European Union

US officials announced Tuesday (16 October) negotiations for separate trade agreements with Britain, the European Union and Japan as part of efforts by President Donald Trump's administration to rebalance global commerce.

Although the EU-UK talks collapsed on Sunday (14 October), Prime Minister Theresa May will probably find out that brokering a final withdrawal deal with the bloc will actually be easier than successfully piloting it through the UK Parliament.

On the occasion of International Day of Eradication of Poverty marked on 17th October, Jana Hainsworth, Secretary General of Eurochild shares how EU economic tools can help tackle child poverty, which affects 25 million children in the EU.

It is a bit surprising to see the Commission chief advocating additional imports in the EU of US LNG, a fossil fuel which produces a lot of greenhouse gas emissions, writes Danila Bochkarev.

Sobering warnings from the UN about the impact of climate change on our planet and human health has one obvious solution: increase the rate of building renovation, in order to massively cut energy use, writes Vijoleta Gordeljevic.

The life of copper is infinite and has no end phase. Once mined, it can be recycled over and over with no loss of properties.

U.S. tech giant Google will charge smartphone makers a licensing fee for using its popular Google Play app store and also allow them to use rival versions of its Android mobile operating system to comply with an EU antitrust order.

Stark warnings from the United Nations ahead of a make-or-break summit in Poland in December have propelled climate change up the political agenda. Now, an experimental approach at regional level hopes to help the EU hit its emission reduction targets.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told Italian media on Tuesday (16 October) that he could not accept the extra spending budgeted by the Italian government because other member states would “insult” the institution.

Jorge Domecq, the EDA Chief Executive, met today in Warsaw with the Polish Minister of Defence, Mariusz Błaszczak. He also had talks with the Head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Michał Dworczyk, the National Armament Director, Brig Gen Karol Dymanowski, as well as with senior representatives from the Ministry’s Capability, R&T and Budget directorates, and from the Polish Defence Policy Director’s office.   

The main topics discussed during these meetings included the current state of play and way ahead in the implementation of the various EU defence initiatives (PESCO, CARD, EDF), the recently revised EU Capability Development Priorities, Poland’s current and potential future contributions to EDA projects and programmes, the implications of the Agency’s recent Long-Term Review (LTR) as well as the EU-NATO relations.

Participating in around 40 EDA projects, Poland is among the six greatest contributors to the Agency.

“We are in an important phase of the implementation process of the various EU defence initiatives. After the approval of the revised EU Capability Development Priorities (CDP) in June, we are now finalizing the report on the trial run of the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) to be presented to Ministers in November when Member States are also expected to select the second batch of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) projects. More than ever, it is important that CARD, PESCO and European Defence Fund (EDF) are implemented in a coherent and coordinated manner, based on agreed EU Capability Development Priorities, and in full transparency and complementarity with NATO”, Mr Domecq stated.

Mr Domecq also attended today the opening of the Conference on the second Phase of the Consultation Forum for Sustainable Energy in the Defence and Security Sector (CF SEDSS II) in Warsaw (see other EDA news here).  The Forum brings together experts from the defence and energy sectors to share information and best practices on improving energy management, energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy as well increasing the protection and resilience of defence energy-related critical infrastructures. 

 

Hungary was added to the agenda of EU affairs ministers next to Poland, as the two countries face disciplinary procedures over rule of law concerns.

The main topic of the Tripartite Social Summit was "Reinforcing competitiveness, sustainable job creation and social fairness in the European Union".

Remarks by President Donald Tusk following the tripartite social summit and ahead of the European Council meetings.

The end of the Christian Social Union's post-war political supremacy in Bavaria after the state election on 14 October can be described as the final nail in that uniquely German historical phenomenon called “Die Bonner Republik”.

EU Council president Donald Tusk said on Tuesday he will ask British prime minister Theresa May at the EU summit on Wednesday if "she has concrete proposals to break the impasse" in Brexit negotiations. He said "goodwill" will not be enough to secure a Brexit deal. Tusk added that the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier's report, and May's Monday speech in parliament, gave him "no grounds for optimism".

Unlike the energy sector, agriculture does not benefit from public policies geared towards a low carbon transition, which means farming is still a significant contributor to climate change due to meat over-consumption, a new report published on 16 October revealed.

Tech giants including Facebook, Google, Twitter and Mozilla have submitted plans to the European Commission outlining how they will abide by a code of practice against fake news, amid opposition on the proposals from a multistakeholder forum.

France has new ministers for agriculture, culture and the interior after a government reshuffle. The new portfolio-holders will be at the forefront of reforms to the CAP, copyright law and the European asylum system. EURACTIV France reports.

The amended Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) contains a vision for 2050 for the buildings stock in the EU – it will have to be highly energy efficient and decarbonised, reaching cost-effective nearly zero energy levels.

All EU regions have benefited from Cohesion Policy, but what has been the added-value of Cohesion Policy on the ground?