European Parliamentary Research Service Blog
briefings
Collective intelligence at EU level: Social and democratic dimensions
Humans are among the many living species capable of collaborative and imaginative thinking. While it is widely agreed among scholars that this capacity has contributed to making humans the dominant species, other crucial questions remain open to debate. Is it possible to encourage large groups of people to engage in collective thinking? Continue reading
Charles Michel as President of the European Council: The first 100+ days
On 1 December 2019, Charles Michel, previously prime minister of Belgium, became the third President of the European Council. He began his term in dynamic mode, aiming to make his mark in foreign affairs and develop the EU’s interinstitutional relations. Continue reading
Outcome of European Council video-conference of 26 March 2020
On 26 March, EU Heads of State or Government continued their joint coordination efforts to address the COVID-19 outbreak and held a six hour-long video-conference meeting on this subject. They followed up on the priorities defined at the previous video-conferences on 10 and 17 March 2020, and outlined additional coordinated measures aimed at overcoming the crisis in a joint statement. Continue reading
The European Council as COVID-19 crisis manager: A comparison with previous crises
The COVID-19 outbreak confronts the European Union with a severe crisis, affecting both individual EU citizens’ lives and society as a whole. Due to its role and centrality in the EU’s institutional framework, the European Council is once again called upon to exercise its crisis-management role. Continue reading
The impact of coronavirus on Schengen borders
The Schengen Area consists of 26 countries that have agreed to remove regular checks at their internal borders in order to facilitate the free and unrestricted movement of people: 22 EU Member States (Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden), and 4 associated countries (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein). Continue reading
Terrorist content online: Tackling online terrorist propaganda [EU Legislation in Progress][Policy Podcast]
Dissemination of terrorist content is one of the most widespread and most dangerous forms of misuse of online services in the field of internal security. In line with the 2015 European agenda on security and taking into account the impact of this propaganda on the radicalisation, recruitment and training of terrorists, the European Commission launched a voluntary system for tackling terrorism online, based on guidelines and recommendations. Continue reading
Coronavirus: Impact and reaction [What Think Tanks are thinking]
Governments around the world are introducing increasingly harsh measures to contain the highly contagious coronavirus, which causes the often lethal COVID-19 disease. Borders in many countries have been shut, schools, restaurants and non-food shops closed, and a ban on public and sometimes private meetings has been introduced. Continue reading
Solidarity in EU asylum policy
The unprecedented arrival of refugees and irregular migrants in the EU in 2015 exposed a number of deficiencies in EU external border, asylum and migration policy, sparking EU action through various legal and policy instruments. Continue reading
Outcome of the video-conference call of EU Heads of State or Government on 17 March 2020
‘The EU is facing a serious and exceptional crisis, in terms of magnitude and nature’. This was the main message from the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, after EU leaders held a three-hour-long video-conference to discuss the COVID-19 outbreak. Continue reading
The rise of e-commerce and the cashless society
Sales in the EU still predominantly take place offline – in bricks and mortar shops – and purchases are still predominantly made with cash. However, thanks to the level of convenience they offer, both online shopping and cashless electronic payments are booming and are among the key drivers of the digital transformation taking place in our economy and society. Continue reading
Digital taxation: State of play and way forward
The digitalisation of the economy and society poses new tax policy challenges. One of the main questions is how to correctly capture value and tax businesses characterised by a reliance on intangible assets, no or insignificant physical presence in the tax jurisdictions where commercial
activities are carried out (scale without mass), and a considerable user role in value creation. Continue reading
Coronavirus: The latest [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The world is currently facing the fastest-spreading pandemic since the Spanish flu (in the aftermath of the First World War), prompting governments to take unprecedented decisions to contain this highly contagious coronavirus, which leads to COVID-19 infection. Continue reading
What can the EU do to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus crisis?
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has now been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Alleviating the human effects of the crisis is paramount, but repercussions are being felt across many sectors. Continue reading
Coronavirus (COVID-19) [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The highly contagious new coronavirus, known as COVID-19, is spreading globally at a very rapid pace, having infected about 114 000 people and killed nearly 4 000 at the time of writing, according to the situation report from the World Health Organization (WHO). Continue reading
The European Green Deal [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The European Green Deal is a key policy plank of the new European Commission led by President Ursula von der Leyen. It is a package of measures that aims to radically cut emissions of greenhouse gases while creating jobs in clean industries. Continue reading
EU policies – Delivering for citizens: Transport policy [Policy Podcast]
Transport is a strategic sector of the EU economy. Essential to ensuring free movement, it enables people and goods to overcome distances, borders and natural barriers, directly affecting the everyday lives of all EU citizens. Continue reading
Military mobility: Infrastructure for the defence of Europe [Policy podcast]
To ‘unite and strengthen Europe’ is one of the goals expressed by the newly elected President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Continue reading
Economic impact of epidemics and pandemics [Policy Podcast]
Despite significant medical progress over the last centuries, infectious diseases such as influenza or malaria still represent a considerable threat to society. While some are endemic to specific geographical regions, others can spread, becoming epidemics or pandemics. Continue reading
Outcome of the special European Council, 20-21 February 2020
On 20-21 February 2020, EU Heads of State or Government held their first meeting specially dedicated to the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) since the publication of the European Commission’s proposal in May 2018. Continue reading
Artificial intelligence [What Think Tanks are thinking]
Artificial intelligence (AI) is usually understood as the ability for a machine to display human-like capabilities such as reasoning, learning, planning and creativity. Continue reading
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