European Parliamentary Research Service Blog
Structural and Cohesion Policies
Online disinformation and the EU’s response
The proliferation of disinformation – including false news posing as factual stories – became increasingly visible in the context of the crisis in Ukraine, gaining notoriety as a global challenge during the 2016 United States presidential election campaign. While the EU is stepping up its efforts to tackle online disinformation ahead of the European elections in 2019, the EU’s myth-busting team is facing criticism. Continue reading
International Roma Day: How the European Union supports the study of Roma culture, language and history
nternational Roma Day, marked on 8 April, is devoted to Europe’s largest ethnic minority, the Roma, a predominant part of whom suffer from discrimination and isolation. This day also focuses on Roma history, culture, language and aspirations, which remain largely unknown in Europe, even though they are key to mutual understanding and can contribute to closing the gap between communities. Continue reading
A common EU approach to liability rules and insurance for connected and autonomous vehicles
Two key trends are shaping the future of personal mobility: first, a shift from human (driver-driven) to machine (driverless-supercomputer driven) control of vehicles and second, a shift from individual to shared ownership of vehicles. Continue reading
Integrated territorial investment – Implementation and future prospects
An optional territorial development tool, integrated territorial investments (ITIs) make it possible to combine resources from the European Social Fund, European Regional Development Fund or Cohesion Fund under priority axes of one or more operational programmes. Continue reading
Regulating imports of cultural goods [EU Legislation in Progress]
Antiquities and valuable works of art from impoverished or war-torn countries and regions are often illegally acquired, sold and imported into the European Union (EU). Continue reading
CO2 standards for new cars and vans [EU Legislation in Progress]
In November 2017, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a regulation on reducing CO2 emissions from new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (vans). The proposed measures and targets are aligned with the 2030 climate and energy framework and with the energy union strategy, which envisages a reduction in transport emissions and energy consumption. Continue reading
Review of the Clean Vehicles Directive [EU Legislation in Progress]
In November 2017, the European Commission proposed a revision of Directive 2009/33/EC on the promotion of clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles (the Clean Vehicles Directive), after an evaluation showed that the directive had yielded limited results, for instance by not encouraging a more significant uptake of clean vehicles in the market overall. Continue reading
How the EU budget is spent: Galileo and EGNOS [Policy podcast]
The current EU multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the 2014 to 2020 period allocates €7 071.73 million to deliver and to ensure the security and interoperability of two EU satellite navigation systems: the European geostationary navigation overlay service (EGNOS), and Galileo. The rules for both systems are set out in Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013 (the ‘GNSS Regulation’). Continue reading
What if all our meat were grown in a lab? [Science and Technology Podcast]
Livestock production has an enormous environmental impact. The total land used for keeping animals and growing crops for their consumption amounts to around 30 % of the world’s ice-free land surface, and the livestock supply chain is responsible for about 14.5 % of global human-made greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Continue reading
Goods vehicles hired without drivers [EU Legislation in Progress]
EU rules on the use of goods vehicles hired without drivers have been in operation for over 25 years without change and need to be reviewed to correspond to current and future needs in the transport sector. Continue reading
Access to the occupation of road transport operator and to the international road haulage market [EU Legislation in Progress]
In order to contribute to the efficient functioning of the single market in road transport and to ensure fair competition between resident and non-resident hauliers, the EU put in place two regulations, which have applied since December 2011. Continue reading
2018 EU-China Tourism Year
EU-China Tourism Year (ECTY) was launched in Venice on 19 January 2018. This initiative, agreed at the 2017 EU China Summit, aims at supporting the development of new and better travel itineraries, promoting inter-cultural understanding, and enhancing travel and tourism experiences, including greater promotion and more sustainable tourism. Continue reading
Common agricultural policy
After World War II, Europe was in pieces, devastated and facing a shortage of food. The main objective of the European Coal and Steel Community, a new institution set up in 1952, was therefore to work to unite a fragmented Europe. Continue reading
Celebrating European cultural heritage in 2018
A Commission proposal paving the way to the designation of 2018 as the European Year of Cultural Heritage was adopted by the European Parliament in plenary in April, and subsequently by the Council. Continue reading
EU sport policy and issues [Topical Digest]
Sport has a significant impact on the European Union’s economy and society, and its importance is ever growing. It is a field in which the EU’s responsibilities are relatively new. In the 2014-2020 period, a specific budget line is for the first time available under the Erasmus+ programme to support projects and networks in the area of sport. Continue reading
European Week of Regions and Cities [Topical Digest]
This Topical Digest contains a selection of briefings produced by EPRS on regional and cohesion policy. Continue reading
High-level conference on tourism [Topical Digest]
As the third-largest economic activity in the EU, tourism is a major source of economic growth, regional development and employment. Continue reading
Revision of the Eurovignette Directive [EU Legislation in Progress]
The Commission adopted a legislative proposal for a directive amending Directive 1999/62/EC on the charging of heavy goods vehicles for the use of certain infrastructures (known as the Eurovignette Directive) in May 2017. Continue reading
Mapping the Cost of Non-Europe, 2014-19 – Fourth edition
This paper embodies work-in-progress on a long-term project being undertaken by the European Parliament’s European Added Value Unit, in conjunction with the office of the Secretary-General, to try to identify and analyse the ‘cost of non-Europe’ in certain policy fields. Continue reading
Precision agriculture: legal, social and ethical considerations
Precision agriculture, or precision farming, is a modern farming management concept that, based on a number of technologies coming concurrently from outside the agricultural sector, is of increasing interest to of increasing interest to actors in related fields, as well as legislators across the EU. Continue reading
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