Photo by Peter Stawowy on Unsplash The financial management of the EU’s 43 agencies was better in 2024 than in previous years, according to the annual audit report issued today by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). However, the auditors have once again detected issues with budgetary management, public procurement procedures, and management and control…
Photo by Ilyas Dautov on Unsplash Europe today is rethinking its economic security and long-term resilience. Questions of energy autonomy, supply chain diversification, and connectivity have risen to the top of the agenda, accelerated by geopolitical fragmentation and the global green transition. At the same time, Central Asia has emerged as a region of growing…
Photo by Sam Carden on Unsplash An extra two billion people could be fed every year and land around the size of Mexico would be freed up to grow food for people if we ended the feeding of grain to factory farmed animals, according to a new report by Compassion in World Farming. Coming soon…
Photo by MARIOLA GROBELSKA on Unsplash The EU is unlikely to meet its goal of directing 25 % of Aid for Trade funding to the least developed countries by 2030, according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors. While the corresponding EU strategy was updated in 2017 so as better to address…
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 MW on Unsplash Today, the world faces mounting uncertainties and challenges from prolonged conflicts and democratic backsliding to economic coercion and disinformation campaigns. Authoritarian regimes increasingly employ gray-zone tactics that undermine the rules-based international order. In this fragile global environment, peace cannot be taken for granted. Democracies must unite to bolster resilience and…
Photo by Albert Hyseni on Unsplash While Russia continues to throw unprecedented resources into its war machine, the country’s industrial foundations are showing clear signs of strain. Key strategic sectors including automotive, metallurgy, and agricultural machinery are quietly reducing operations. Enterprises such as AvtoVAZ and KamAZ have transitioned to four-day working weeks, citing falling demand and…
Photo by syahmi syahir on Unsplash The EPP Group in the EU parliament says it “firmly rejects any approach that undermines global trade rules or threatens Europe’s key industries.” This comes in llight of the recent announcements by US President Trump on tariffs. The Group is now urging the European Commission to stand firm and…
Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash The European Committee of the Regions, is critical of the EU’s new long term budget plans. Speaking after they were unveiled this week, its president Kata Tutto said: “After months of unjustified secrecy, the European Commission has delivered a complicated and divisive proposal that puts at risk the role…
Photo by Masood Aslami on Unsplash The European Conservatives and Reformists Group says it has reservations about several key elements of the European Commission’s proposal for the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). While acknowledging the need for a more responsive and strategic EU budget, the group is cautioning against a shift that could increase uncertainty…
