European Union

EU-UK talks on how to resolve post-Brexit trade rules on Northern Ireland have been constructive, but "significant differences" still remain, according to a UK spokesman. British negotiator David Frost talked with EU Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič on Friday on the issue. Northern Ireland has seen over a week of violence, partly due to unionist disapproval of new trade barriers between the province and mainland Great Britain.

Concern over the low efficiency of Chinese-made vaccines has been mounting since China's top official said existing vaccines offer low protection against Covid-19 - raising questions for those nations relying heavily on the Chinese jabs. That includes Hungary and Serbia.

While Markus Söder, leader of CDU's Bavarian sister party, the CSU, also threw his hat into the race to replace chancellor Angela Merkel, the CDU's choice is likely to be decisive.

Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov has revealed that the major new vaccine supply contract the EU is seeking from Pfizer-BioNTech from 2022 will be at a significantly increased price, Reuters writes. "Pfizer's (price) was €12, then increased to €15.50. Now for 2022 and 2023 the European Union contracts are being signed for 900 million vaccines, but already at a price of €19.50" Borissov said.

Montenegro had requested the EU help pay off a loan from China, reported the Financial Times. But the European Commission says that is not going to happen.

Several industry EU lobby groups are about to be entrusted again with the privilege of co-deciding how €9.6bn of public EU research funding should be used - in research areas as essential as healthcare, transportation, energy and IT infrastructures.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken will travel to Brussels this week (13 to 15 April) as part of a wider effort to shore up transatlantic relations. "In Brussels, secretary Blinken will join secretary of defense Lloyd Austin to consult with our Nato allies and partners on a range of shared priorities," according to the US state department. Blinken will hold bilateral and multilateral meetings with European counterparts.

The first batch of doses of the Janssen (Johnson&Johnson) single-dose COVID-19 vaccine is due to arrive in Spain within 48 hours according to the country’s health minister, Carolina Darias, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.

Ursula von der Leyen appears secure in her job as president of the European Commission. That's despite a troubled vaccine rollout in which delayed deliveries can cost lives and livelihoods.

The latest draft delegated act of the sustainable finance regulation goes part of the way to fixing what went wrong with the original text, but it still needs to be more inclusive when it comes to proven sustainable renewable energy solutions, writes the EU Biofuels Chain.

EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel held their first talks Monday (12 April) since a diplomatic gaffe in Turkey -- dubbed "sofa-gate" -- laid bare tensions between the bloc's major institutions.

As the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan 2.0 turns one year old and many initiatives to foster sustainable consumption and resource efficiency are still being rolled out, a major opportunity remains – to unleash the circular potential of buildings and the construction sector, writes Laurent Chokoualé Datou.

As the EU defines its priorities for an EU-Africa partnership, Africa's burgeoning tech sector is an obvious starting point for collaboration, argues Dan Dalton.

European Council President Charles Michel missed a few good chances in Ankara. But despite his apology tour, where he tried to frame the 'Sofagate' incident as a diplomatic snub rather than a sexist move towards a female leader, this musical chair mishap will mark his mandate, which is up for evaluation in less than a year.

Telecoms giant Huawei is keen to work alongside European companies to help the bloc achieve ambitious new benchmarks for semiconductors by 2030, as the firm continues to face challenges resulting from US trade restrictions.

MEPs will debate a citizens’ initiative to ban the use of cages for farm animals , together with experts, Commissioners and representatives of other EU bodies on Thursday.
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
Committee on Petitions

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

MEPs will debate a citizens’ initiative to ban the use of cages for farm animals , together with experts, Commissioners and representatives of other EU bodies on Thursday.
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
Committee on Petitions

Source : © European Union, 2021 - EP

Large-scale geothermal energy has long been constrained to volcanic areas where heat can easily be captured and turned into electricity. Recent breakthroughs in drilling techniques can transform the European energy market and end its dependence on fossil fuels. According to...

With its Copernicus constellation of satellites, the European Union is considered a world leader when it comes to earth observation technology. The challenge now is to develop services at an affordable cost for potential commercial users like farmers or public services such as natural disaster response teams.

Satellites can help track things like extreme weather, forest stocks and methane emissions, but more and cheaper "near real-time data" is needed for next generation applications to emerge, say Miguel Bello and Ricardo Conde.