European Union

With only ten days to go, the German election race is expectedly picking up pace. But just as things are getting heated and — for German standards — dirty, much of the election action might already have been completed.

As Hungarian opposition parties are preparing to elect a single challenger to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Budapest's green mayor, one of the prime ministerial hopefuls, is holding a conference on sustainable democracy together with an exiled liberal university and opposition think tank.

The European Parliament has given its green light to a controversial new antimicrobials regulation, dismissing a motion calling for tighter restrictions on antibiotics use in animals and allowing the Commission to move forward on its plans to tackle anti-microbial resistance.

French publishers are close to launching a new body to collectively negotiate with online platforms, while the dispute with Google raises fundamental questions on how to monetise online content.

The European Union outlined on Thursday (16 September) a new strategy for raising its presence in the Indo-Pacific and counter China's increasing influence in the region, which has become the latest arena of the international geopolitical race.

Investment in green energy and new promises on vaccine supply were the only offers to Africa made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this week, as the EU’s plans to boost relations with its southern neighbour continent continue to sit on the back burner.

For now, vaccines are capable of dealing with SARS-CoV-2 virus variants circulating in the world. But as new variants potentially emerge vaccines might need to be adapted to fight the new strains.

EU lawmakers on Wednesday (15 September) adopted by a large majority the proposal to extend the mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Putin's Russia is a consistent source of tension among EU countries, but a certain degree of engagement with this country could deliver tangible benefits for the EU on increasingly urgent issues such as climate change, the Arctic, and cybersecurity, writes Nick Lokker.

Parliament calls for online and offline gender-based violence to be treated as a “particularly serious crime with a cross-border dimension”.
Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

On June 26th, a visit mandated by the EU High Representative and Vice-President of the European Commission, Mr Joseph Borrell, took place in Georgia. Vlad Olteanu is the founder of I3pact EU. Alexander Schallenberg, Minister for European and International Affairs...

European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová presented on Thursday (16 September) a Recommendation on the Safety of Journalists, urging EU countries to address security concerns in an environment increasingly hostile towards the media.

A group of environmental organisations and global energy companies, including Shell, have called for mandatory EU rules on methane encompassing the entire gas value chain, including imports from abroad, writes Maarten Wetselaar.

Parliament says the EU must push back against aggressive policies while laying the groundwork for cooperation with a future democratic Russia.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Parliament says the EU must push back against aggressive policies while laying the groundwork for cooperation with a future democratic Russia.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Parliament urges the EU to accelerate the transition to a research system that does not use animals.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The EU should continue talking to China about global challenges like climate change and health crises, while raising its concerns over systemic human rights violations.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

In a vote today, MEPs demand people working for digital labour platforms, such as food delivery services, should have the same rights as traditional employees.
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The EU should continue talking to China about global challenges like climate change and health crises, while raising its concerns over systemic human rights violations.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The European Commission will publish a policy paper by the end of the year on "the sustainable management of the carbon cycle” – the first step towards an EU-wide certification scheme for negative emissions coming from agriculture, forestry and other sources, that will be tabled in 2022.