Romania's National Recovery and Resilience Plan: Latest state of play
Romania's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) embodies an ambitious agenda of reforms and investment aimed at mitigating the socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis. The total cost of the plan amounts to €29.2 billion, or 13.1 % of the country's 2019 gross domestic product (GDP). This allocation, corresponding to 4 % of the total volume of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), includes the entire initial grant allocation (€14.2 billion) and a considerable part (€14.9 billion) ...
Russia's war against Ukraine: US support
Since Russia launched its unprovoked war against Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the United States (US) has worked in lockstep with allies and partners, notably the European Union, its Member States and other G7 countries, towards a strong collective response. This has included several packages of economic sanctions against Russia aimed at severing the country from technologies and financial sources that fuel its war, and directly targeting the persons and entities involved. The US in cooperation with ...
Russia's war on Ukraine: US sanctions
The United States (US) has been imposing sanctions on Russia since its illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. Since the outbreak of Russia's war on Ukraine in February 2022, these sanctions have become increasingly severe and far-reaching. The US, together with the European Union and other close allies, has targeted Russian assets, international trade and the economic sectors involved in the war, as well as specific individuals and entities engaged in sanctioned activities. The sanctions seek to weaken ...
The European public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons for future cross border health threats
This study was drawn up to support the work of the European Parliament's Special Committee on the COVID 19 pandemic. It examines the European Union's public health response to the COVID 19 pandemic across the following five pillars: (1) the EU vaccines strategy and national vaccination strategies; (2) independent scientific evidence on vaccine effectiveness; (3) the EU public health response to COVID 19, addressing the EU framework for crisis response; (4) the EU's prevention and preparedness efforts ...
Ukraine: Awaiting Russia’s offensive [What Think Tanks are thinking]
During his first visit to the European Parliament and the European Council, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the European Union to provide his country with aircraft and other military equipment needed to repel Russia’s further military aggression. Greeted with a standing ovation in the European Parliament, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was not only defending its own independence, but also the ‘European way of life’. EU leaders vowed to stand by Ukraine with steadfast support, but ...
President Biden's 2023 State of the Union address
On 7 February 2023, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, gave his State of the Union (SOTU) address to a joint session of the 118th US Congress (2023-2024). Unlike in 2022, when the US had a 'united' government, with the President's party, the Democrats, holding the majority in both chambers of Congress, Biden now faces a 'divided' government, with a Republican-led House of Representatives, and has to decide on a potential second-term bid in 2024. While in 2022, Russia's then newly launched ...
Plenary round-up – February II 2023
The highlight of the February II 2023 plenary session was a debate with the Council and the European Commission marking one year since Russia's invasion and the start of its war of aggression against Ukraine. Members also debated the European Union response to the humanitarian situation following the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria. Members discussed EU funding allocated to non-governmental organisations incriminated in recent corruption revelations, following up on measures requested by Parliament ...
New Product Liability Directive
As products have become more complex in the digital age, on 28 September 2022, the European Commission published a proposal for a new directive on liability of defective products. This would revise the existing Product Liability Directive, adopted nearly 40 years ago in 1985. The proposal aims to bring the European Union's product liability regime up to speed with the digital age, circular economy business models and global value chains. Addressing the need to ease the burden of proof for consumers ...
Revising the Effort-sharing Regulation for 2021-2030: 'Fit for 55' package
The EU's effort-sharing legislation covers greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in sectors not included in the EU emissions trading system. A wide range of sources – such as fuels used for road transport, energy used for heating and cooling in buildings, animal digestion and fertilisers used in agriculture, waste treatment, and small industries – account for these emissions. To cut the emissions in these sectors, the EU Effort-sharing Regulation (ESR) establishes collective and national binding targets ...
Brazilian democracy in the aftermath of 8 January
On 8 January 2023, far-right supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed the presidential palace, the Supreme Court and the Congress in Brasilia. The events, widely acknowledged as echoing the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, took place only a week after the inauguration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as President of Brazil for the third time; Bolsonaro, who did not concede defeat in the October 2022 election, was notably absent from the inauguration. Brazil is one of the biggest ...
