EURACTIV.com Archives

The European Commission’s recently presented objectives for the Eastern Partnership (EaP) post-2020 were strong on content but "very clearly weak on political signalling," the head of Georgia's mission to the EU told EURACTIV in an interview.

The forests in Europe that can be considered “old growth” – and therefore declared protected areas – depends on the definition, says Petri Sarvamaa. “And that’s where the political fight begins,” he told EURACTIV in an interview.

European Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean told EURACTIV in an interview that the coronavirus outbreak means it is the wrong time to condition state aid for airlines on green measures, but warned the industry to stick to its passenger rights obligations.

Following the Eurogroup’s agreement on the economic response to the coronavirus, European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis on Friday (10 April) welcomed the €540 billion package in an exclusive interview with EURACTIV.com

Despite the agri-food chain have been under pressure in the past few weeks in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, there is no risk of food shortage provided that people behave appropriately, the head of the food retailers lobby told EURACTIV.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a rapid transformation of the workplace at a time when digitalisation and the Green Deal were beginning to restructure entire industries. In an interview with EURACTIV, trade unionist Karin Erhard describes how workers should go forward in these uncertain times and how a strong system of codetermination can help chart the way.

Dr Richard Ikiebe has led recent efforts to get international community backing to stop nearly two decades of ethnic and religious killing in Nigeria. “Now, people are listening to us”, he says.

The Green Deal remains a flagship policy of von der Leyen Commission and the EU should aim for a post-COVID-19 recovery that is green and sustainable, Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski told EURACTIV.com in an exclusive interview.

With restrictions to contain the coronavirus getting stricter in many member states and the fear of contagion growing, online shopping can be the solution to do the groceries, a consumer researcher told EURACTIV in an interview.

After the coronavirus crisis is over, Europe will need policies that can create a research ecosystem in the long run as well as ensure access to medicines to the patients who need them in a way that is sustainable for health systems today and tomorrow, a leading representative of European pharmaceuticals told EURACTIV in an interview.

Photonics have been defined as a vital technology in Europe's future digital transformation as well as helping the bloc achieve broader sustainability goals and strategic autonomy. However, there remains a deficit in public awareness on the technology. EURACTIV caught up with DG Connect's Lucilla Sioli to find out what photonics can do for Europe's digital sector and beyond.

With evolving technology and changing military doctrines, arms control and nuclear weapons control should be brought back to top attention, but it is "increasingly difficult to come to any agreement among the critical players" in the world, MEP Sven Mikser …

The European Commission must publish its impact assessment on the EU's 2030 climate target in June – not in September like is currently mentioned in the draft Climate Law, MEP Pascal Canfin told EURACTIV in an interview.

As the European Commission prepares its proposal for a landmark EU Climate Law, Eurelectric boss Kristian Ruby urges policymakers to keep it simple and focus on the long-term.

The announced EU food policy should also strive to create future prosperity for businesses in good harmony with the environment, not only to take policies against some parts of the food value chain, Nestlé Europe chief Marco Settembri told EURACTIV.com in an interview.

The European Commission will be "flexible" with Italy and other member states affected by the coronavirus when assessing their efforts to balance their public accounts, European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said in an interview.

The European Food Safety Authority will keep UK experts in its ranks despite Brexit, because science does not recognise borders "and we want to have the best people", the EU food watchdog chief told EURACTIV.com in an exclusive interview.

The European Green Deal “will definitely create tensions” inside the EU, and risks pushing “two or three countries” to leave the Union altogether, warns former Romanian President Traian Basescu, saying the real priority in Romania is to build new infrastructure like motorways and exploit natural gas resources from the Black Sea.

Being equipped with the right methods to assess industry’s rapidly changing innovation will be a key challenge for the European Food Safety Agency, (EFSA), Bernhard Url, the EU food watchdog's chief, told EURACTIV.com in a wide-ranging interview.

Despite recent rapprochement between Ukraine and Russia, the full implementation of the Minsk agreements is still "miles away" and there is still a risk that the separatist regions could turn into another "frozen conflict", OSCE Secretary-General, Thomas Greminger, said in an interview with EURACTIV.

The European Investment Bank decided to scrub its loan books of fossil fuels in 2019 but the lender's head of energy policy, Andrew McDowell, insists that there is more to the change of direction than ditching coal and gas.

The EU agency for infectious diseases control still considers the risk for the novel coronavirus low for Europe. However, its director is calling for a rethink of pandemic preparedness plans to help ensure Europe is equipped to deal with a virus spread scenario such as the current one in China.

When it comes to energy regulations, the EU tends to legislate in silos, writing directives on renewables, energy efficiency or electricity and gas markets. But with the upcoming sector coupling strategy, it needs to do exactly the opposite, says Morten Petersen.

Amid security concerns surrounding Chinese tech giant Huawei, its smaller telecoms rival Xiaomi has been attempting to distinguish itself by focusing on consumer products and non-critical infrastructure.