Fossil fuel industry lobbyists are expected to retain a stranglehold on Europe’s energy future, with a formal role in EU decisions on energy infrastructure development and funding, a new report claims. The European Commission has proposed to keep an obscure body advocating for vested gas industry interests – the European Network of Transmission System Operators…
Month: April 2021
How to Create the Perfect Green Flight
Eurocontrol has released a new study that sets out what actions need to be taken in order to make every air journey as close to a ‘perfect green flight’ as possible. The paper examines why it isn’t possible to fly a perfect green flight today, which measures have the greatest potential to improve the sustainability…
Better Digital Access Needed for Roma Children in Hungary
According to an August 2020 survey by the National Democratic Institute, a U.S.-based non-profit organization, only 41% of Roma households in Hungary have access to both cable and mobile internet and 13% report no access to the internet at all. A November 2020 report from Hungary’s deputy ombudsperson for national minorities acknowledged that for Roma…
Hoogeveen Joins ECR Group
Dutch MEP Michiel Hoogeveen has joined the European Conservatives and Reformists Group. Mr Hoogeveen has taken the place of Derk Jan Eppink in the European Parliament. Mr Eppink has since occupied a seat in the Dutch national Parliament after being elected on behalf of the newly established JA21 party at the national parliamentary elections in March…
Putin’s goals in the red-hot Donbass
Today, trust between the West and Russia is at its lowest level in recent history. Experts compare the current confrontation with the Cuban missile crisis. However, now the rhetoric and threats from the top leadership of the opposing sides have reached such an intensity that the timidly discussed possibility of a war between Russia and…
Empowering Women Through Trade
The Renew Europe group has published and presented a new report focusing on empowering women through trade and tackling gender inequality. Women have diverse roles in society, as they are entrepreneurs who manage their own business, they are employees at companies, and they are consumers. “Incorporating gender mainstreaming in trade policy is crucial. Women worldwide…
Russia Must Withdraw Troops from East Ukraine: Stoltenberg
Russia must immediately stop building up troops on the border with Ukraine and withdraw from Eastern Ukraine. NATO chief Stoltenberg made this appeal after a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Koeleba. The NATO chief has spoken of the largest Russian military presence on the border since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. According to Ukraine, the Kremlin…
IFJ Calls for Release of Vladislav Yesypenko
The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) have called for the immediate release of Vladislav Yesypenko and the withdrawal of all charges against him. Freelance journalist Vladislav Yesypenko has told a court he was tortured and forced to confess after he was arrested in March by the Federal Security Service (FSB) officers in Crimea on fabricated charges. Vladislav Yesypenko’s…
Polisario Scolded for Abusing New Zealand’s Legal System
Last year lobbyists working for the separatist Polisario movement lodged documents in the New Zealand high court saying that the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZSF), with $45 billion under management, unlawfully invested in farms that use phosphate from the southern provinces of Morocco, and interests in companies operating in the Moroccan Sahara. Fertiliser companies Ravensdown…
EPP Calls for Military Support for Ukraine
The EPP Group has called for military assistance for Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia. “Russia amassing more than 40,000 troops near the Ukrainian border is an escalation and a serious threat to European stability and security as well as to Ukrainian sovereignty”, said EPP Group Vice-Chairwoman Sandra Kalniete MEP ahead of today’s debate on…