The European Commission has presented a proposal to the council for a decision to grant €5.9 billion in financial support to Portugal under the SURE instrument. This follows Monday’s proposals to the Council for decisions to grant financial support of €81.4 billion to 15 Member States under the SURE instrument. Including Portugal, the Commission is now proposing…
The Commission should update its guidelines to select priority energy projects that are fully in line with its climate policy, said the European Parliament. The revision of the TEN-E guidelines, to be proposed by the European Commission later this year, should be consistent with EU energy and climate targets for 2030, its long-term commitment on…
The Commission says it is supporting Member States as they deal with the impact of the coronavirus on the tourism sector. At a videoconference on Monday, EU Ministers discussed the implications of the coronavirus outbreak on the tourism industry – which accounts for 10% of EU GDP – and the recovery strategy for the tourism…
The Church of Almighty God (CAG) released its 2019 Annual Report on the Chinese government’s persecution of the Church’s Christians today. The report provides statistics and details of the persecution both within China, and overseas by government agents. The CAG claims that in an intensified suppression campaign in 2019, 19 believers died as a result…
Under the banner ‘Between public good and bad governance’ the European Parliament hosted a conference discussing the contemporary role of NGOs, writes Gary Cartwright. Delegates, from the worlds of politics, civil society, academia, and the press heard the argument that the lines between NGOs and lobbyists, and, indeed, purveyors of fake news, have become increasingly blurred. The…
Christmas is coming so what better reason to push the boat out and indulge a little? If you thought oysters and champagne were the height of indulgence there’s one thing that can top both – caviar. Usually, it’s associated with the jet set and wealthy but, for one Belgian company, the looming festive season is…
A former coal mining site has been reinvented to provide one of the few opportunities in Belgium for wake boarding and water ski-ing. The Terhills Cablepark is based on former gravel pits linked to what used to be one of the country’s biggest coal mines. The mine has long since gone but the good news…
It’s one of the more novel culinary innovations of recent years in Brussels and elsewhere – eating while suspended 50 metres from the ground. For its 2019 edition, Dinner in the Sky will head to the Canal in Brussels, opposite the future Kanal Pompidou Museum. Since its launch in Brussels in 2006, Dinner in the…
It is renowned as Belgium’s best open air museum but now Bokrijk could soon be known for something else: its very own beer. The reason is that the historic Limburg attraction has launched a new beer which is only available at the famous visitor attraction, located in Belgium’s eastern most province. Called “Wildeman”, a 9% strength beer…
I met with Ekaterina Tsaranok the Founder of the Modern Education & Research Institute, based in Brussels, which is dedicated to the modernisation of the teaching profession and to the adaptation of professors to the quickly changing educational environment. The members of the Institute are universities and individual professors from the countries of Central Asia, the Eastern…
