Interviews
IRENA chief: Renewable energy is ‘defence policy of the future’
Renewable energy will rewrite the geopolitical map, according to the man tasked with taking clean energy global. Adnan Z. Amin also told EURACTIV that any politicians not worried by the “truly frightening” risks of climate change are not in the right job.
‘Small platforms’ are the target of online terrorist content regulation, MEP says
The EU is taking regulatory measures to clamp down on the dissemination of terrorist content online. In the European Parliament, the file is being dealt with by the Civil Liberties Committee, with MEP Daniel Dalton leading the report. EURACTIV sat down with Dalton to discuss the finer details of the plans.
Navracsics: ‘Health lifestyle is more than sport’
EU Sport Commissioner Tibor Navracsics praised the involvement of "a wide range of actors" in promoting physical activity in Europe, and called on the private sector to ensure that healthy choices are easier and more affordable for everyone.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate: ‘We are going back to the 1980s’
Bringing a 1950s radioactive technology capable of wiping out cities into a high-tech environment is a recipe for suicide, says 2017 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Beatrice Fihn. She spoke to EURACTIV.com about nuclear deterrence, arms control ambitions and the current INF Treaty debate.
‘No alternative’ to digital construction, expert says
The digitisation of the EU's construction industry is an oft-overlooked area of technological development, both politically and socially. EURACTIV.com spoke to Milena Feustel to shine a light on the sector and explore the direction the digital construction is going in across Europe.
Jerzy Buzek: Deal on Nord Stream 2 is good for Poland and EU
The revised EU gas directive agreed on Tuesday night (12 February) gives guarantees that the EU’s interests are preserved, by giving the European Commission a key role in the permitting process of all pipelines linking Europe with foreign countries, including Russia, says MEP Jerzy Buzek. EURACTIV Poland reports.
Logistics expert: Deep transport emissions reductions possible, urgently needed
Transport is widely accepted as a very difficult sector to decarbonise but one of the leading experts on all things freight and transport explained to EURACTIV.com how and why it needs to be done.
Finnish finance minister: ‘Case closed’ for universal basic income
Finland is the first country to complete a nation-wide experiment on universal basic income. With the first results in, Finnish finance minister Petteri Orpo told EURACTIV.com that the largest parties in his country don’t support the idea anymore.
Avoid politicising Arctic issues, expert warns
The Arctic has so far been largely conflict-free. If this ever changes, it will probably be the result of a spillover from other parts of the world, Arctic expert Svein Rottem told EURACTIV.com in an interview, in which he spoke about Arctic governance and the EU’s role in the region.
Copyright: ‘France has completely won the discussion,’ says MEP Reda
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.
Tanzanian opposition leader: EU is ‘finished’ with Magufuli
Nearly 18 months after falling under a shower of bullets outside his parliamentary residence in Dodoma, opposition leader Tundu Lissu, the most persistent thorn in the side of Tanzanian President John Magufuli plans to re-enter the political fray.
World Bank’s Georgieva: Venezuela needs tens of billions of dollars
As the Venezuelan crisis unfolds, the World Bank is ready to act as soon as its members give the green light, said the institution's new interim president, Kristalina Georgieva. In an interview with EURACTIV.com, she estimated that the financial needs to cover would be around tens of billions of dollars.
Katainen: Innovation needed to address climate issues
During a week in which the European Commission hosts the 2019 EU Industry Days, a series of conferences that examine key industrial challenges, EURACTIV sat down with Vice-President Jyrki Katainen to find out how far the EU's industries have come since 2014.
Asian investment bank warns of private capital decline
Global trade tensions are scaring investors globally. In Asia, despite the huge needs to finance large projects, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is “concerned” about stagnant and even fall of private capital being attracted, its vice-president told EURACTIV.com.
UNEP chief: EU should aim for 55% CO2 reduction by 2030
The European Union needs to revise its 2030 CO2 reduction target from 40% to 55% if it wants to meet the 1.5°C global warming objective of the Paris Agreement, says Joyce Msuya.
Campaign leader: +Plus party is much more than the person of Dacian Ciolos
The new Romanian party, +Plus, founded by former EU Commissioner Dacian Cioloș, is in talks to run for the European elections in coalition with the Save Romania Union (USR), the new force's campaign leader told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
Cañete: ‘No way around it’, climate neutral EU is needed
EU climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete is in no doubt that the EU has to achieve ‘climate neutrality’ by 2050 and wants to use his final months in the job to push the bloc towards Paris Agreement-compliance.
EY consultant: Europe is lagging behind in power grid digitalisation
The volume of solar panels and electric cars connected to the grid is still manageable for now. But massive new load expected from electric vehicles in the coming years will require stepping up network digitalisation, warns Serge Colle.
Agribusiness drives development technologies in Ukraine, deputy minister says
Once regarded as the breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine is now ready to be the ‘supermarket of the world’ as processed and high-end product manufacturing is booming, Ukraine’s deputy agriculture minister, Olga Trofimtseva, told EURACTIV.com.
EU official: ‘Actual recycling could be lower’ with new methodology
When it comes to meeting the EU’s new recycling targets, metals will have a big head start. But EU member states could find it harder to reach future objectives under a new methodology being considered at the European Commission, says Maja Desgrées du Loû.
Finnish agronomist: ‘We need climate-smart agriculture’
A lower carbon balance can be achieved by sequestering CO2 through plant growth, a notion that has a major influence on how Finland manages its forests and croplands, says Liisa Pietola. EURACTIV Germany spoke to the Finnish agronomist in an interview.
Green tech expert: ‘Car ownership is nonsense’
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.
Moscovici: We are quite close to an agreement on the digital tax
The introduction of national digital taxes across Europe is not detrimental to the Commission's European proposal, the Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, told EURACTIV.com, adding that he believes an agreement on the issue is “quite close”.