Tuesday
22nd Jun 2021
Do tech giants like Google, Apple or Facebook have too much power? Is their growing power a threat to democracy? These topics are highlighted in the latest Nordic Talks podcast, featuring three specialists - among them EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
EU top negotiator on vaccines contracts defended the EU's joint approach on vaccinations - amid a wave of critics who blame the European Commission for not buying enough doses and calls for increased transparency.
Europe should share corona-vaccines with former Soviet countries on its eastern flank, for health and "strategic" reasons, according to 13 EU foreign ministers.
A new report warns that the use of artificial intelligence and autonomous arms are fuelling military escalation for future conflicts and threaten peace in Europe and worldwide.
The recent attack on the US Capitol reveals the toxicities of digital media platforms, but the European Commission's proposed competition laws won't fix it.
Let's expand the EU with a Health Union where cutting edge research and world-class applications go hand in hand. For this, it is worth being European, believing in Europe, working on Europe, writes European People's Party leader Manfred Weber MEP.
EU states have exported 24.7 million doses of vaccines to 31 countries - almost half the number compared to that they delivered to member states, leaked figures show.
China and Russia aren't just selling vaccines—they're peddling a value set that undermines international norms.
The EU and UK have reignited a row on vaccine exports, while Italy has defied EU warnings in a new deal to manufacture Russia's vaccine at home.
The World Health Organization warned of a surge in new coronavirus infections across Europe, pointing out healthcare systems should not be under pressure in some countries. Meanwhile, the European Medical Agency is reviewing Russia's Sputnik vaccine.
The EU is driving a hard "EU-first" policy on vaccines and almost nobody talks about it. Maybe because there is a lot of sugar-coating put on a hard and ruthless policy.
The European Commission is set to unveil a legislative proposal on a "digital green pass" to allow vaccinated people to travel more freely for the summer. But Belgium says the pass risks discrimination against people unable to get the jab.
Slovakia has launched a mass vaccination programme aimed at teachers and childcare workers. Estonia, for its part, has begun inoculating frontline workers including teachers, police officers and members of the armed forces ahead of schedule.
The increased regulatory scrutiny of tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft has triggered a rise in lobbying activities by these companies in Brussels, and, accordingly, an exponential grow of their budget for these activities.
The European Commission said that bloc's strict regulatory process for the evaluation and approval of vaccines is crucial to persuade citizens to get the jab, calling on member states to fight vaccine hesitancy with information.
Hungary is buying up vaccines from Russia and China. But tricky regulatory oversight questions remain as the European Commission sheds doubt on the quality and safety of Sputnik production.
EU ambassadors reached a compromise on the e-Privacy reform after four years of deadlock, paving the way for trialogue negotiations. But the text was slammed for allowing "mass surveillance" under national data-retention laws, a crucial win for France.
European leaders of countries hit worst by the first coronavirus outbreak failed to exploit the potential of social media, and their own millions of followers, to encourage citizens to comply with the rules, a new study has found.
The European Commission published a redacted version of the AstraZeneca contract - only for large parts to be uncovered by using the bookmark tool in Adobe Acrobat's Reader. "It was certainly not our intention for this to happen," it said.
Trump's social-media ban and the power of platforms has come under public scrutiny in Europe. So what went wrong? And what's the best way forward?
The European Medicines Agency has authorised the use of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by US company Moderna - while the EU is involved in a blame-game over a sluggish vaccine rollout across member states.
EU leaders regularly held video-conferences to coordinate the pandemic reaction last year, but countries and EU institutions recently began a blame-game over the sluggish roll-out of vaccines.
I understand that the German-Turkish community - often subjected to condescension in Germany - celebrated the story. Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türecki represent scientific excellence and business success at the highest level.
The EU Commission says the perceived slow roll-out of vaccines is due to production capacity, not the number of doses the EU has secured.
The Danish government has committed to reducing Denmark's CO2 emissions by 70 percent by 2030. These are not figures made up for the occasion. They are the targets that scientists believe are the bare necessity.
The EU is still several months away from having enough vaccines to inoculate its 450 million people, with Pfizer and BioNTech, its principle suppliers, aiming for September for delivery targets.
Most EU member states began rolling out the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 on Sunday, as a more contagious variant from the UK begins to spread on the continent.
Member states can start vaccination programmes in the next few days, after EU approved the use of Pfizer and BioTech's Covid-19 drug.
The new, more contagious strain of Covid-19 is already in the EU, with Sweden closing its border to Denmark, on top of a UK cordon sanitaire.
German car maker Volkswagen deliberately cheated EU emissions tests by installing "defeat devices", the EU top court has ruled, in a blow to industry in the 'Dieselgate' affair.
The European Commission proposed a reform of the bloc's cybersecurity rules . "The time of innocence is over. We know that we are a prime target," warned commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas.
The European Commission unveiled on Tuesday a package of proposals that set out legal obligations for digital platforms aimed at tackling illegal content and unfair practices in today's digital environment.
A partial agreement has been reached to prevent the dissemination of terrorist content online, pushing companies like Facebook or YouTube to remove or disable access to this material within one hour.
