Frédéric Simon Archives

Denmark, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden have already met or even exceeded their 2020 national targets on boosting university education, defined three years ago at EU level to enhance the bloc’s labour force and ability to compete against global economic rivals.

Food safety, GMO cultivation and France’s cherished “cultural exception” for audiovisual services are non-negotiable areas in view of upcoming EU-US free trade talks, the French stressed. The message was apparently well received by the European Commission in Brussels.

While France is engaged in a war with jihadists in Mali, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels today (17 January) are expected to insist on the bloc's longer-term role, saying they will unfreeze development aid money as soon as the country commits to an election roadmap.

Michel Barnier, the EU's Internal Market Commissioner, has called on French President François Hollande to open a debate on what the country wants from the EU, warning that mainstream political parties risked losing the 2014 European elections if they failed to do so.

INTERVIEW / The Dutch multinational Unilever wants to boost its participation in EU research programmes to develop the breakthrough technologies it needs to cut the water use and CO2 emissions of its products by half – two of its key environmental objectives.

SPECIAL REPORT / The world's largest drinks companies, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, have laid down ambitious plans to roll out 100% plant-based plastic bottles across the globe, triggering warnings from environmentalists who see a parallel with the ongoing controversy over biofuels.

José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, has tabled a blueprint for deeper economic and monetary union in the eurozone, saying a more federal Europe is the only way to address the root causes of the sovereign debt crisis.

SPECIAL REPORT / The REACH chemical safety regulation is creating headaches for recycled products manufacturers, hampering the European Union's efforts to decrease its reliance on imported raw materials. The European Commission has only begun acknowledging the problem, saying it will take time to address.

French President François Hollande sought to reassure Britain and other non-eurozone countries that plans to establish a special budget for the currency bloc will only come "in addition" to the EU budget and not "in substitution" of it. But he also warned: No country can prevent the others from moving forward.

Environmental NGOs have accused the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) of leniency in enforcing the REACH regulation on chemical safety, raising the pressure on the European Commission to tighten the screw ahead of a review expected this month.

The French industry minister Arnaud Montebourg has launched a broadside at the European Commission, arguing that Chinese and the US industries "don't have Brussels on their backs" when accepting state aid. A group of seven countries, including France and Germany, have sent a letter urging the EU Executive to "switch gear" on industrial policy.

The REACH chemical safety regulation has so far showed limited results, with only "anecdotal evidence" that industry was starting to phase out the most dangerous substances, the European Commission said ahead of a review of the legislation due later this month.

BASF, the German chemical giant, has distanced itself from the rest of the industry by saying Europe's REACH chemical safety law was worth the investment in the end. A review of the legislation is expected this month.

In a rare political declaration, Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has rejected "binary choices" for the eurozone's future, dismissing calls for a "United States of Europe" as well as a return to national currencies to stop the sovereign debt crisis.

France has taken the lead in demanding new "own resources" for the European Union's upcoming long-term budget for 2014-2020, placing Paris firmly on a collision course with Berlin, which wants to retain national contributions as the biggest share.

SPECIAL REPORT / A long-standing debate in Belgium over the Zaventem national airport has been reignited by EU proposals to vet national decisions over airport noise restrictions. A local NGO told EURACTIV the proposed rules would almost trigger "war" with Flanders if implemented.

SPECIAL REPORT / The European Commission wants to help consumers cut food waste by making 'best before' and 'use by' dates clearer on the packaging. But measures to green up our diets will not stop here, with policymakers' attention turning to the entire food chain.

SPECIAL REPORT / Rattled in Europe by the REACH regulation and carbon dioxide emission curbs, international chemical companies are at the Rio Earth Summit determined to push for a global approach to environmental policy – but with a light regulatory touch.

As the European Union embarks on a major revamp of its aid policies to the developing world, the Francophonie organisation believes its close ties with French-speaking African nations can help the Union with "political mobilisation" on development issues.

Despite claims that there should be "no taboo" subjects on the table, French officials who were visiting Brussels for the first time yesterday (29 May) since the Presidential election, appeared hesitant to take the big federalist leap that Germany and others in the European Union are asking for in return for greater solidarity in the euro zone.

Making users pay for water should be part of any policymakers' toolkit to manage scarcity, says Lars H. Thunell of the World Bank's International Finance Corporation. But with safe drinking water now officially recognised as a human right, this has to be done in "a socially responsible way," he argues.

Arnaud Montebourg, the newly-appointed French minister for "industrial revival" who has built a reputation for his fierce attacks against globalisation, has promised to revive old plans by Nicolas Sarkzoy for a carbon tariff at the EU's borders, an idea previously rejected as protectionist among France's European partners.

Shanna H. Swan, a renowned scientist specialising in reproductive medicine, has warned about the health effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as phthalates which can end up in food via pesticides or plastics. In an interview with EURACTIV, she calls on regulators to better protect consumers against those "hidden chemicals".

European Commission plans to ease noise restriction measures around airports has been met with scepticism by the MEP in charge of the dossier in Parliament, who believes the EU executive is placing economic considerations above citizen's concerns.