Aymone Lamborelle Archives

The EU and its member states will spend over €191 billion by 2020 to help the bloc’s farming sector go green.

At the outset of the economic crisis in 2008, the EU mirrored the rescue packages seen in the US and elsewhere. In total, more than €1.6 trillion was used to save the banks and €200 billion to keep the European economies afloat.

Women are underrepresented in the technology industry in Europe, constituting only 18% of the workforce.

Europe’s agri-food industry provides 46 million jobs in 15 million businesses, accounting for 6% of the EU’s GDP.

Europe is still the world’s leading provider of official development assistance (ODA). In 2015, its international solidarity budget increased sharply to cover the costs of the refugee crisis.

As EU leaders gather today (17 March) for yet another summit, trying to fix the migrant crisis, successive elections in member countries have dwarfed the largest political force in the EU following the 2014 European elections.

The European Peoples’ Party, who is the largest in the European Parliament with 251 MEPs out of the total of 751, is now the third force, by the number of its heads of state and government sitting at the summits. The most influential leader of the EPP is without any doubt the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Socialists and Democrats, who have 190 MEPs, are now the number one force at summits.

But perhaps more surprisingly, the liberals, who have only 70 MEPs in the European Parliament and are the fourth largest political group there, are now the second largest force at EU summits.

The EU summit today (7 March) will be the 101^st for Jean-Claude Juncker, as premier of Luxembourg and president of the European Commission. Second comes German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with 66 summits Third is Donald Tusk, with 57 summits as premier of Poland and president of the European Council.

In 2012, agriculture was responsible for over 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. Meat production is a significant factor.

The European Commission announced a Heating and Cooling Strategy aimed at reducing energy waste.