EU institutions concluded negotiations on the Commission’s controversial copyright reform earlier this month. Political clashes that emerged across the EU also exposed harsh divisions between the Visegrád group of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. EURACTIV's Visegrád members report.
Ahead of a crunch meeting between EU ambassadors on Friday (8 February), EURACTIV Slovakia sat down with Green MEP Julia Reda to chew the fat over the controversial copyright directive.
The sharing economy can kill two birds with one stone by lowering the cost of green technologies and reducing polluting emissions, cleantech expert Radoslav Mizera told EURACTIV Slovakia.
European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič will take an unpaid leave of absence to run in Slovakia’s presidential elections in May, he confirmed in Bratislava on Friday (18 January).
The just transition declaration adopted at the COP24 in Poland sounds good but it is not connected to any kind of climate ambition or specific energy projects involving local communities, Alexandru Mustata told EURACTIV Slovakia.
Slovak President Andrej Kiska is taking “time to think” about Foreign Affairs Minister Lajčák's resignation. The long-serving pro-European career diplomat, Lajčák said he was stepping down after the Parliament’s refusal of the UN migration compact last week. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.
Eastern EU countries have a positive opinion of nuclear energy while others like Belgium and Spain are shifting against, says Yves Desbazeille. The big question for the industry is whether Germany will turn even more anti-nuclear than it already is, he says. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.
Some Central and Eastern European leaders are concerned that France and Germany are setting the Brexit agenda and might push for 'no deal', the head of the ECR group in the European Parliament told EURACTIV Slovakia.
Ukraine should decrease its transit fees if it wants to undercut the business case for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline bringing Russian gas directly to Germany, says Thierry Bros.
When it comes to migration and refugees, the Visegrad 4 governments speak with one voice: the EU should abandon any idea of a compulsory mechanism for refugee relocation. EURACTIV's network reports.
Despite progress in recent years, local circular economy efforts in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are still plagued by inefficient management, cheap landfilling and problematic reporting. EURACTIV's network reports.
Europe should engage in the Middle East by providing technical aid and promoting investment and programmes that enhance tolerance and peaceful coexistence, said Falah Mustafa Bakir in an interview.
Systemic segregation of Roma children in Slovakia's pre-schools and primary education has been around - and barely addressed - for many years. The lack of efforts on their inclusion has been highlighted by both human rights NGOs and the European Commission.
The European Commission’s analysis of clean air measures adopted at national level are at a “very advanced stage”, said Daniel Calleja Y Crespo, who recently came to Slovakia for the Clean Air Dialogue.
"What we have in Armenia is a fantastically working revolution," said Armen Grigoryan, one of the leaders of the “Reject Serzh“ movement, organising Armenia's ongoing nation-wide protests. EURACTIV.sk reports.
Unregulated electricity prices – and equal access to the grid for both large and small producers – are the only way to ensure higher share of renewables in the long run, says Latvian MEP Krišjānis Kariņš.
China has used the international economic crisis to elbow its way towards a dominant position on the global market. Its New Silk Road is seen as an attempt to create a massive, multi-national zone of economic and political influence, including in Central Europe. EURACTIV Poland/Czech Republic/Slovakia and Political Capital report.
Power grid interconnections and system flexibility are key to integrate bigger shares of renewables. A Franco-Irish research project aims to produce a roadmap to deploy EU power grids that can handle more than 50% of electricity from intermittent renewable sources.
Intermittent renewable electricity will need backup for at least the next 20 or 30 years, says Irish MEP Seán Kelly. As the least dirty among fossil fuels, natural gas is probably the most cost-effective and “preferred option,” he argues.
A push towards more intergovernmental decision making in the EU has never been a topic of discussion in the Visegrad format, state secretary for European affairs Ivan Korčok told EURACTIV Slovakia.
The roots of Euroscepticism among the Czechs go back 10 or 15 years and if Jiří Drahoš defeats the incumbent President Miloš Zeman in a runoff vote on 26-27 January, he will hardly be able to reverse the trend, political analyst Lubomír Kopeček told EURACTIV.
If Poland and Hungary are not censured for flouting EU rules, German Euroscepticism is set to rise, weakening public commitment to EU integration, warns foreign policy expert Cornelius Adebahr.
While Energy Union boss Maroš Šefčovič is making a case for a transition to geothermal energy in the Upper Nitra region of Slovakia, Prime Minister Robert Fico still believes in the future of lignite mining. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.
The solution to the migration crisis is beyond the European Union borders and the EU must be prepared to talk to all relevant players in troubled countries and provide financial and logistical help, the former prime minister of Slovakia told EURACTIV.
