At the Extraordinary European Council of 25-26 February, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, put the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic on the agenda. It might seem routine to talk among prime ministers about the coronavirus, in reality it could be a showdown between member countries and the European Commission. Click on the picture […]
After the European Parliament, EU Council adopted the Instrument, too. However, the decision authorizing the Commission to borrow on the capital markets to finance this instrument needs to be ratified in all Member States. This financial instrument will make €672.5 billion in grants and loans available for public investment and reforms in the 27 member […]
For the third time, after 1995 and 2008, Europe tries to relaunch the Mediterranean Partnership. EU has now two major challenges: the pandemic and the green transition. The first requires a coordinated approach between Europe and its neighbours. The second needs wide partnerships that can accompany strategies and investments. Why not Mediterranean, knowing that […]
During the February Plenary Session, the European Parliament will debate five topics regarding COVID-19. One concerns the EU’s mega aid plan for countries in difficulty: the Recovery and Resilience Fund of € 750 billion. What will be the vote of the sovereign parties of the right and the extreme left? The question is legitimate […]
Who wins, who loses? Since 1st January the Agreement has been applied provisionally, pending the vote of the European Parliament. The EU Commission proposed to apply the Agreement on a provisional basis only for a limited period of time, until 28 February 2021. After a process that started in 2016, the UK has left the EU. […]
The Covid-19 crisis led European public opinion to believe that the EU did not have the capacity to forecast or respond to health crises such as the pandemic. “Europe is not responding“, the Italian daily La Repubblica dramatically deplored. (*The initial version of this article was published by The Robert Schuman Foundation (European Issue […]
After the compromise agreed last December by EU national leaders on the financial facility and on MFF 2021-2027, on 11 January 2021, the ECON committee of the European Parliament (EP) votes the EU Regulation on Recovery and Resilient Fund. Then, on 9 February it will be voted by the EP Assembly and later by the […]
On 11 November, the European Commission approved a fourth contract with a pharmaceutical company, BioNTech – Pfizer. The contract provides for the initial purchase of 200 million doses on behalf of all EU Member States. Plus an option to purchase up to a further 100 million doses once a vaccine has proven to be […]
On 10 and 11 December, EU leaders met in Brussels for the last European Council of the year. This year they already met 10 times, in regular, special and videoconference meetings, essentially for urgent matters related to the pandemic. Here all the conclusions. This time, they discussed a very long and sensitive agenda. In particular: […]
Nearly 500 million Europeans are approaching Christmas and don’t know how to prepare. This time the EU sets the rules. On the eve of the much agonized vaccine, the winter months pose a greater risk for the spread of the virus, for essentially two reasons. First, it was understood that the colder months are propitiatory […]