Yesterday, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the proposal for the sixth sanctions package against Russia. It provides for a gradual withdrawal from Russian oil. The proposal has met with a mixed response from industry and trade associations, and experts doubt its effectiveness. Stephan Israel has the details.What an end to Russian gas […]
In the next few days, Finland’s government plans to take the formal decisions still needed to join NATO. The country, which shares a border of more than 1,300 kilometers with Russia, wants to join the defense alliance immediately, and Sweden could soon follow. Russia’s angry reaction was not long in coming. After Russia announced sanctions […]
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 […]
These are agreements that many had no longer expected: On Tuesday, the rapporteurs of the Environment Committee (ENVI), which has the lead function, took a huge step toward redesigning the European emissions trading system. The most important compromise: ETS 2 for road transport and heating of buildings is coming – albeit with restrictions. However, there […]
The Conference on the Future of Europe ended yesterday. 800 EU citizens drafted 49 proposals for a better Europe. The next step is now to implement these proposals, “either by using the full limits of what we can do within the Treaties, or, yes, by changing the Treaties if need be,” said Commission President Ursula […]
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, France’s President Emmanuel Macron appointed former Labor Minister Élisabeth Borne as the new prime minister. This is the first time in 30 years that France has had a woman at the helm of government. Borne succeeds Prime Minister Jean Castex, who had previously resigned with his government. The move is considered a formality in […]
The Conference on the Future of Europe was supposed to be a driving force for European unification. However, there is still strong resistance to treaty changes. But the conditions for reform are better than they have been for a long time, according to Thu Nguyen and Nils Redeker of the Jacques Delors Centre. In their […]
The media response was tremendous when the Commission presented its REPowerEU package last Wednesday. On the other hand, the consultations for several important legal acts began on Friday without much fuss. One of these is the financing of the €300 billion project, including the controversial auctioning of CO2 certificates from the market stability reserve.After months […]
It’s a major step toward energy security: yesterday, the European institutions reached a fast-track agreement on a new gas storage regulation. Manuel Berkel analyzes exactly what it will look like and what exceptions there will be to the obligation. What happens when you press the gas pedal and the brake at the same time? It […]