Photo by Kevin Ache on Unsplash Europe’s largest rare-earth magnet factory has opened in Narva, Estonia. The EU funded factory will produce rare-earth permanent magnets to be used in key economic sectors, for example in electric vehicles, wind turbines and microelectronics. As more than 90% of magnets currently imported in the EU come from China,…
Photo by Sergei A on Unsplash Calls are intensifying for the US, UK and EU to extend sanctions to Russia’s titanium industry, as Western policymakers face renewed scrutiny over lingering gaps in their response to Moscow’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Despite sweeping restrictions on Russian hydrocarbons and other commodities since the invasion in 2022, titanium,…
Photo by Rainier Ridao on Unsplash EC president Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union has acknowledged Europe’s social crisis and the need for fair competitiveness. However, a campaign group says that without Roma economic and political empowerment, both Europe’s economy and democracy will remain incomplete. That is the view of The Roma Foundation…
Photo by Valery Tenevoy on Unsplash The Socialists and Democrats in the EU Parliament are sounding the alarm over the rapidly deteriorating political crisis in Serbia. The group, the 2nd biggest in the assembly, is also calling out the European People’s Party (EPP) for what S and D calls its complicit silence and…
Photo by David Foodphototasty on Unsplash EU parliament President Roberta Metsola opened the September plenary session in Strasbourg with a minute of silence to remember lives lost in various tragedies in the EU and its neighbourhood. Metsola expressed her deep sadness following the derailment of the Elevador da Glória in Lisbon on 3 September. She…
Photo by Polina Kondrashova on Unsplash The KIKK Festival has become a fixture both in Belgium and in the international digital arts scene. From 23 to 26 October, its immersive 14th edition will once again take over Namur, exploring the musicality of our world. The programme features robot musicians playing the organ of the Saint-Loup…
Photo by Sébastien Goldberg on Unsplash The European Commission has announced that it has pushed forward the proposed EU-Mercosur agreement to the Council. The Mercosur deal has, it is said by some MEPs, been split into a political section and a trade section that will have to be adopted by a qualified majority of Member…
Photo by Andrea De Santis on Unsplash MEPs have warned the European Commission not to yield to the threats and to enforce the digital acquis as intended. As reported in the media, the European Commission reportedly pulled back a fine for Alphabet (Google) over the misuse of its powerful position in the online advertisement…
According to the latest Public Health England report on gambling, 0.5% of the population (approximately 246,000 people) are problem gamblers, and 3.8% (2.2 million people) are ‘at-risk’ gamblers. The figures may seem relatively small, certainly compared with, say, 20 years ago, but the problems associated with gambling are multitude and serious. There is one self-confessed former…
Photo by Ben Wicks on Unsplash The European Commission has put forward two proposals paving the way for the implementation of the EU-US Joint Statement. These steps, says the EU, contribute to restoring stability and predictability in EU-US trade and investment relations, “to the benefit of business, workers and citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.” The…
