En Marche style ‘Lelo’ movement launches in Georgia

Georgia saw the launch of Lelo, a new public movement, this week writes Gary Cartwright. The movement, which is being likened to Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche initiative, was founded by Mamuka Khazaradze, the founder of Georgia’s leading bank, TBC. The launch took place in Anaklia, Georgia, on Thursday 12 September.  It is expected that this…

July 2019 Busiest in history of Brussels Airport

More than 2.7 million passengers passed through Brussels Airport in July. although early summer was marked by disruptions to the baggage handling system . In July, Brussels Airport welcomed more than 2.7 million passengers, representing a 2.7% increase compared to July 2018, and above all making July 2019 the busiest month in Brussels Airport’s history….

EESC calls for new EU Strategy for Sustainable Development

The European Union should grasp the opportunity of the new political mandate and financial period to improve its economic policy coordination and governance, says the EESC. The European Semester should become the most important element of economic policy coordination and a multi-level and multi-actor governance approach should be implemented, says the European Economic and Social…

Consumers in the circular economy

So far, actions to boost the development of a circular economy in Europe have centred on production, getting industries to introduce circular business models and bring circular options to the market.  Now conditions are ripe for getting consumers involved, and empowering them to make sustainable purchasing choices in their daily lives, says a new EESC…

Oligarch Raid on the Electricity Market of Ukraine

The most urgent issue in EU-Ukraine relations today is the protection of Ukraine’s nuclear power industry from a conspiracy of the oligarchs, writes James Wilson.  Energoatom has been starved of a fair share of market revenues for years by the unfair Rotterdam Plus formula to calculate tariff shares for producers, ostensibly to take account of…

Anniversary of EU Data Protection Rules

The controversial General Data Protection Regulation celebrates today (25th May) its first year of entry into application.  To mark the occasion, Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market and Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, issued a statement. Andrus Ansip said, “25 May marks the anniversary of Europe’s new data protection rules, the…

Fighting Climate Change with the Bio-economy

The bioeconomy is a crucial factor in fighting climate change, responding to the growing food demand and boosting rural areas. In its opinion on the adopted at its plenary session, the EESC calls for better support for SMEs in the form of advice and access to finance.  Public-private cooperation should be promoted and supported through…

Magnus Hall New President of Eurelectric

Magnus Hall, President and CEO of the Swedish-based electricity company, Vattenfall, has taken over the Presidency of Eurelectric. The priorities of his two-year mandate will be to continue the efforts of the electricity industry in becoming carbon-neutral by 2045 and leading a timely energy transition. Under his Presidency, Eurelectric will call on new EU policymakers to enable widespread electrification, while ensuring a…

Building a Capital Markets Union

The European Commission has said that it welcomes the European Parliament’s final votes on legislation putting in place the building blocks of a Capital Markets Union (CMU). It said the adoption of a substantial number of proposals constitutes another step forward in the completion of the CMU, one of the Juncker Commission’s top political priorities. The Capital…

As EU-Azerbaijan Partnership Strengthens, survey shows strong support for Aliyev’s policies 

Survey shows strong support for Aliyev’s policies

More than 90 percent of the text of the new EU-Azerbaijan trade and political agreement deal is already agreed, it has been revealed. The news, which emerged from this week’s Azerbaijan-EU Cooperation Council in Brussels, coincides with publication of a new survey by a French pollster showing that over 85% of those polled appraised  Azerbaijani…