Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
Fourteen EU member states are pushing for the European Investment Bank to boost defence investment, potentially including ammunition — but bank officials have shown reluctance.
Tuesday
19th Mar 2024
Fourteen EU member states are pushing for the European Investment Bank to boost defence investment, potentially including ammunition — but bank officials have shown reluctance.
France's attempts to impose an EU-wide ban on the export of used clothes will be watched closely by dozens of African countries, who receive millions of tonnes of used clothes each year.
Member states have formally, and finally, adopted the corporate sustainability due diligence directive — but the landmark legislation was severely watered-down, and will not come into force for most companies until the end of the decade.
The EU opened its first Arctic Office in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, as part of a wider charm offensive to position itself ahead of other great powers vying for the nation's mineral wealth.
Europe's power-grid problem is worse than previously thought, a new report by clean energy think-tank Ember has found.
It is high time to step back to take a look at a wider picture —that takes into account a broad array of factors affecting the European agricultural market so that the impact of the Ukrainian imports is not overblown.
EU ministers meeting in Brussels stressed that social investments are not just expenses but also generate revenue.
Some EU trade decisions are starting to be challenged — even by member states. A case in point is Ukraine, benefitting from the suspension of import duties, quotas and trade protection measures, against the objections of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
To feed the farm animals that produce Europe's finest meat and cheese, Italian and Spanish multinationals are importing massive quantities of soy from Argentina's Chaco region, helping to destroy this biodiversity hotspot.
African climate negotiators are drawing up a range of strategies to ensure that elections in the EU and United States do not slow down the flow of climate finance ahead of the Baku COP summit in November.
Over the past few years, farming and hunting organisations have waged an unrelenting vendetta against the wolf, culminating in the European Commission's 180-degree policy U-turn, writes the director of the Humane Society International for Europe.
Europeans deserve a digital euro that transcends the narrow interests of the banking lobby and embodies the promise of a fairer and more competitive monetary and financial landscape.
Member states failed on Wednesday to agree to the EU's long-awaited Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence Directive, after 13 EU ambassadors declared abstention and one, Sweden, expressed opposition (there was no formal vote), EUobserver has learned.
Hailed with loud applause by the 329 MEPs that approved the text, the final compromise approved on Tuesday is actually much weaker than the original EU Commission proposal first tabled in 2022.
The EU Commission's 2022 CSDDD proposal did not include provisions incorporating "conflict due diligence", they were added, after the Russian invasion, by the European Parliament and Council into the final directive text — for Ukraine's sake, vote for it.
India raised its first formal complaints about the EU's suite of new environmental laws on Monday, warning against protectionism in the name of environmental protection.
Following weeks of demonstrations across Europe, farmers returned to Brussels to protest over unfair competition in prices, as EU agriculture ministers met just a few metres away to discuss a response. The police used water cannon and tear gas.
EU banks pledge to return €120bn to shareholders as commercial banks earn record profits on central bank deposits. A main reason cited in bank earning calls is interest rates.
Two years of tragedies, with well over 100,000 Russian war crimes now registered, underscore the urgent need to stop international LNG investments in Russia that continue to fund Vladimir Putin's war chest.
According to the European Commission, CBAM is supposed to prevent "carbon leakage". In other words, it seeks to prevent European industries relocating to jurisdictions with less stringent environmental policies, while also incentivising carbon pricing and industrial decarbonisation abroad.
New instruments to shield the EU's financial interests from rule of law breaches have provided a better protection in recent years, but not immune to "political bargaining", auditors warn.
The €723bn Covid-19 recovery fund, launched three years ago, has been a success, according to a mid-term internal review — but less effective than initially predicted. And according to one NGO, the commission painted an "overly positive picture".
EU politicians will cosy up with Big Toxics at a secretive event on Tuesday to discuss a new 'European Industrial Deal' — a blatant showcase of corporate capture and an attempt to shift the political agenda in a profit-minded direction.
The French government announced €10bn in further spending cuts. However, defence spending is set to increase significantly, up to €413bn from €295bn, while €400m was cut from a fund meant for renovating schools, carpooling infrastructure, and other environmental projects.
Italy's offer to mobilise €5.5bn over the next years, overwhelmingly in already-allocated loans and guarantees, pales in comparison to the financing challenges faced by Africa. Only an EU-wide coordinated financial offer can credibly respond to African needs.
The ECB keeps rates high despite flagging economy, citing expected wage growth as a potential inflation driver.
When EU climate commissioner Hoekstra defends the 2040 climate-targets in Brussels on Thursday, will he remember the geothermal energy option?
The European Parliament discussed the future of the single market and taxation — what are the different ideas to raise revenue and finance the transition to a sustainable economy?
The circulation of the Atlantic Ocean is heading towards a breakdown that will dramatically alter the climate system.
Farmers' anger is legitimate and we share it. But sending the message that green rules are to blame, while supporting a system that only benefits Big Agri, is nothing short of betrayal, writes Greenpeace's director of agriculture policy for Europe.
India and South Africa are set to formally protest against the European Union's new carbon border tax at the World Trade Organization's (WTO) ministerial conference later this month.
Norway's recent decision to greenlight deep-sea mining plans in the Arctic has sent shockwaves through the world. This decision gives Norway the dubious honour of being the first European country to set out a procedure on deep-sea mining.
The agreement on the EU's hard-fought mid-term budget top-up between member states and the EU Parliament offers little to replace the bloc's climate financing.