Sunday
9th Aug 2020
It is of utmost concern to the environmental health community that forces within the EU Commission are actively trying to push back against a European Green Deal that is supposed to put people's health at its core.
As with the German government – which presented its own hydrogen strategy last month – the European Commission and other EU institutions appear to be similarly intoxicated by the false promises of the gas industry.
It would lend credence to the idea that Washington is using the withdrawal as a threat to coerce Angela Merkel to cease ties with Russia and China, the US' main rivals.
I hate to break it to you, but excuses have run out. You have to look at the images of sobbing journalists in Index's newsroom, and shoulder part of the blame. Your silence, your continued procrastination led to this.
A revamping of Indian and EU strategic priorities - coupled with wariness of Chinese expansionism in the absence of American leadership - is pushing them both to seek like-minded partners elsewhere.
Many capitals, experts and politicians see Poland as the 'enfant terrible' of climate negotiations. Everybody asks why? But the answer is darn simple. Money and time.
The United States recovery focused on a number of important issues, including unemployment benefits and funding for health care providers, but lacked any programs directed towards addressing pollution, renewable energy industries, and clean technology improvements.
Why is the EU Commission promoting a lose-lose (pay more, get less) strategy rather than the straightforward use of green electricity, where it will deliver bigger CO2-reductions and for less money?
It's worth noting that the security of the individual is at the heart of the new EU Security Union, rather than the security of the member states, or even the security of the EU.
The renovation of old buildings will be crucial to the success of the European Green Deal and a clean, robust economic recovery. Unless there is serious commitment from policymakers, we risk the Green Deal turning into a pumpkin.
Previous claims that migrants bring communicable diseases to host countries have been debunked by a review of the existing evidence carried out earlier this year. In fact, migrants are currently more at risk of contracting Covid-19 from Europeans.
To compete for the global pool of talent, the EU has to bring Juncker's Blue Card Directive back to life.
Visa-free travel by Kosovo passport-holders would be an important confidence-building measure, creating a positive atmosphere for negotiations. What Serbia wants is less clear.
A compromise of 27 positions is never a thing of beauty, but this time the need for unanimity among 27 leaders really unbalanced the initial proposals in important ways.
Northern European countries kept insisting on "no democracy, no money". Initially, this looked right. But the Portuguese prime minister António Costa, who lived under dictatorship, is not convinced.
We respect different views and comments on Hong Kong's National Security Law. It will be helpful if such views and comments are evidence-based. We would like to point out some facts to enable your readers to form informed opinion.
In contrast to campaign posters on the street or ads on TV, other voters have no way of knowing what paid political messaging their fellow citizens are seeing. People become siphoned off from each other and societal divides might harden.
EU health policy has three faces: explicit health policy, internal market policy, and fiscal governance. Covid-19 looks like it is transforming all three for the better.
The Netherlands and Spain are at opposite ends of the debate about the EU's recovery package. But they must realise they are in the same boat.
European culture is in the midst of a crisis. How decision-makers choose to respond now will set the scene for the next decade of cultural and creative life in our union.
Facebook PR chief Nick Clegg tried to make us believe that it is comparable to a phone company. Nothing could be further from the truth. His company decides which messages users see. It literally "ranks" content.
Although slightly elaborate, the Citizens' Initiative is an important instrument to boost popular participation in the EU legislative process, as well as to engage citizens in the policy making process of the Union.
Little wonder the leaders of Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden are unwilling to sign off: they're not going to give money so the Italians can fund a tax cut in the middle of an economic crisis.
We call for applying positive discrimination to the 'Blue Book'. This would imply quotas to ensure the recruitment of people of colour including those from non-privileged backgrounds.
If human rights lawyers are the linchpin for structural change in China – changes that create a positive and reinforcing effect on Europe's interests and values – what should Europe's leadership do?
Dealing with the recovery from the pandemic, the Conference on the Future of Europe seems to have disappeared from the political-media debate.
This will be the most selfish act in recent economic history. It will burden future generations and by no means make the weakest member states better off.
Two cardinals and 110 bishops speak out to demand mandatory corporate due diligence at national, EU and UN-level. "In the time of pandemic, this has become more urgent than ever."
The so-called "all-Russia" vote finishing today, with more than 200 amendments to the Russian constitution, has been marked by systematic electoral fraud, mass mobilisation of the administrative resources, populistic promises or exploiting the historical memory.
Action on climate change was long-slated as the priority for Germany's six-month presidency of the European Union which starts tomorrow. But as Europe struggles to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, is Germany really going to maintain momentum on climate?
Disappointing and frustrating: these two words describe best the way Brussels has been dealing with the conflict in Syria so far.
A majority of the Eastern Partnership countries are plagued by the security deficit and overall political stability in the region is not a given. Wars are a reality, borders are contested and poverty and underdevelopment are facts on the ground.
Remarkably, this means that the US now has stricter regulation for facial recognition software than the European Union.
