Category: 3. Europe

The WHO Pandemic Agreement adopted in May 2025 contained one crucial proviso: it couldn’t be ratified until one of its most contested elements, the Pathogen Access and Benefit Shifting (PABS) was agreed. Despite an additional year of negotiations, diplomats have failed to…

On 20 November 2025, the Commission received a notification in the sense of Article 12(4) of Directive 2003/87/EC (‘ETS Directive’) from Germany, concerning its intention to voluntarily cancel allowances associated with the closure of electricity generation capacities in 14…

The Commission has issued “Better Regulation” guidelines to rethink the way new EU rules will be made. Dainius Žalimas (Laisvės partija/Lithuania), who drafted a report on the monitoring of the application of EU law, says: “Thinking about how to make better new rules is…

The European Parliament has adopted a landmark report calling on the European Commission to bring forward dedicated legislation establishing an EU-wide consent-based definition of rape. The vote marks a decisive step forward, following the setback in 2024 when a consent-based…

The EU has moved to protect children from harmful and inappropriate online content.

On Wednesday (29 April), the Commission adopted a recommendation urging member states to accelerate the rollout of the EU age verification app and make it available by the end of the…

On 29 April, in a significant statement, the European Parliament passed resolutions which strongly condemn textbooks produced by the Palestinian Authority (PA) for the seventh consecutive year. The resolutions said that PA textbooks continue to include antisemitic content,…

With the latest figures showing the job vacancy rate in the euro area increased to 2.2% in the latter stages of 2025, and approximately 2.5 million job vacancies across the EU, it’s clear that European employers are suffering a significant labour market crunch.  Some of the…

While defense officials and policymakers don’t rule out Putin launching a ground offensive in a NATO country, they say it’s unlikely given how stretched Russia is in fighting Ukraine, according to one senior NATO diplomat and three senior European defense officials, who were granted anonymity…

Europe yet again finds itself on the receiving end of Donald Trump’s ire. 

On Friday, the U.S. president threatened to raise tariffs on European cars to 25 percent, as frustration grows in Washington over the slow pace of an EU-U.S. trade deal. Trump had also called for…