A constitutional amendment is necessary “to ensure that the Union can respond more effectively to future crises” – according to a resolution recently passed by the European Parliament with a clear majority. However, governments lack the will for real reform of the EU, says Sophie Pornschlegel, Senior Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre. In […]
The failure of ETS reform – “a bad day for Parliament”? Not everyone sees it that way. Ismail Ertug, for example, one of the Social Democrats who voted against his own party’s recommendation to phase out free emissions allowances for industry, disagrees. Ertug hopes that the renegotiations can lead to an improvement of the climate […]
Yesterday was a tumultuous day in the EU Parliament. The ETS reform, the introduction of the CBAM, and a social climate fund were supposed to open the door to the trilogue negotiations for three key parts of the Fit for 55 package. But instead, Peter Liese’s ETS report was rejected outright and referred back to […]
After a long and bitter dispute, the EU Commission and the Polish government have agreed on a plan for the disbursement of billions of euros in COVID-19 aid. Today, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected in Warsaw, where she will present the details of the agreement. Anna Lührmann, Minister of State for […]
It hardly comes as a surprise that Manfred Weber will head the EPP in the future considering he was the only candidate in the running. Last night, he was elected president of Europe’s largest party family. Weber says about himself that he is European “through and through”. However, there is speculation as to whether the […]
An embargo on oil imports by ship, but not via pipelines – that is the compromise proposal of the EU Commission on the planned oil embargo against Russia. However, this proposal has not yet led to a breakthrough with Hungary’s resistance getting in the way of a consensus on the sixth sanctions package. The EU […]
The war in Ukraine continues to drive the global food crisis. Up to 20 million tons of wheat are currently stuck there and cannot be exported due to Russian port blockades. The European Commission has therefore launched an action plan to get the urgently needed goods out of the country by truck and rail. But […]
The German government wants to significantly boost the expansion of offshore wind energy and work more closely together with Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The four North Sea states want to quadruple their offshore capacity by 2030 – to a joint minimum of 65 gigawatts, as the heads of government agreed on Wednesday in the […]
ETS 2, CBAM, LULUCF Regulation, and the ETS expansion in the aviation sector: These are just some of the items in the Fit for 55 package voted on yesterday by the EU Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI). ETS 2, in particular, had caused discord for months, but now, the MEPs proved their ability to compromise. Lukas […]
Yesterday evening, Russia announced sanctions against parts of the gas company Gazprom Germania, which is under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency. President Vladimir Putin had already issued a decree on May 3 stating that no Russian entity may do business with companies and individuals on the sanctions list. Explicitly, no products or raw […]