Sunday
23rd Jan 2022
Environmental lawyers are threatening to take legal action against the European Commission if gas is included in the EU guidelines for sustainable finances. But the draft taxonomy has also triggered discontent among some EU national capitals and MEPs.
The EU plans to label natural gas as 'green' in sustainable investment rules. From 2026 it will have to be blended with low-carbon gases like green hydrogen - but many scientists warn this is inefficient, costly and damaging to health.
President Emmanuel Macron's address to the European Parliament championed a bold and ambitious pro-European agenda. There is one problem though - the plans rely on a system of governance that has gridlocked the EU for over a decade.
MEPs have recalled their demands to include the right to legal and safe abortion into the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, a day after French president Emmanuel Macron pledged to open such a debate in the EU Council.
The case is one of many disputes between the EU and Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, which have started to cost money for Warsaw.
Thirty Dutch mayors have asked the national government to rethink its corona pandemic measures amid protests from museums and cultural centres against continued lockdown.
Obligatory detentions, more security-screening, and faster deportations - these are the French EU presidency's migration priorities.
MEPs will vote on new rules setting out transparency obligations for online players and holding Big Tech giants accountable. But some issues proved to be divisive after EU lawmakers tabled over a hundred amendments on the file.
Emmanuel Macron also took hits from French political opponents, including the Green party presidential challenger MEP Yannick Jadot in the European Parliament ahead of the upcoming presidential elections in France in April.
On Thursday, MEPs must press for a ban on all live exports outside the EU, and call for overall journey times within the EU to be limited to four hours for poultry and rabbits, and eight hours for other animals.
Competition is fierce and getting African leaders' attention is no easy task. US president Joe Biden has his own Africa summit, and Turkey, Japan, Russia and - most importantly - China, also have Africa forums up and running.
Metsola's win was actually secured on Monday - after a deal was struck by the largest three political parties, the centre-right European People's Party, the Socialist and Democrats and the liberal Renew Europe.
An EU mission using Danish and French warships is to patrol West African waters in coming years to stymie piracy.
Text messages between European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and the CEO of giant pharmaceutical company Pfizer Albert Bourla should be made public, MEPs and NGOs demanded.
Russia already has "hundreds" of mercenaries in Mali, but there was no sign they were using EU-trained Malian soldiers, an EU spokesperson has said.
The commission is expected to come forward with concrete proposals in the next months, and the debate is likely to heat up in June.
Investors and small businesses are not, in fact, as keen on tracking-based online adverts as Big Tech's lobbying efforts have claimed, new research revealed on Monday, ahead of this week's plenary vote on stricter rules for online platforms.
Simply opening the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, sparked a large-scale expansion of China's economic warfare against democracies. China's actions amount to a fundamental attack on the DNA of the European Union: the internal market.
There are also numerous loopholes in the deal which will enable corporations to keep portions of their profits outside of the scope of the tax, so paying even less than 15 percent.
The EU has redacted the only nice thing it was planning to say about Russia from its landmark strategy paper.
The lead candidate is the centre-right European People's Party's (EPP) Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola, who has been outspoke against corruption and rule-of-law issues - but some MEPs are concerned over her anti-abortion voting record.
A lead MEP is calling for a temporary opt-out for homes and private cars under reforms of the EU carbon market rules, as the new rules are expected to increase fuel and energy prices for households.
Enlargement commissioner Várhelyi "openly colluded [with Dodik] in potentially breaking up Bosnia and Herzegovina", according to dozens of MEPs who wrote to Várhelyi's boss.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has gone against Germany by saying the fate of Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was tied to events in Ukraine.
For each of the possible future conflicts in the EU's neighbourhood, the EU will need Turkey as a strategic partner. Therefore it is time to put past slights and sensitivities aside.
Experts and activists have warned the European Commission that including natural gas and nuclear power in its plan for sustainable finance will lead to further greenwashing, split financial markets and undermine the bloc's climate objectives.
Invasion is unlikely to be Vladimir Putin's preferred option. Yet this game of brinkmanship has another part of the equation. If Russia invades Ukraine, the costs for Europe will be equally devastating.
Nato and Russia are in talks to reopen their embassies in Brussels and Moscow amid Western efforts to dial down tension on Ukraine.
The record numbers reflect those registered by health authorities, and does not include self-tests or infected people who develop no symptoms, and are not aware of their contagiousness.
The European Environment Agency warned current projections indicate emissions-reductions in member states covered by the EU's cap-and-trade carbon market are insufficient to meet the bloc's new climate targets for 2030 and 2050.
The EU does not need to become a counter-propaganda machine - but finding and providing the right facts will be the only way for Europe to stop falling into ISIS' polarisation trap.
This election is marked by the untimely passing of David Sassoli, who steered the parliament through an extremely complex and challenging period. He showed that it was possible to reach agreements through much-needed dialogue, and away from dogmas.
The unexpected death of David Sassoli, president of the European Parliament, on Tuesday shocked the EU institutions, whose leaders spoke of a "passionate European, a sincere democrat and a good man".
