As Brussels pins its housing fix on curbing Airbnb-style rentals, campaigners warn lawmakers are ducking a far bigger fight over Europe’s millions of empty homes and the people still sleeping rough.
Europe does not win by inventing fancy titles for its friendships, or by naming the rivals it means to keep out. It wins by being the place its neighbours both choose and can integrate into.
Europe’s Circular Economy Act can reduce dependencies, strengthen industrial resilience and create skilled green jobs. But it will only succeed if workers, working conditions and social dialogue are placed at its heart.
For our new report, Economic Competitiveness and European Citizens, we asked 11 experts from across Brussels and beyond 12 questions about Europe’s competitiveness debate. Download it for free here.
Before this year’s State of the European Union address on Wednesday (16 September), the EU Commission asked people on social media what they wanted to hear in the speech.
There is already an answer on file.
More than 1.4 million people gave it six years ago through the European Citizens’ Initiative “End the Cage Age” — and they are still waiting for a response they can act on.
Download EUobserver’s first Stakeholder Report, which brings together people working on European policy to examine the choices facing the EU and what they mean for citizens.
Last weekend, the Mission of China to the EU and the Euroclub jointly hosted the China-EU Table Tennis Friendship Tournament in Brussels. More than 100 table tennis enthusiasts from China, the European institutions and the European Parliament participated in the event.
The gap between Brussels’ rhetoric and regional reality has never been starker, write Iratxe García Pérez and Yannis Maniatis of the Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament.
Generative artificial intelligence has arrived in Europe’s banks faster than almost anyone predicted, and it is already changing how the sector’s 2.6 million workers do their jobs. The difference between a fair transition and a brutal one is rarely the technology – it is the dialogue around it, writes UNI Europa.
Addressing the situation in the Western Balkan countries as an enlargement issue rather than a foreign policy issue has allowed European institutions and EU member states to reduce ambiguities and divergent preferences
Under the theme of “A Sustainable and Just Transition to a Zero-Carbon Economy: EU-China Cooperation and Innovation in Maritime Transport,” the seminar focused on in-depth discussions on advancing China-EU green transition cooperation.
For the past two days, the Socialists & Democrats have held their “Africa Days”, a space for dialogue and co-creation between politicians, civil society, youth leaders, women’s movements, trade unions from both regions, and members of the diaspora.
In taking steps to reverse the offshoring trend of critical electronic parts and components, the Chips Act 2.0 could move Europe closer to reclaiming a measure of ownership of its most critical systems.
The Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the European Union warmly invite young people from China and Europe to use their cameras and paintbrushes to tell stories, share ideas, and convey best wishes of you and your family through lens or paintbrushes, to demonstrate the passion and creativity of youngsters, so as to play the symphony of China-Europe friendship.
Aligning import standards with domestic ones would begin to rebuild the trust that has been eroded between farmers, institutions and citizens. It would send a clear signal that the EU is serious about fairness.
The Socialists & Democrats welcome the European Commission’s Tech Sovereignty Package as a first step to deliver what Europe needs – but we will work hard to make it even better.
If the EU insists on imposing economic and trade restrictions on China, China will have no choice but to take corresponding countermeasures.
“State and regional governments in Europe, as in many other regions in the world, often have quite a lot of devolved powers,” Climate Group’s executive director Champa Patel explains. “Whether that’s fiscal, regulatory, financial, technical; there are many policy areas where they can make most decisions themselves.”
For over 10 years I spent my professional life promoting and defending the fur trade. As director of standards for the International Fur Federation, I oversaw compliance with international and national welfare regulations and industry standards. I was also chief executive for the British Fur Trade.
The EU’s enlargement criteria have long prioritised economic reform, rule of law and anti-corruption over social protection measures. A new study looks at what this means in practice for the western Balkans — and what needs to change.