EU bans single use plastics in an early Christmas present for the planet
Today's agreement to ban certain single use plastics is an early Christmas present for the planet and our future on it. With every plastic bottle that washes up on a beach and each bird that chokes to death on our plastic waste, the need to act on plastic pollution is ever more pertinent.
After lengthy negotiations, the EU agreed on the directive and regulation on electricity market design, which will see an end to subsidies for coal power by mid-2025. The agreement, while still insufficient to reach the Climate Paris Goals is still a step in the right direction towards ending coal subsidies and increasing the role of rene…
Parliament is the driving force behind stronger reductions on CO2 emissions for cars
"The kind of effort showed by EU governments is the equivalent of switching from fifth to fourth gear while keeping your foot on the accelerator; it'll slow you down a little but it won't stop the car from crashing. Yet, despite reluctance from the capitals, the European Parliament has proven that it is the only institution in the driving…
Following protests this weekend in Hungary around the so-called new "slave law", which allows employers to increase the amount of overtime for employees without financial compensation, and after the governing Fidesz party tightened control over the courts, the media and forced the closure of the Central European University, the European C…
Major gap between expectations of citizens and decisions of governments
This COP was a big disappointment. It showed that there is a major gap between the expectations of the citizens and the analysis of the scientists on one hand and the decisions of the governments on the other hand.
The General Court of the European Court of Justice issued a ruling on the amendment of the Euro6 norms and annuls the conformity factor in the RDE legislation. The European Commission watered down the limits for NOx emissions by introducing a conformity factor.
The European Council must break its current cycle of deadlock and postponement. We urgently need progress on a common European asylum system as well as on the Eurozone reform. On Brexit, it is clear that there cannot be a change in the withdrawal agreement.
"Today's vote could not be any clearer: the European Commission must ensure that the conflict of interest around Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is resolved. There's no doubt that Mr Babiš is seriously violating EU financial regulation", said Greens/EFA Co-President, Ska Keller.
It's time that the tech giants paid their fair share. These companies, which are increasingly part of our everyday lives, from how we consume content and goods to how we communicate, and they should be treated as equal contributors to society
