Opinions
Can President Biden deliver on global tax reform?
The key question is whether President Biden will be able to persuade Congress to support the changes needed to implement a global plan to tax multinationals more fairly, writes Dick Roche.
Blue Homeland: Turkey’s Strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean
The purpose of the Blue Homeland strategy is that Turkey should dominate the Mediterranean and reclaim the mercantile and maritime power once held by the Ottomans, writes Antonia Colibasanu.
Carbon pricing in buildings? Help renovate and fuel-switch to renewables first
Including buildings in an emissions trading scheme will have a limited impact on emissions. The EU must also focus on an ambitious revision of the energy performance of buildings directive to ensure that emissions are sufficiently decreased, writes Monica Frassoni.
The Brief – Waiting for the next wave
There is news you want to hear, and news you will ignore. These days, Europeans are packing for their summer vacations. The news we don’t want to hear is that by the time we return from well-deserved holidays, the next wave of COVID-19 will have gathered force.
EU’s new climate package must now close the ‘National Ownership Gap’
Europe must go beyond EU-level targets and ambition to implement climate action across member states, if it wants to reach its own ambition and limit the world to 1.5°C warming, write Sharon Turner and Thomas Muinzer.
The EU needs to step up on Hong Kong sanctions
The EU has been slow to respond to China's repeated attacks on democracy in Hong Kong. It's time it started catching up with the US and others, writes Reinhard Bütikofer.Promoted content
‘Fit for 55’: EU on track for climate goals and sustainable growth
The Fit for 55 package gives Europe all the right tools to become the world’s first mover on achieving net zero emissions, but cutting red tape and increasing investments for smarter, more flexible and efficient grids will be needed.
The Brief – There is no medicine for regret
As Germany settles in for the summer and a heavy heat blanket slows political activity in Berlin down to a near standstill, many die-hard Green voters eyeing September's election are heading to their vacation destinations - by train, of course - in a sombre mood.
Healthcare must drastically reduce emissions to help prevent new health crises
Climate change is the biggest health threat of the 21st century and healthcare systems need to dramatically reduce their emissions in order to help prevent this from worsening, writes Jacqueline Cramer.Promoted content
EFDN Members Commit to their Environmental Roles with Sustainable Initiatives
The European Football for Development Network highlights diverse initiatives brought by football clubs to commit to environmental issues. In Belgium and Norway, two clubs have settled new initiatives to develop sustainable changes to their stadium.
The Brief – Don’t ignore your neighbours
It is a truism that Europe is unstable if its North African neighbours are unstable. That being so, it should be of some concern to EU leaders that, on the bloc’s south Mediterranean border, Tunisia’s ten-year-old democracy appears to be on life support.Stakeholder Opinion
Connectivity at the core of a more stable Afghanistan
At a time when Taliban is likely to take over Afghanistan, the stakes could not have been higher for Uzbekistan’s reformist President Mirziyoyev who hosted the 15-16 July Central-South Asia Connectivity Conference in Tashkent.
The Brief – Go home Erdogan
Cyprus is an excellent destination for holidays, but it is also a geopolitical volcano. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who doesn’t miss an opportunity to annoy the EU and infuriate Greece, is very active during this holiday season. Among other...
Tackling energy poverty is a non-negotiable part of the green transition
Europe's new climate legislation must focus on renovating its inefficient buildings and lifting millions of people out of energy poverty, but that is only possible if the EU works together with local governments, writes Emil Boc.
The Brief – It takes EU to tango
As EU officials prepare for their holidays, they have an extra reason to pack their bags faster than usual; to avoid the siren call of British politicians haranguing them to reopen parts of the Brexit settlement. It would be easy,...
Telekom Srbija: Vucic’s weapon to stifle media freedom
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić bases his power largely on media influence. In this respect, state-owned cable and broadband provider Telekom Srbija is used as a political weapon, writes Darko Čačić.
Facing triple crises, Tunisia is in trouble
Each crisis on its own would debilitate any country. In Tunisia, they add fuel to the others, creating a vicious cycle of inaction and instability that threatens to undermine the fragile democratic transition, writes Sarah Yerkes.
Kaczynski and Putin’s alliance without friendship
It is wrong to assume that Europe's far-right are divided in their attitudes to Putin's Russia, writes Maciej Kisilowski.Special ReportPromoted content
Superbug pandemic threatens to undo medical progress
It’s never easy to focus on more than one crisis at a time. But, as vaccines begin to point the way out of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is another global health threat lurking in the background which needs our attention:...
France’s exit from the Sahel war offers Russia an opportunity to move in
Another Western army is leaving a fragile, landlocked region. But whereas the United States has pulled its troops out of one country, Afghanistan, France is walking away from five, argues Faisal Al YafaiSpecial ReportPromoted content
How to reconcile the different interests in the “Fit for 55” package?
Though all Member States backed EU’s higher target of a net domestic reduction of greenhouse gases emissions by at least 55% until 2030 compared to 1990, recently proposed regulatory solutions may deepen a division between countries, when it comes to...
The Brief – Too many cooks in the foreign policy kitchen?
In the Georgian Black Sea resort Batumi, taxi drivers, who usually talk about the likes of football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, are currently talking about European Council President Charles Michel. In Georgia’s political crisis following the last parliamentary election in October...
China, the new Atlantis between the United States and Europe?
During the recent tour of US President Joe Biden to Europe, EU nations continued to resist taking sides, its leaders instead repeating the term “strategic autonomy”, writes Joël Ruet.