The current Treaty needs to be renegotiated to integrate the growth and solidarity dimension, which has been overlooked, said French socialist MEP Liêm Hoang Ngoc, in an interview with EurActiv.
The EU’s budget for the 2014-2020 period will have to change the way regional funds work, says Fabian Zuleeg of the European Policy Centre. The money that traditionally goes to poorer countries should be redirected for the time being to where it is really needed – the countries deeply hit by the economic crisis – keeping in mind the single goal of protecting the EU as a whole, he told EurActiv in an interview.
Negotiations on the role regional funds will play in the EU’s next multi-annual budget are stagnating because talks are taking place in the context of the pre-crisis period, Fabian Zuleeg of the European Policy Centre told EurActiv in an interview.
Europeans dump the bulk of their rubbish in landfills and many EU countries appear to be falling well short of 2020 targets for recycling municipal waste, new data from the EU statistical agency show.
Earmarking too large a chunk of the European Union’s cohesion funds for environmental projects in the 2014-2020 budget could be “detrimental”, MEPs said.
European regions are gearing up for the Rio+20 Earth Summit in June by drawing up a list of “key ingredients” in a bid to make sustainable urban development a focal point of the Brazil discussions.
European regions are gearing up for the Rio+20 Earth Summit in June by drawing up a list of “key ingredients” in a bid to make sustainable urban development a focal point of the Brazil discussions.
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said yesterday (22 March) that an EU-wide financial transaction tax could save EU countries as much as half of their contribution to the EU budget.
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said yesterday (22 March) that an EU-wide financial transaction tax could save EU countries as much as half of their contribution to the EU budget.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who faces an uphill battle for re-election, realises he cannot win without “accepting the ideas” of the far right, a leading MEP told a Brussels audience yesterday (21 March).
Tired of seeing European companies blocked from Chinese public tenders, the European Commission is preparing plans later this month that will allow individual EU countries to bar foreign bids from countries that refuse to open up their public procurement markets, EurActiv can reveal.
EU ministers are unlikely to agree draft rules to let countries decide themselves whether to grow or ban genetically modified (GM) crops, despite efforts by Denmark’s EU presidency to reach a compromise.
European leaders on Friday (2 March) could throw their weight behind a plan to convert the relatively powerless UN Environment Programme (UNEP) into a world body with the muscle to oversee treaties and protect the ecology.
The EU’s budget for the 2014-2020 period will have to change the way regional funds work, says Fabian Zuleeg of the European Policy Centre. The money that traditionally goes to poorer countries should be redirected for the time being to where it is really needed – the countries deeply hit by the economic crisis – keeping in mind the single goal of protecting the EU as a whole, he told EurActiv in an interview.
Negotiations on the role regional funds will play in the EU’s next multi-annual budget are stagnating because talks are taking place in the context of the pre-crisis period, Fabian Zuleeg of the European Policy Centre told EurActiv in an interview.
The current Treaty needs to be renegotiated to integrate the growth and solidarity dimension, which has been overlooked, said French socialist MEP Liêm Hoang Ngoc, in an interview with EurActiv.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis said he would make visa-free travel for Ukrainian citizens travelling to Europe a priority when his country takes over the rotating EU presidency in the first half of 2013. But he admitted that progress was dependent on Kyiv.
Commission President José Manuel Barroso has unveiled one of the initiatives to be adopted by EU leaders at their 1-2 March summit, the launch by June of ‘bonds for growth’ or ‘project bonds’ to boost investment in energy, transport and the digital economy.
The EU’s Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik says he will “test the waters” on his priorities for the June Earth Summit during ministerial meetings in Nairobi that began today (20 February).
The European Commission’s proposals on pensions presented yesterday (16 February) by the EU employment and social affairs chief, László Andor, was met by a flurry of criticism.
The farm ministers of Spain and France have issued a joint statement on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), saying both countries “will not accept” any budget overhaul that fails to preserve the EU’s current level of farm spending.
Activists expressed disappointment at the EU Danish presidency’s version of the proposed Energy Efficiency Directive, which is likely to become the most important piece of legislation to date on the issue.
Yes, European countries have to cut public spending in order to put their finances back in shape. But this should not compromise essential public services such as education, health care or tax collection, writes Klaus Heeger of the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI).
Jacques Delors, former European Commission president, and José Manuel Barroso, the current chief of the EU executive, both regretted the national “resistance” and “lack of spirit of cooperation” amongst the leaders of the 27 EU countries in dealing with the bloc’s debt crises.
The financial crisis could provide fertile ground for xenophobic, separatist and extreme-right narratives such as the dogma of Italian Northern League, writes Giuseppe Lenzo from Durham University in Britain.
A British House of Lords panel is urging the European Commission to reconsider some of its key agricultural proposals, calling for more robust spending on research and cuts in direct payments to farmers.
Biotech companies should agree not to market genetically modified (GM) crops in member states wishing to ban their cultivation before seeking EU approval for their products, a draft Danish proposal shows.
This week’s EU summit has again illustrated that austerity continues to be Berlin’s only response to the crisis, ignoring social issues and a rising tide of euroscepticism and anti-German feelings among the population, writes Susanne Gratius from Madrid-based think-tank FRIDE.
Facebook, Google, Twitter and other social networking sites will support European citizens’ initiatives that will be launched starting 1 April, corporate representatives said during a conference in Brussels last week.
As negotiations over the EU’s 2014-2020 budget move forward, the Danish EU presidency is being criticised in Parliament for paying little attention to regional policy in Europe’s future financial framework.
Since the start of the year, one phrase has tripped off the lips of European leaders more than any other: “jobs and growth”. After two years of debt crisis and budget austerity, there is a strong desire to shift the narrative on.
The European Union will soon launch the European Citizens’ Initiative, a new tool to enhance participatory democracy and dialogue between the EU institutions and citizens. Staffan Nilsson, president of the European Economic and Social Committee, is confident that the instrument will empower Europeans to deliver collective wisdom.
With two month to go before the first European Citizens’ Initiative is registered, governments must invest in a proper participative infrastructure that would make people aware of their rights and build trust in the new forms of empowerment, writes Bruno Kaufmann.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has revealed her long-term vision for Europe, saying the debt crisis is forcing eurozone countries towards a federalist model and placing her on a collision course with the more eurosceptic UK.
European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič is confident that the European Citizens’ Initiative, one of the new democratic tools pushed forward by the Lisbon Treaty and to be launched on 1 April, will contribute to bringing Europe closer to its citizens and create a “genuine European public space”.
European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič is confident that the Citizens’ Initiative, one of the new democratic tools pushed forward by the Lisbon Treaty, will bring Europe closer to its citizens and create a “genuine European public space”.
China’s growing water problems make it a likely ally for European efforts to press global action on sustainable development at a UN conference later this year, Denmark’s environment minister said yesterday (25 January).
The EU’s next budget is likely to include the first-ever binding document setting “stronger” and “clearer” objectives for regional funds to support sustainable development.
The latest draft of the fiscal compact – which we reveal here – includes a new clause compelling countries to ratify the pact or face losing lines of bailout cash as a penalty.
Plans for an EU-wide tax on financial trading remain uncertain amid growing concerns that introducing such a fee in troubled economic times could harm recovery efforts. EU finance ministers are set to discuss the proposal at their next meeting on 24 January.
Plans for an EU-wide tax on financial trading remain uncertain amid growing concerns that introducing such a fee in troubled economic times could harm recovery efforts. EU finance ministers are set to discuss the proposal at their next meeting on 24 January.
Martin Schulz, a German MEP and former Socialists and Democrats leader, was elected president of the European Parliament yesterday (January 17) in Strasbourg, promising a more assertive and controversial Parliament in the face of MEPs’ marginalisation in the eurozone crisis. EurActiv France reports from Strasbourg.
If 2011 was Europe’s annus horribilis, EU ambassadors hope actions in the making will restore confidence in the 27-nation bloc, reverse the cascade of the sovereign debt crisis that has marred the EU, and ultimately turn 2012 into an annus mirabilis.
As Denmark officially inaugurated its EU presidency today (12 January) with green jobs high on its priority list, Danish company Vestas, the world leader in the wind turbine industry, announced it would cut over 2,000 jobs by the end of the year.
With the euro debt crisis, Denmark's presidency of the EU council coincides with one of the most difficult moments in the Union's history. As Denmark is not member of the eurozone, it is prepared to take a back seat in the troubleshooting effort, but would strive to keep the countries from both sides united – “a bridge over troubled water” as European Affairs Minister Nikolai Wammen described it.
The trio of EU presidencies “is a joke” – at least in the current form that groups Poland, Denmark and Cyprus, three countries with completely different agendas – says a prominent Brussels-based political analyst.
Denmark’s environment and energy ministers vowed yesterday (19 December) to make sustainability and resource efficiency priorities during the country’s upcoming EU presidency, despite pressure across Europe to prioritise short-term crisis-fighting measures.
The European Commission presented today (30 November) its €80-billion research funding programme for the decade – Horizon 2020 – with the aim of boosting research, stimulating innovation and simplifying the way scientists and smaller businesses can get funding for EU-backed projects.
The European citizens' initiative, one of the main innovations of the Lisbon Treaty to engage the people of Europe, is too 'weak' to bridge the democratic gap as it preserves the legislative monopoly of the European Commission, Switzerland’s leading expert on direct democracy said in an interview with EurActiv.
With the euro debt debacle focusing lawmakers' minds, the European Parliament passed a series of six budget laws intended to make it harder for eurozone countries to ignore EU warnings, giving more powers to Brussels in policing debt.
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