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But Vestager, who is leading the race alongside Spanish Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Nadia Calvino, said on Friday she’d be willing to take more investment risks as EIB chief, and was open – out of “pragmatism” – to support nuclear and defence funding.

EIB presidency race: Vestager open to EU financing of nuclear and defence

By: EBR | Tuesday, September 12, 2023

With the race for the presidency of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in its final stretch, former EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said she would be ready to consider EIB financing for defence and nuclear

Successive Franco-German president-chancellor duos have repeatedly managed to move the relationship between the two countries forward with joint trademark projects: from the Elysee Treaty of Adenauer and De Gaulle to Merkel and Macron’s Next Generation EU fund.

Has the Franco-German tandem entered an interregnum under Scholz?

By: EBR | Tuesday, September 12, 2023

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is running out of time to shape a joint Franco-German legacy with French President Emmanuel Macron

In policy terms, the speech she delivers in Strasbourg on Wednesday (13 September) will – for some – be much ado about not much.

SOTEU: Little new policy but plenty of politics ahead of von der Leyen’s key speech

By: EBR | Tuesday, September 12, 2023

The text of Ursula von der Leyen’s last State of the Union speech before next June’s European elections is one of the best-kept secrets in Brussels

Most Slovak parties have unclear or opposing positions to new Russia sanctions, making Slovakia a possible ally of Hungary when voting after September.

Most Slovak parties do not support new Russia sanctions

By: EBR | Monday, September 11, 2023

Only four of the nine parties likely to get into parliament after the 30 September snap elections support sanctions against Putin’s regime

“Oh my God, 55% of Austria’s gas continues to come from Russia,” Selmayr lamented in Vienna on Wednesday night. Paying for continued Russian supplies was tantamount to helping finance its war against Ukraine, and no one protested, he added.

EU ambassador summoned for criticising Austria’s Russian gas dependence

By: EBR | Friday, September 8, 2023

Austria’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the head of the EU Commission’s representation in Austria, Martin Selmayr, over his comments highlighting the country’s continued dependence on Russian gas flows

Between January and the end of June this year, there were 519,000 such requests made in the 27-nation bloc and associated countries Switzerland and Norway, the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) said.

EU sees asylum requests jump 28% so far in 2023

By: EBR | Tuesday, September 5, 2023

The number of migrants lodging asylum applications in the EU has jumped 28% in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year

The rules, which aim to limit budget deficits and debt, are due to be re-implemented in 2024 and the EU is racing to establish a new rule book acceptable to all member states, with Italy favouring a more lenient approach than some northern European governments.

EU’s Gentiloni confident over budget rule deal by year-end deadline

By: EBR | Monday, September 4, 2023

European Union Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni said he was confident an agreement over re-implementing EU debt rules would be reached by year-end

“Better planning in the fight against fires is needed, as well as better cooperation between the fire services and the specialists in geomorphology of wooded zones,” Dimitrakopoulos argued – geomorphology being the scientific study of the form or shape of the land.

Experts blame poor government preparation for Greek fires’ devastation

By: EBR | Monday, September 4, 2023

While the Greek government has been quick to blame global warming for the summer’s devastating wildfires, some experts argue that poor planning is at least as much to blame

With Germany’s latest declaration and Italy’s accelerated plans to reactivate, Europe could soon find itself drawn with member states picking sides on nuclear and reliance on fossil fuels, particularly Russian gas.

Germany, Italy highlight growing European nuclear divide

By: EBR | Monday, September 4, 2023

Germany’s place as the leader of Europe’s anti-nuclear lobby has been further solidified as Chancellor Olaf Sholz doubled down on his view that nuclear has no place in the country’s energy mix

Financing the energy transition quickly will not be free. According to a newly-released report from the ONE Campaign, “Borrowing from capital markets is costing African governments 500% what it could if G20 leaders delivered swiftly on financial reform.”

How to better deploy development finance to fund the energy transition

By: EBR | Monday, September 4, 2023

At climate conferences, government development finance institutions (DFIs), multilateral development banks (MDBs) and government aid agencies make bold announcements about how much money is needed to finance the energy transition

In the first seven months of this year 52 percent of Russian LNG was shipped to the EU, the whole of last year was 49 percent.

EU imports half of Russia’s LNG production

By: N. Peter Kramer | Thursday, August 31, 2023

EU member states bought 5.3 billion euros worth of liquified natural gas (LNG) from Russia this year

“Our schools are continually put under test, and over the past months, breaches to laicite have increased considerably, in particular with (pupils) wearing religious attire like abayas and kameez,” Education Minister Gabriel Attal told a news conference to explain Sunday’s ban.

French ban of abaya robes in schools draws applause, criticism

By: EBR | Wednesday, August 30, 2023

French conservatives applauded the government’s decision to ban children from wearing the abaya

The president has promised to take “a major political initiative” for the end of the summer to “make a nation” and launch “a cycle of discussions” with the opposition, as he said in Le Figaro Magazine at the beginning of August.

Macron gathers parties to build political agenda, opposition cynical

By: EBR | Wednesday, August 30, 2023

The leaders of the political parties represented in the French parliament will gather on Wednesday around President Emmanuel Macron, who wants to identify points of political convergence

As the EU’s institutions get back to work after the summer break, its leaders and European governments cannot afford to accept the war in Ukraine as the new normal.

The war in Ukraine is about Europe’s future

By: EBR | Wednesday, August 30, 2023

The Europeans cannot afford to let the war in Ukraine drag on

Despite deadly deportations to the desert by the Tunisian regime, the agreement leads to a 40 percent increase on boat migrants. In addition, the number of drowning deaths is rising again.

EU-Tunisia deal leads to more migration and more deaths

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, August 29, 2023

The EU migration deal with Tunisia turns out to be a macabre flop

For the first time, the EU executive’s enlargement package will also include reports on Ukraine, Moldova, who applied for EU candidate status last year, and Georgia, who received a ‘European perspective’.

EU’s enlargement buffet

By: EBR | Monday, August 28, 2023

As the EU continues its soul-searching exercise to structure its approach to future enlargement, hopefuls outside the bloc now float ‘progressive’ integration as the short-term answer

The European Parliament is currently tabling amendments to the regulation and considering extending the rules to transportation, storage, packaging and distribution services which might use forced labour.

EU’s hopes to make trade more sustainable, diversified before 2024

By: EBR | Tuesday, August 8, 2023

With the 2024 European elections and the reorganisation of European Commission jobs looming, Brussels must hurry to conclude crucial negotiations on sustainable and diversified EU trade by the end of 2023

The result would be an electricity grid that could stretch to the sun – a distance of some 152 million kilometres – to meet the demands of a net-zero world.

Getting our grids fighting fit for an electrified future

By: EBR | Friday, August 4, 2023

With European summers in full swing, our reliance on gas wanes as the warmer weather heats our homes and our businesses

While campaigning for the 2024 EU elections is yet to get in full swing, and it remains unclear who will lead the fight for Macron’s Renew, the president is seeking to boost his pro-Europe credentials among the French political contenders.

EU elections: Macron slams French opposition parties as ‘ambiguous’ on Europe

By: EBR | Friday, August 4, 2023

Both left- and ring-wing political forces have been “ambiguous” on their stances towards the EU, making them unfit to sit in the European Parliament after the 2024 EU elections, France’s Emmanuel Macron said

The magnitude of a transition in a post-quantum world will likely affect every internet user. The risks of breaking common encryption span from endangering financial transactions, to the disclosure of medical records, via revealing national security secrets.

Is Europe being sidelined in the quantum computing race?

By: EBR | Monday, July 31, 2023

As quantum-powered cyber-attack threats become more real by the day, liberal democracies and autocratic regimes are racing to develop quantum-safe encryption