New President for Eurocities

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Photo by Tobias Reich on Unsplash The Mayor of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung, will represent major European cities in the coming two years, as President of Eurocities.  He succeeds the Mayor of Florence, Dario Nordella, and is joined by the Mayor of Ghent, Mathias De Clercq, who will become the network’s Vice President. Jung, who was elected by delegates from more than 200 major European cities,…

EU Mexico Relations

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Photo by Luis Vidal on Unsplash The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, visited Mexico on Thursday (15 June) to meet President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. This was the first visit of the head of the European Commission to Mexico in 11 years and it aimed to relaunch the bilateral relationship and the Strategic Partnership…

Belgium’s Best Bartender

Julie Nullens, who is expecting her second child in a few weeks, now has something else to celebrate this summer. She will defend Belgium for the second time in a row during the IBA (International Bartenders Association) World Cocktail Championship in Rome from 28 November to 2 December. During the contest, 64 bartenders representing the…

EP Eurobarometer Survey

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Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash The European Parliament has issued its Spring 2023 Eurobarometer survey showing citizens’ “strong support” for democracy and a high awareness of the upcoming European elections. One year ahead of the next European elections, public interest in these elections has measurably increased. A clear majority of citizens (56%) are interested in the next…

Water Quality at Bathing Sites

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Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash The EC says that the “majority” of bathing water sites in Europe met the European Union’s most stringent ‘excellent’ water quality standards in 2022, according to the latest annual Bathing Water report published last week. The assessment, put together by the European Environment Agency (EEA) in cooperation with the Commission, highlights where swimmers can find the…

EYE 2023 European Youth Event

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Photo by Amit Lahav on Unsplash Around 10,000 young people from the EU and beyond last weekend discussed Europe’s future, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the 2024 European elections. On Friday 9 June and Saturday 10 June, the European Youth Event 2023 (EYE2023) featured more than 300 in-person and hybrid activities – debates, discussions, networking…

Conference of Maritime Regions

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Photo by Giuseppe Mondì on Unsplash Regional politicians have gathered in Firenze for the summer meeting of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions CPMR Political Bureau, hosted by Regione Toscana (Italy). One year ahead of the European elections, regional leaders have reflected on their contributions to bring back prosperity to the continent in a context of recovery, and…

Hello Sunshine

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Photo by Vivint Solar on Unsplash It is good news that the UK should have plenty of sunshine this summer – potentially more than much of southern Europe. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts suggests that June, July and August should each be hotter than average. This should be a great opportunity to harness more solar power:…