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“To charge different interest rates for different banks there would of course be a radical change, a fundamentally different system than now,” he said, adding that this would carry “considerable risks”.

ECB rate hikes could derail climate investments, MEP warns

By: EBR | Monday, January 23, 2023

The European Central Bank’s (ECB) decision to increase interest rates to fight inflation could impede investments in green energy, EU lawmaker Rasmus Andresen warned, calling on the bank to differentiate its interest rates

“The worst way to burn biomass is to do it in an open fire,” said Jan Rosenow, director of European programmes at the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), a think-tank specialised in clean energy.

Exposed: How EU countries use firewood to bloat their renewable energy stats

By: EBR | Monday, January 23, 2023

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has acknowledged “weaknesses” in how biomass energy is counted in national statistics after several EU countries reported a sudden increase in residential wood burning to meet their 2020 renewable energy goal

Firefighters, bakers, museum workers, teachers, train and metro drivers, but also high-school students and regular citizens stopped work on Thursday in protest of a reform they deem unjust and untimely as the cost-of-living crisis hits an all-time high.

Pensions reform: We’re not going without a fight, the streets tell Macron

By: EBR | Friday, January 20, 2023

Some 1.12 million people, according to official statistics, took to the streets of France on Thursday to express anger at President Emmanuel Macron’s pensions reform, while unions claim the number was over two million

According to Timmernans, there is an “increasing understanding” in EU capitals that a higher renewables target is required to strengthen the EU’s energy security in the face of falling Russian gas exports to Europe.

45% renewables target ‘is ambitious but feasible’, says EU climate chief

By: EBR | Tuesday, January 17, 2023

The European Commission defended its proposal to source 45% of the EU’s energy from renewable sources by 2030 as EU countries look to lower ambition

Germany is particularly keen on relaxing state aid rules that currently ensure fair competition between EU member states within the bloc. The state aid framework “urgently needs to be reformed and brought up to date” to match the US initiative, reads a strategy paper of the governing SPD from last week.

Germany under fire for push to revamp EU-subsidy rules

By: EBR | Tuesday, January 17, 2023

The German push to allow EU countries to subsidise their industries more extensively has been met with opposition from experts and member states, who fear that the move could give Germany a competitive advantage

Greek PM warns his deputies of ‘turmoil’ ahead of elections

By: EBR | Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned his deputies to be ready to face “turmoil” ahead of the national elections, a statement interpreted by the opposition as “fear”

The plan would require declarations of all meetings with interest groups, a transition period during which former lawmakers could not lobby and greater light shed on gifts.

EU Parliament head sets out transparency plan in response to ‘Qatargate’ scandal

By: EBR | Thursday, January 12, 2023

The head of the European Parliament will set out a 14-point plan to tighten within weeks rules for lawmakers on financial declarations and contacts with lobbyists, in a bid to restore trust after a criminal corruption scandal

The report looked at the effectiveness of the tools the Commission proposed to facilitate safe travel during the pandemic, and found that despite the success of the digital COVID certificate, the potential of other tools was not fully unlocked.

Europe has not used potential of COVID tools to ease travel, EU auditors say

By: EBR | Thursday, January 12, 2023

Of all the tools the European Commission has proposed to facilitate travel during the pandemic, only the EU Digital COVID Certificate was effective, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) found

One of the fundamental concepts the Data Act uses to ensure such cloud interoperability is functional equivalence, the idea that when users change providers, the level of functionality of their app or website should remain roughly the same.

Functional equivalence for switching cloud services back on EU Parliament’s text

By: EBR | Thursday, January 12, 2023

The obligation for cloud providers to maintain an equivalent level of functionality when a customer changes service has resurfaced in the European Parliament’s leading committee discussion

Greek chief prosecutor Isidoros Ntogiakos caused shockwaves on Tuesday after he ruled that the independent authority responsible for privacy issues (ADAE) cannot conduct audits of telecommunication companies to find out who is under surveillance by Greek secret services.

Chief prosecutor puts Greece’s rule of law to the test

By: EBR | Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Particularly, Renew Europe MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld has called on the Commission to break its silence and speak out while her colleague Giorgios Kyrtsos accused the EPP of trying to “white-wash” the Greek PM over the wiretapping scandal

It was immediately overshadowed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has made EU-Africa relations even more complicated and its spillover effects will continue to dominate EU-Africa ties over the coming months.

EU-Africa relations: Counting the spillover costs from Russia’s war

By: EBR | Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Last February’s EU-African Union summit in Brussels was supposed to herald the start of a renewed push towards a ‘partnership of equals’ between the two blocs

Eagerly awaited by environmentalists and the hunting community, the plan lays out 14 proposals and was presented by Secretary of State for Ecology Berangere Couillard on Monday morning.

French government wants to maintain hunting on weekends

By: EBR | Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Hunting will continue to be allowed on weekends in France, according to a government plan presented that has left environmentalists disappointed but still needs parliament approval

The agreement was critical to further talks on the trading regulations known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, British foreign minister James Cleverly and European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said after meeting in London.

UK, EU agree ‘way forward’ on data sharing in step to ending N.Ireland trade row

By: EBR | Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Britain and the European Union agreed a way forward on data-sharing, in a step towards resolving issues stemming from post-Brexit rules governing trade with Northern Ireland, the two sides said in a joint statement

Rotterdam and Antwerp in neighbouring Belgium were the two main entry points used by a Dubai-based “super cartel” supplying a third of Europe’s cocaine, which Europol said it busted last month.

Europe’s biggest port Rotterdam ‘drowning in cocaine’

By: EBR | Tuesday, December 27, 2022

The millions of containers unloaded by Rotterdam’s giant cranes make it Europe’s largest port, but the Dutch city is also dealing with ever larger amounts of a less welcome cargo: cocaine

“We are still dependent on pipeline gas,” said Gewessler about Austria’s strong reliance on Russian pipeline gas. “On the other hand, we must not let ourselves be driven crazy by Russian propaganda,” she added, referring to the Kremlin’s threats to halt gas flows should the EU decide on a gas price cap.

Austria still wary of newly agreed EU gas price cap

By: EBR | Wednesday, December 21, 2022

The recent agreement to cap gas prices in the EU at €180 per megawatt-hour (MWh) poses a risk to the security of supply in Austria, Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler said in Brussels

The goal of the initiative, an EU official said, will be to provide a “comprehensive plan” for the construction sector to become more sustainable and digital by making the data generated by the industry more accessible.

Brussels planning digital push to green the EU’s construction sector

By: EBR | Tuesday, December 20, 2022

The European Commission has outlined possible “transition pathways” to address the environmental impact of the construction sector, with plans to set up a “European Construction Data Space” to pull together industry-generated information

To that end, France and Germany aim at a change of the EU’s state aid rules, which at present limit EU member states’ capacity to subsidise companies, with the aim of preventing distortions in the EU single market.

Germany and France seek to match US green industry subsidies

By: EBR | Tuesday, December 20, 2022

The German and French economy ministers said Europe must match US subsidies for green industry and called for the EU to implement state aid rules to prevent distortions in the single market

"The more carmakers can focus on bringing new electric models to the market, the faster technology can spread and the cheaper it gets as it grows to scale."

EU’s car industry must look to the future, not the past

By: EBR | Monday, December 19, 2022

Most European car makers have already declared that they will go full electric by 2035, some of them sooner. The EU’s task is to get ready for this transformation

During the previous plenary session of the EU House, Eva Kaili participated in the LIBE committee and voted in favour of Qatar’s visa liberalisation.

Qatar ‘ghost’ vote exposes MEP Eva Kaili

By: EBR | Friday, December 16, 2022

A vote at the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on Qatar’s visa liberalisation exposes Greek MEP Eva Kaili as she was not a member of the committee

In late November, the EU Left managed to pass a last-minute resolution on human rights in the context of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, splitting the European Parliament.

Leftist MEP: S&D and EPP had ‘clear alliance’ to protect Qatar

By: EBR | Tuesday, December 13, 2022

The groups of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) had a “clear alliance” in the EU House to protect Qatar, French MEP Manon Aubry told