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Opinions

  • Why renovations are at the centre of the EU Green Deal

    December 8, 2021

      The buildings sector is one of the most complex to decarbonize because it is right at the intersection of energy and climate policy, environmental policy, and financial policy. This requires an approach which balances each pillar while delivering a cohesive whole, a true test of the EU Green Deal. With the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive around the corner, are all the EU’s horses pulling in the same direction?  Before we can discuss solutions, we first need to illustrate the...

  • COP26: why it’s not too late to engage online

    October 18, 2021

    With fewer passes and high demand, it may be too late to book your ticket to Glasgow, but not being at COP26 doesn’t mean you can’t engage. Here’s how to do it… The data speaks for itself: every minute now, COP26 is increasingly on everyone’s mind. Our study, analyzing Google Search data, shows that in August 2021, 2,900 users searched for ‘COP26’, and by September the number of searches already increased by 128% to reach...

  • The revision of REACH: How will a post-Lisbon REACH Regulation look like?

    June 4, 2021

    The revision of the EU's REACH Regulation is becoming a reality. The European Commission intends to reopen REACH with a legislative proposal due at the end of 2022. Besides the many changes outlined in the initial impact assessment to ensure that REACH is fit to meet the ambitions of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, the revision will no doubt raise the question of how to adopt decisions under the REACH as the Regulation is still...

  • What are essential use criteria for chemical substances?

    May 3, 2021

    Everybody is talking about essential uses in Brussels, but how can we actually define which chemicals are essential for our society? Is it essential to use chemical substances that ensure durability for coatings but may be persistent in the environment? Or is it essential to use potentially harmful substances in medical devices if no alternatives are available? Defining the essential use concept will ultimately mean being able to answer these questions, balancing out the trade-offs...

  • Why are the French the most skeptical about COVID-19 vaccines in the EU?

    April 7, 2021

    Words by Anaïs Ronchin France became the birthplace of modern immunology when Louis Pasteur created a vaccine for rabies in the 1880s. This vaccine proved to be so effective that people bitten by rabid animals came from all over France and even from abroad to be vaccinated at his research facility in Paris, which would be transformed into a vaccination clinic and teaching center for this new field of science. However, despite this rich scientific history, contemporary France is experiencing the lowest levels of...

  • Vaccine hesitancy and conspiracy mentalities in German: a deadly duo?­­

    April 1, 2021

    Words by Fabianne Bamberger As we find ourselves at the one-year anniversary of the most severe health emergency of the modern era, we are still confronted with high infection levels and death rates overburdening our healthcare systems and economies. Vaccines offer a glimpse of light at the end of the long tunnel but rising anti-vaccine sentiments in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic give cause for concern. This threat is particularly evident in one of...

  • Regional approaches and shared competences, the kryptonite for anti-vaxxers in Spain?

    March 30, 2021

    Words by Enrique Marcos Collado Vaccine trends in all EU countries are not entirely discouraging, offering some hope that summer holidays in a preferred destination for many European may be possible yet. In Spain, the number of individuals who say they would not take the vaccine immediately fell from 47% in November to 28% in late December, according to a barometer conducted by the Sociological Research Centre (CIS). As vaccination efforts have launched around the...

  • What’s driving vaccine hesitancy and what can we do about it?

    March 24, 2021

    We explore trends and our own recent survey data to see where EU markets differ and converge on their trust of vaccine information It’s been over a year since COVID-19 became a health crisis with global proportions. Bringing our societies and economies to a screeching halt, the crisis demonstrated just how much our systems depend on public health. As we attempted adaptation to daily life in a global pandemic, all eyes turned to the scientists...

  • Vaccine information: many Europeans trust local doctors over national governments

    March 24, 2021

    Measuring vaccine confidence in Europe: Exclusive FleishmanHillard research reveals trends in four European markets As vaccination plans are being rolled out across the European Union, it’s important to understand what sources of vaccine information Europeans trust when it comes to COVID-19. To understand the trends in misinformation and identify opportunities to deliver science-based vaccine information, FleishmanHillard Brussels partnered with our in-house research and measurement group, TRUE Global Intelligence, to conduct a survey in four key...

  • Why now is the time to overcommunicate

    March 1, 2021

    It was June 2016. I was sitting in a room in Brussels and I was listening to a communications professional talk about his organisation’s target audience. That was the first time I heard the term ‘Brussels Bubble’. I soon discovered it was a term used to refer to all professionals employed directly or indirectly by the business of running the European Union in Brussels, and thus a select group of 40,000 very influential decision makers...