Thousands of hectares of European forest fall victim to fire every year, and the trend is rising. The EU’s emergency response had to support overwhelmed member states in fighting the fires more and more often. Janez Lenarčič, EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, therefore recently called for more extensive powers for the Commission. Germany, however, sees […]
Gas and electricity could become scarce and very expensive commodities in winter. European leaders are therefore already pledging solidarity. From many member states’ points of view, however, this also includes Germany keeping its remaining three nuclear power plants on the grid beyond the end of the year. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the […]
In northern Europe, women have long dominated politics: Yesterday, four female heads of government surrounded Chancellor Olaf Scholz when he appeared before the press alongside host Jonas Gahr Støre during his visit to the Nordic Council in Oslo. The group was largely in agreement on energy policy, but not so on the issue of Schengen […]
It took Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz a while till he addressed European issues in his traditional summer Q&A session at yesterday’s Federal Press Conference. Scholz answered journalists’ questions on topics such as energy diversification, commodity dependency on China and a new borrowing spree. Below you will find the analysis by my colleagues Falk Steiner, Lukas […]
As of today, EU countries are no longer allowed to import coal from Russia. The coal embargo, part of the EU’s fifth sanctions package against Russia, is taking effect and is supposed to further weaken the Russian economy financially. Read how many billions are at stake in the News. The threat of Russia cutting or […]
Finance Minister Christian Lindner wants to push for new flexibility clauses for investments in the reform of European debt rules; however, the Maastricht criteria are to be kept in place. This is the conclusion of a position paper by the German government analyzed by Markus Grabitz. Austria is currently working on the basis for an […]
A week ago, the German government presented its startup strategy. The joint project of the German “traffic light” coalition also covers a number of EU areas. Which and why they play a major role in the strategy’s success, Falk Steiner has the details.My colleague Nico Beckert took a look at what China’s military actions around […]
Amid a widespread drought, the European Commission yesterday published guidelines on water reuse. The aim is to increase the use of treated wastewater for irrigation in agriculture – a sector particularly sensitive to water shortages.The guidelines serve to interpret the regulation on minimum requirements for water reuse, which is to apply from June 2023. It […]
Fluorinated greenhouse gases, so-called F-gases, have a much higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide, but have not yet been regulated as strictly. The EU Commission now wants to change this and has proposed stricter guidelines and restrictions. Lukas Scheid has taken a look at the proposal and explains how high the potential savings are.The […]
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday that a possible decision on a compulsory reduction in gas consumption in the European Union must be made unanimously, not by a qualified majority vote.European Union countries bracing for further cuts in Russian gas supplies on Tuesday approved a weakened emergency plan to curb demand, after striking […]