Arthur Neslen
EU aid to Palestine ‘cannot continue indefinitely’ without results
SPECIAL REPORT: European frustration with the glacial pace of moves to Palestinian statehood could lead to the bloc’s aid contributions to the region becoming unsustainable in as little as 3-4 years, officials say.
EU considers throwing ‘cordon sanitaire’ around ISIS
SPECIAL REPORT: The EU is weighing a proposal to impose a ‘cordon sanitaire’ around a swathe of territory the size of the UK, that is controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group.
EU source: Gaza reconstruction aid is ‘made in Israel’
SPECIAL REPORT: A row is brewing over claims that Israel is earning millions of euros from a de facto policy of preventing non-Israeli reconstruction aid from entering the Gaza Strip.
Piebalgs: Aid to conflict zones ‘becoming the rule, rather than the exception’
SPECIAL REPORT: Europe’s engagement with fragile and conflict-prone states is increasingly becoming the mainstay of its developmental work, the EU development commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, has told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
EU must develop ‘best supporting actor’ role in war zones
SPECIAL REPORT: The new European Commission needs to shift its focus from humanitarian aid in conflict zones to conflict prevention and intervene more as a ‘best supporting actor to the UN’, says a paper by the European Think Tanks Group published today (1 September).
Warsaw breaks ranks with Poland on 2030 climate goals
EXCLUSIVE / The Mayor of Warsaw has complained to the Polish government that 2030 clean energy goals which Poland believed too radical were in fact unambitious, undemocratically decided, and risk spiking EU decarbonisation moves, in a letter seen by EURACTIV.
Watchdog rules Peabody ‘clean coal’ ad misleading
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that an advertisement for “clean coal” by the world’s largest private sector coal firm, Peabody Energy, was misleading and should not be published again in its current form.
NGO backlash to Chief Scientific Advisor position grows
EXCLUSIVE / More European non-profit groups have thrown their weight behind a call by Greenpeace and HEAL for the European Commission to scrap the position of its Science Tsar, Anne Glover, in a letter sent to the incoming EU president, Jean-Claude Juncker, which EURACTIV has seen.
EU-Canada trade deal leak ‘ridicules’ TTIP consultation, campaigners say
The leaked text of an EU-Canada free trade deal confirms fears that multinationals may sue EU states in special tribunals for enacting laws that upset their profit forecasts, and now campaigners question the public consultation on a free trade deal with the US.
Showdown looms as Red Cross shuns Russian aid convoy
A Russian aid cavalcade of 280 trucks destined for eastern Ukraine may be blocked at the border, as it is not being accompanied by any staff from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a core demand of the Kiev government.
How the Commission ‘blocked’ key environmental plans
EXCLUSIVE / Plans to crack down on endocrine disruptors and illegal timber being imported into the EU, were buried by the outgoing President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and his secretary-general Catherine Day, according to a senior EU source.
Poland on road to EU Court over shale gas defiance
EXCLUSIVE / The European Commission has begun legal proceedings against Poland for amending its national laws to allow shale drills at depths of up to 5,000 metres without first having assessed the potential environmental impacts, EURACTIV has learned.
€38 billion money pot could unlock 2030 clean energy deal
EXCLUSIVE / Europe’s structural funding cash pool for energy efficiency and renewables projects has soared by 40% to an estimated €38-39 billion and could be used to broker a 2030 clean energy targets deal with cost-concerned east European states, EURACTIV has learned.
IEA calls for action to cut $80 billion online energy drain
Rapid policy moves are needed to curb energy wastage from electronic devices such as smart phones, tablets and game consoles, which in 2013 cost $80 Billion (€53 billion), says a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Draft EU road machinery law ‘will create more pollution’
EXCLUSIVE / Large diesel-powered machines responsible for toxic emissions in Europe’s urban areas will not be obliged to limit emissions of ultrafine particulate matter (PM) by using particle filters, and will not need to report their CO2 emissions, under key parts of a draft EU law seen by EURACTIV.
Think Tank: Europe needs a building renovations directive
SPECIAL REPORT / Europe’s struggling bid to rein back energy wastage in the building sector could be boosted by a renovations directive implemented under a new Directorate-General for Resource Efficiency, says the sustainable energy think tank E3G.
‘Acute’ gas crunch fears push efficiency into spotlight
SPECIAL REPORT / Energy security’s ascent to the top of the political agenda was cemented at the EU’s sustainable energy week yesterday (23 June), as a US ambassador to the EU, a Green MEP and the bloc’s energy commissioner, Günther Oettinger all used the Ukraine crisis to highlight the importance of energy saving measures.
New research casts doubt on energy performance certificates regime
SPECIAL REPORT / The current system of certifying buildings according to their energy performance is beset by patchy enforcement, wildly-varying certificate costs, a laissez-faire attitude towards displaying information, and a lack of trained inspectors, according to the preliminary findings of a study by the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE).
EU paper pencils in 30% or 35% efficiency target for 2030
SPECIAL REPORT / To maintain Europe’s emissions-cutting momentum, a 30% cut in energy usage is needed by 2030, rising to 35% if the EU wants to reap the benefits of energy security, jobs and growth, says a draft communication for the bloc’s energy efficiency review, seen by EURACTIV.
EU plans bid to raise global rag trade working conditions
A year after the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed 1,135 people in Bangladesh, the European Commission is mulling a new initiative to boost labour standards for global companies that supply Europe’s high streets, as a flagship for Europe's Year of Development, which begins in 2015.
Poll: Over 85% of east Europeans back robust 2030 climate goals
A surprising groundswell of public support for binding EU-wide action on renewable energy and energy efficiency has been revealed by an IPSOS poll of the so-called Visegrad countries of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, seen as foot-draggers on climate action.
US embassy in Berlin sparks TTIP Twitter tangle
EXCLUSIVE / A tweet by the US embassy in Berlin offering grants of up to $20,000 for pro-TTIP projects has triggered a row with campaigners dismissing it as propaganda that reveals a desperate shortfall of original ideas in the US establishment.
EU’s energy efficiency review puts high target on agenda
EXCLUSIVE / A 40% energy efficiency target for 2030 would grow Europe’s economy at a rate of 4% a year, spark an annual 3.15% boost in employment and cut fossil fuel imports by €505 billion a year, say sources with access to a report prepared for the EU’s forthcoming energy efficiency review.