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News & Opinions

  • Does the new EU food and farming strategy have the bite it needs to succeed?

    March 12, 2025

    The EU unveiled its new agriculture and food strategy, the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food, on February 19, 2025, setting the direction for the next five years of policymaking. Amidst a challenging geopolitical context and following months of farmers’ protests across European streets, the European Commission has delineated a strategy built around the need for competitiveness, resilience and profitability of EU farming and food. Recognising the strategic role of the agrifood sector for the...

  • The challenges facing Europe and European leaders at Davos 2025

    January 24, 2025

    As world leaders converge at Davos this week, Europe stands at a critical crossroads in its own sustainability trajectory. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s Special Address on Tuesday underscored the challenges facing a world in which major economies are ‘vying for access to raw materials, new technologies and global trade routes’. For Europe, this race is particularly acute due to a lack of access to the domestic resources needed to develop decarbonisation technologies...

  • My internship experience in Brussels: A gateway to professional and personal growth

    July 18, 2024

    Alba is an undergraduate intern in our Integrated Communications and Reputation team. She studies political science at the University of Warwick in the UK. She’s dived into her experience in more detail to give a taste of her time in the EU capital. My experience as an intern I started my internship in September 2023 where I was welcomed into a friendly and supportive team. Through my role, I was able to participate in many...

  • The EU year of change: Act 2

    June 13, 2024

    The European Elections are over; the contest to lead Europe is about to begin. When the provisional results of the European Parliament elections, one of the world’s largest democratic exercises, landed on Sunday evening, they told us the will of the voters and ushered in the next phase of the EU’s year of institutional change. We know the 720 MEPs who will make up the next parliament. But no official decisions have been taken yet...

  • EU defence & industrial policy: A cross-sectoral outlook

    May 29, 2024

    In its nearly 70 years of existence, never has the EU experienced a stronger push to double down on investments and coordination when it comes to defence.   While defence remains primarily a competence of the Member States, the current volatile international environment – with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East – has resulted into Europe's defence strategy being under intense scrutiny. NATO's stability could be further challenged by the potential re-election of Donald Trump...

  • EU climate policy: The new borderlines?

    May 27, 2024

    The race to net-zero by 2050 has fundamentally shifted. What was once a distant goal is now a pressing mandate, and the landscape of climate change policy is being redrawn as we speak. Achieving more than 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990 levels within the next decade requires radical economic and policy transformations across every Member State. Electrifying at a strong pace is crucial First, the scale of electrification required to meet...

  • Three challenges for Europe’s biodiversity

    May 24, 2024

    Humanity is already outside the safe operating space for at least four of the nine planetary boundaries, including biodiversity. In Europe, nature is facing serious decline, with threatened ecosystems and terrestrial and marine species and habitats at poor conservation status. The next European Commission will have to tackle what the previous did not manage to push forward completely: ensure Europe delivers on its biodiversity global commitments through binding EU policy instruments with concrete financial support.  ...

  • Why the EU needs a healthy pharmaceutical industry for its competitiveness agenda

    March 4, 2024

    Announcing her candidacy for the EU’s top job last month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered a glimpse of the message which will undoubtedly play a central part in her campaign: promoting Europe’s competitiveness.  As a trending policy buzzword, competitiveness places economic growth in the midst of a hectic crossroads where sustainable competitiveness, economic security, open strategic autonomy, and fair competition come together (unfortunately, sometimes crashing). Emerging from a term that stress-tested Europe's...

  • Are you fit for 2024? Communicating in a year of change

    February 27, 2024

    It’s no secret that 2024 will be all about voting, and that the world, including Europe, may look very different in 12 months’ time. More than 200 million EU citizens will be able to cast their vote to elect the next members of the European Parliament – and this will only be the second-largest election of many set to happen in 2024 (after India in April-May). In such a scenario, where virtually every player with...

  • Why Europe needs a water resilience strategy

    February 8, 2024

    One quarter of the global population is currently facing an unprecedented level of water stress. Europe is no exception: as a result of the rising temperatures dictated by climate change, water scarcity is already a reality for many Europeans. The European Commission's findings that 38% of the EU population and 29% of the EU territory were  in 2019. In summer 2022, the European Drought Observatory's report that approximately 44% of continental Europe was in a...

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