Written by Marcin Grajewski, The election of Donald Trump, who favours a bilateral over multilateral approach to international economic relations, as U.S. President may herald the end of an era of progressive liberalisation in global trade since the Second World War. At their meeting in March, finance ministers of the G20 group of major economies… Read More International trade [What Think Tanks are thinking]
Written by Clare Ferguson, Following the United Kingdom’s formal notification on 29 March of its intention to withdraw from the EU, nine months after last June’s referendum, Parliament is set to debate a resolution setting out its main principles, broad objectives and red lines for the negotiations. Once adopted, this resolution will represent the EP’s… Read More EP Plenary Session April I: Safety first
As one of five key acts of the common European asylum system (CEAS), the Asylum Procedures Directive sets out common procedures for Member States for granting and withdrawing international protection in accordance with the Qualification Directive.… Read More Common procedure for asylum [EU Legislation in progress]
On 30 November 2016, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a regulation on risk-preparedness in the electricity sector. This proposal addresses shortcomings in the existing legislation, notably a lack of regional coordination, and differing national rules and procedures. It would replace the existing legislation, and establish common rules on crisis prevention and crisis management in the electricity sector.… Read More Risk-preparedness in the electricity sector [EU Legislation in Progress]
Written by Anita Orav, Building on its Visa Liberalisation Dialogues, the European Commission is proposing to waive visa requirements for 45 million Ukrainian citizens. In parallel, the European Union (EU) has revised its visa suspension mechanism, reinforcing safeguards to apply to all visa liberalisation agreements. Background Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 lists the third countries… Read More Visa liberalisation for Ukraine [Plenary Podcast]
Written by Nicole Scholz, The current EU approval system for medical devices (MDs) and in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDs) is based on conformity assessment by ‘notified bodies’. A number of scandals stressed the need to tighten the regulatory framework for such devices. The European Commission’s proposals for regulations on MDs and IVDs, being discussed… Read More Medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices [Plenary Podcast]
Written by Agnieszka Widuto, Social enterprises combine social goals with entrepreneurial activity. They represent a business model focused on having a positive social or environmental impact rather than simply making profit for shareholders. Social enterprises make a valuable contribution to the economy and society, operating mainly in local communities and covering areas such as education,… Read More EU support for social entrepreneurs [Policy Podcast]
European citizens regularly contact the European Parliament on the subject of poverty and social exclusion in Europe, calling for more to be done to help poor people to escape their predicament. So what is the EU doing about it?… Read More What is the EU doing to fight against poverty and social exclusion?
Written by Marcin Grajewski, American society and politicians may be more polarised than ever, the new President, Donald Trump may be mercurial and unpopular, but the American economy looks poised for accelerated growth, the foundations of American foreign and defence policy are solid, and the new administration is becoming increasingly professional, according to analysts and… Read More EPRS conference: New US administration increasingly professional, despite early blunders
Written by Cemal Karakas, Carla Stamegna, FinTech, the abbreviation for financial technology, is a broad term. It is mainly used to refer to firms that use technology-based systems either to provide financial services and products directly, or to try to make the financial system more efficient. Examples include robotic trading, cashless payments, crowdfunding platforms, robo-advice,… Read More Financial technology (FinTech): Prospects and challenges for the EU [Policy Podcast]