European Union

The Spanish government is seeking “flexibility” from Brussels on the sensitive topic of state aid to help battered companies hit by the COVID-19 crisis as the government will disclose next week details of its recovery plan (Plan de Recuperación), EURACTIV’s partner EFE reports.

All six British football clubs who were due to play in a controversial European Super League have withdrawn from the project, following a public and political outcry. "It was never our intention to cause such distress ... We made a mistake, and we apologise," the Arsenal football club said in a statement Tuesday. The remaining three Italian and three Spanish clubs in the league are expected to follow suit Wednesday.

Vladimir Putin delivers a state of the nation address on Wednesday (21 April) as Russia deals with a crisis in ties with the West and faces calls for mass protests in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Concern is growing in European foreign ministries that Russia is preparing to recognise the sovereignty of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic in Ukraine, amid a massive military build-up on Ukraine's eastern border. The Russian presidential decree could come before the weekend, an EUobserver source said. Russia invaded east Ukraine in 2014 after a pro-Western revolution in Kiev and has kept the region under occupation ever since.

Following a conversation between Spanish justice minister Juan Carlos Campo and EU commissioner for values and transparency Věra Jourová earlier this week, Spain on Tuesday withdrew its proposed controversial reform of the country's top legal body. Brussels previously said that the reform of the General Council of the Judiciary, which has lasted two-and-a-half years, must ensure that the council is not perceived as "vulnerable to politicisation".

EU commissioner for the internal market Thierry Breton told an Irish parliamentary committee on Tuesday that at least 12 of the 27 member states are confident of being able to vaccinate 70 percent of their adult population by mid-July, Reuters reported. "This number is increasing on a daily basis," he also said. The EU has set a target of vaccinating at least 70 percent of its adult population by September.

Europe's medicines regulator has found a possible link between Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine and very rare cases of unusual clotting disorders that prompted authorities in Europe and the US to pause the shot's rollout last week, The Guardian writes. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said its safety committee had concluded a warning should be added to the vaccine's product information, but that the shot's benefits outweighed its risks.

The Czech Republic called on its EU and Nato partners to expel Russian diplomats in solidarity, accusing Moscow of orchestrating an "unprecedented terror attack" on Czech territory, AFP reports. Foreign and interior minister Jan Hamacek said he would summon the Russian ambassador Wednesday to disclose further steps. "We are calling for collective action of EU and Nato countries aimed at solidarity expulsions," Hamacek told reporters.

The International Energy Agency (IAE) said on Tuesday that global CO2-emissions from the energy sector will raise by nearly five percent (reaching 33 billion tonnes) this year, Reuters reported. During the pandemic, energy-related emissions fell by 5.8 percent to 31.5 billion tonnes. "This is a dire warning that the economic recovery from the Covid crisis is currently anything but sustainable for our climate," IEA executive director Fatih Birol said.

Russia will soon have more than 120,000 troops on Ukraine's border, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said, calling for new Western economic sanctions to deter Moscow from "further escalation", Reuters reports. "The cost of preventing Russia's further escalation will always be lower than the cost of stopping it and mitigating its consequences," Kuleba said. Western officials say the concentration of forces is now larger than during the annexation.

Norway, Finland, Sweden Denmark lead the world ranking of 180 countries, while - among EU members - Malta, Hungary, and Bulgaria have the lowest placings.

Bogus Covid conspiracy theories are more often debunked in Facebook in the US than those found in Europe - especially when written in Italian and French, a study has found.

The European Union is sending 651,000 BioNTech/Pfizer coronavirus vaccines to the Western Balkan countries - after lagging behind the 'vaccine diplomacy' of Russia, China, and even Serbia, in the region.

Afghans in 2020 constituted the second-largest group of asylum seekers arriving in Europe - outlining the necessity to accelerate the reform of the EU migration regime to avoid another crisis.

In the eyes of the Russian elite, most of Europe is just a bunch of spoiled, decadent, pipeline addicts that takes its illusions for reality, and can be easily played with.

As we stand at the eve of what many argue should be the “green recovery” of the economy, Business Aviation is advancing tangible emission reductions. Here is what you need to know about Business Aviation and sustainability, and why increasing...

European Council President Charles Michel on Tuesday (20 April) declared a political crisis in Georgia resolved, but defiant opposition groups called for new protests and an ex-president announced his return from exile to oust the ruling party.

Following the deal with Council on the EU Climate Law, an online press conference with EP negotiators Jytte Guteland and Pascal Canfin, is scheduled for Wednesday 21 April 10.00.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.
Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

DRAFT REPORT on the Arctic: opportunities, concerns and security challenges
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Anna Fotyga

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP