Sarantis Michalopoulos
Selling electricity to neighbours: Technically feasible, but not in practice
An EU-funded Interreg project promoting microgrids technology has managed to help consumers produce renewable electricity on their own. But the ultimate objective to enable reselling the power to their neighbour has been hindered by regulatory obstacles.
The Brief, powered by ESA – Are Orban’s days numbered in Tusk’s EPP?
In the EPP house, much like in Tolstoy's Oblonsky house, everything is in confusion these days, though we can only glimpse tiny bits of the trouble brewing in Europe's oldest and biggest political family.
Valean new Romanian EU Commissioner pick, sources say
The next Romanian European Commissioner will be MEP Adina Valean, several sources confirmed to EURACTIV.com on Wednesday (6 November).
EU governments ignore Greek request to help 4,000 child refugees
Greek minister responsible for migration Michalis Chrisochoidis sent a letter to his EU counterparts to share a burden of 4,000 unaccompanied minor refugees on Greek islands, but just one responded.
EU official: Interreg is an ‘engine’ of regional cooperation but needs simplification
Interreg, a flagship EU cohesion policy programme, is an important engine of cooperation and trust among countries, but to address ongoing challenges such as migration or Brexit, it needs to be simplified and better coordinated and have less red tape, a high-ranking EU official told EURACTIV.com.
EU project: Mediterranean fishermen seek additional income via tourism
Faced with steadily declining fishing stocks, Mediterranean fishermen are exploring new ways to improve their income. An EU-funded Interreg MED projects vows to help fishermen to do so through tourism. EURACTIV.com reports from Athens.
EU socialists chief: North Macedonia name change deal should be ‘preserved’
When it fails to deliver its promises, the EU loses its credibility and shows little sense of historical responsibility towards the Balkans, Iratxe García, the chief of Social Democrats in the European Parliament, has said.
Commission expects Greek reply to allegations of migrants’ mistreatment
The European Commission expects the Greek authorities to follow up on the allegations of the Turkish ministry of foreign affairs over migrants’ mistreatment and the illegal practice of “pushback”, a Commission spokesperson has said. The tension between Athens and Ankara...
Aristoil: Getting the best out of Mediterranean olive oil
Aristoil, an EU-funded Interreg MED project, has been trying to boost the competitiveness of the Mediterranean olive oil sector by providing innovative methods to identify the “healthiest” part of it.
Interreg EU project: Tackling climate change in the ‘Mediterranean way’
An EU-funded project aims to push for green and circular economy policies in the Mediterranean in light of an alarming study, which recently pointed out that temperatures in the region are escalating much faster than the global average.
New EU Commission should take on rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases
The new European Commission should tackle "head-on" rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, the president of the European League Against Rheumatism (Eular) told EURACTIV in an interview, referring to chronic diseases that affect one-quarter of all Europeans, creating healthcare and social security costs.
Six million fewer chickens slaughtered weekly in EU after Mercosur pact
The EU poultry meat sector was sacrificed in order to convince Brazil to seal the Mercosur trade agreement. But the impact on the sector in Europe is expected to be very heavy, the association of poultry processors told EURACTIV.com.
Macron’s veto undermines Balkan stability, Greek MEP says
French President Emmanuel Macron's veto against the accession of North Macedonia to the EU will open the door to external influence in the Western Balkans region, according to Syriza's MEP Stelios Kouloglou.
‘Women bring bad luck to crops’: fighting stereotypes in agriculture
There is an urgent need to fight gender stereotypes in EU agriculture as women’s multilevel skills have a lot to offer in the future of the field, center-left MEP Isabel Carvalhais has said.
Andriukaitis: 100-year old production models cannot achieve food sustainability
According to the UN, the amount of food produced globally needs to double to feed a rising world population. Policymakers are poring over ways to ensure the sustainability of food systems while emerging new technologies, promising to tackle climate change, still face resistance.
The Brief, powered by EK – The EU’s new king has not killed the old one, yet
Political wars, as we know, can be fought anywhere, anytime, at any level, and the European arena lends itself particularly well to these kind of games.
EU cancer plan will succeed if the right priorities are identified, official says
The much-awaited EU cancer plan will first have to identify specific needs at national level, seek funding and then be closely monitored in order to be successful, a high-ranking EU official has told EURACTIV.com.
The Brief, powered by the Martens Centre – A missing EU word, a lost EU state
Turkish forces have launched airstrikes this week and advanced deeper into Kurdish-held areas in northeast Syria during the second day of Ankara’s invasion in the region. The EU sat on its hands and then came up with a cautious, watered-down statement. Why?
Romania’s centre-right to push for Muresan as Commissioner after government collapses
The Romanian parliament ousted the Social Democrat government of Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă on Thursday (10 October) with 238 votes in support of a no-confidence motion.
Expert: Complex vaccines ecosystem needs an EU-wide platform
A new EU-wide platform for vaccines, which will bring together all different stakeholders, is needed in order to identify the gaps and fix the problems of the vaccines ecosystem’s complexity, Dr Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, a health expert, told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
Outgoing Commissioner Andriukaitis suggests disbanding EU alcohol forum
The EU Alcohol and Health Forum (EAHF), which aims to tackle alcohol-related harm, should come to an end because its stakeholders have not been able to find common ground, the outgoing EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis has said.
Leftist MEP: EU left should in ‘no way’ turn its back on agriculture’s digitisation
The European left should under no circumstances turn its back on the digital transition of agriculture and give the floor to neoliberal political forces to further “marginalise” smallholders, Petros Kokkalis, a leftist MEP, told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
Healthy vaccines ecosystem: A tough equation to solve
In a fragmented EU market, the vaccines ecosystem is complex and in order for it to be “healthy” all relevant stakeholders should be taken into account, Professor Panos Kanavos, an associate professor at LSE, told EURACTIV.com.