Written by Clare Ferguson, Recent populist waves on both sides of the Atlantic have shown that that expert advice is more than ever distrusted and even flatly rejected. Will this trend continue next year? Or will people go back to considering evidence more thoroughly? Like it or not, politicians make decisions on policies that affect… Read More 12 Graphs: Seven eminent scientists
Written by Clare Ferguson, The 2016 Bratislava declaration, setting out the key priorities for the EU with the UK on its way out, and how to achieve them, naturally focuses on topics which relate to the six most important issues for citizens: the economic situation, unemployment, immigration, terrorism, the state of Member States’ finances and… Read More 12 graphs: Six most important issues for EU citizens
Written by Lucienne Attard (The Directorate-General for the Presidency), Malta will hold the EU Council Presidency from January to July 2017. Its Presidency will bring to an end the Trio Presidency composed of the Netherlands, Slovakia and Malta. This is the first time Malta holds the rotating presidency. Malta is currently led by a Socialist… Read More Priority dossiers under the Maltese EU Council Presidency
Written by Clare Ferguson, The events of 2016 have made it clear that citizens expect policy-makers to come up with some new ideas to meet their needs and contribute to creating a more inclusive and cohesive society through promoting new processes and relationships, innovative solutions, and thus transformation. The EU aims to address this need… Read More 12 Graphs: Five key dimensions of social innovation
Written by Clare Ferguson, The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the largest of five European Structural and Investment Funds, is intended to support economic, social and territorial cohesion policy. The Fund addresses the imbalances between regions within the EU, through investing in development and structural support for regions which lag behind or need to replace… Read More 12 Graphs: Four thematic objectives – EU Regional Development Fund
Written by Clare Ferguson, Thirty years ago, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster released radioactive material over much of Europe. Following the accident, some 600 000 people took part in the containment operations and around 350 000 people were displaced. Accidents like Chernobyl, and the more recent disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, have resulted in an increasingly nuclear risk-averse… Read More 12 Graphs: Three decades later – the state of nuclear power
Written by Clare Ferguson, We will remember 2016 as a tumultuous year worldwide, a 12-month period of vicious conflicts and political upheaval that will have long-lasting consequences is coming to an end. The resulting insecurity and uncertainty as to the foreign policy intentions of major world powers means that the EU strategic partnership with the… Read More 12 Graphs: Two strategic partners – EU and NATO defence cooperation
Written by Clare Ferguson, This year has seen Europe struggle to come to terms with its place in today’s contested world, and the EU has found it hard to adapt the positions of its current 28 Member States to respond flexibly and speedily to the challenges of the new security environment. Will the shadow cast… Read More 12 Graphs: One global strategy
Written by Lieve Van Woensel with James Tarlton, How will information technology revolutionise agriculture in the 21st century? That is the question investigated by a recently published study on ‘Precision Agriculture and the Future of Farming in Europe’, which was commissioned by the European Parliament’s Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) Panel. The lead panel… Read More What can European farming expect from new technologies?
Written by Ulla Jurviste and Rosamund Shreeves, Finding a suitable balance between work and daily life is a challenge that all workers face. Families are particularly affected. The ability to successfully combine work, family commitments and personal life is important for the well-being of all members in a household. The EU recognises the importance of reconciliation… Read More Work-life balance in the EU