Interviews
EU’s anti-racism coordinator: Collecting equality data is vital tool in fight against racism
Without measuring and quantifying the extent of discrimination and inequalities in Europe, it becomes very difficult to effectively tackle them, the EU’s first anti-racism coordinator, Michaela Moua, told EURACTIV. Michaela Moua is a former basketball player and Finnish justice ministry...
Georgia FM: We need a post-2020 Eastern Partnership agenda perspective
In an exclusive interview, the foreign minister of Georgia, David Zalkaliani, discussed this week's Associated Trio summit in Batumi, relations with Ukraine, the internal political process and the country’s EU ambition.Promoted content
People, Process, Platforms: “EUniting” the spectrum of Innovation in European healthcare
Earlier this month, Rebecca Guntern and Kees Roks participated in #EUnite week, a series of conversations focused on unlocking the future of European healthcare.
Analyst: EU carbon price on track to reach €90 by 2030
High gas prices, combined with a recent decision to raise the EU’s climate goals for 2030, have combined to form a “perfect storm” on the EU carbon market, according to a market analyst who predicts a carbon price of €90...
EU federalist chief: Far-right declaration on Europe’s future ‘hilarious’
In an interview with EURACTIV, federalist MEP Sandro Gozi dismissed as “hilarious” calls by the European conservative and far-right parties for a deep reform of the EU in view of the debate on the future of Europe, saying the demands...
Green MEP: Voluntary schemes have failed biodiversity in forests
Voluntary schemes have not been enough to protect biodiversity in Europe's forests and more coordinated measures are needed to protect nature in the EU, according to Green lawmaker Ville Niinistö.
French MP: Digital sovereignty is about being able to choose dependencies
In an interview with EURACTIV France, French centrist MP Philippe Latombe spoke about France's approach to digital sovereignty being about being able to choose who they can depend on and pointed to EU countries currently not being 'on the same page' when it comes to digital sovereignty.
Finnish MEP: Sustainable forest management must be supported by EU climate legislation
Sustainable forest management is key to keeping Europe's forests healthy and must be supported by EU legislation in order to help meet the bloc's 2030 climate goals, according to Finnish MEP, Petri Sarvamaa.
Lithuania: Official entities participate in Belarus human trafficking
Official entities, such as airlines and tourist agencies, are involved in organised human trafficking via Belarus and should face sanctions, Lithuania's foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
Released Catalan leader: Catalan issue requires a ‘multilateral solution’
Oriol Junqueras, former Catalan vice-president and pro-independence leader who had been jailed for his role in Catalonia's failed secession attempt, visited Strasbourg and Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday (6-7 July), after being released from prison with a pardon from the Spanish government.
MEP: Parliament and Council haven’t listened to each other in CAP talks
In an exclusive interview with EURACTIV France, MEP Eric Andrieu expressed disappointment about the lack of communications between the two EU lawmakers that led to an unsatisfactory environmental part of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform
Presidential envoy: For Kazakhstan, the EU is a neighbor
In a wide-ranging interview, Yerzhan Kazykhan, special representative of the president of Kazakhstan for international cooperation, discussed the state of play of the Central Asian country's relations with the EU, its international initiatives and new projects, such as joining the EU’s battery alliance.
Tsikhanouskaya: EU must base Belarus policy ‘on values, not pictures’
The EU must apply consistent pressure on the repressive Belarusian regime until it responds to calls for dialogue, exiled democratic opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
Sven Giegold: ECB should start ‘digging into’ financial crime in Bulgaria
To join the Euro, Bulgaria needs to tidy up with financial crime, and the European Central Bank (ECB) should be doing its job and finally start “digging into this”, MEP Sven Giegold told EURACTIV in a telephone interview.
Kazakh independent expert: Human rights NGOs enjoy more influence
A lot has change over the last years in Kazakhstan in terms of human rights, but more work is outstanding, independent expert Nazgul Yergalieva told EURACTIV in an interview, describing how the authorities in the central Asian country are now cooperating with NGOs in improving human rights protection.
Slovenian FM: EU inaction in Western Balkans ‘strategically dangerous’
The EU needs to move "as soon as possible" from a wait-and-see approach to a problem-solving strategy in dealing with enlargement and the Western Balkans, Slovenian Foreign Minister Anže Logar told EURACTIV in an interview about the priorities for his country's upcoming EU Council presidency.
The untapped potential of data-driven healthcare
The COVID pandemic has been a wakeup call on the need to share healthcare data in a commonly usable format. The European Health Data Space would boost health research and underpin the development of personalized medical treatments, says Padraic Ward.
Montenegro dismisses NATO drift allegations as ‘disinformation’ ahead of alliance summit
Allegations of a cooling relationship between Montenegro and NATO is disinformation and fake news, defence minister Olivera Injac told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
Official: Western Balkan countries are ‘milking coal power plants until the bitter end’
Disparities between the EU and Western Balkan countries on energy are only getting bigger, with many of them still addicted to highly-polluting coal power stations that provide cheap electricity as well as revenues to governments and the local population. “They’re milking them until the bitter end,” says Janez Kopac.
We need to prepare the world for the next health crisis now – MEP
The world needs to rethink intellectual property rights to get ready for the next pandemic and Europe has to do its part as a constructive partner at the negotiating table, Belgian socialist MEP Kathleen Van Brempt told EURACTIV in an interview.
Industry chief: Policymakers must set clear thresholds for low-carbon hydrogen
The way clean or low-carbon hydrogen was defined under the EU’s green finance taxonomy could have been more ambitious, with a higher emission threshold excluding all unabated fossil fuels from hydrogen manufacturing, says Jorgo Chatzimarkakis.
Dombrovskis: ‘We are quite satisfied with the recovery plans submitted’
The EU’s framework to coordinate national economies this year has been shaped by the recovery and resilience plans. The Commission’s executive vice-president for economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, told a group of media including EURACTIV that overall, the EU executive is satisfied with the recovery plans submitted by 23 member states.
Communist candidate in French 2022 election: ‘We are very different from Mélenchon’
In an interview with EURACTIV France, Communist Party candidate in the upcoming presidential elections, Fabien Roussel, said he wants to be the candidate for the youth and the working man and criticised Europe for pitting the French worker against the Polish one.