation_en
• European Commission’s Community Research and Development Information Service, https://cordis.europa.eu/home_en.html
• Website of Universe Awareness, http://www.unawe.org/

Transparency remains an essential instrument to remedy the present crisis of trust in the institutions. Accepting its fading away will be extremely damaging.

The yellow vests in France and Belgium may be only the tip of the iceberg of a major social upheaval ahead of the European elections, with a common denominator: people protesting their worsening living standards do not want to be represented by the existing political forces.

A trade war between China and the US, new tensions between Russia and the West, chaotic Brexit negotiations, an ever more powerful populist front in Europe and protests against the elites: the world has become an increasingly troubled place, commentators conclude at the end of 2018 and note that old certainties are no longer valid.

March 29, 2019, is the deadline for the Brexit - yet there is no sign of a majority for either an orderly Brexit or a second referendum in the British parliament. As a result, both Brussels and London are preparing contingency plans for a no-deal scenario. For commentators the Brexit negotiations have been a fiasco - offering only one small glimmer of hope.