Highlights

15 countries in the Asian-Pacific region signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in November 2020. It will be the largest trade agreement by economic output in the world. It is less ambitious than the Comprehensive and Progressive Transpacific Partnership (CPTPP) and EU Free Trade Agreements with Asian countries. The text does not seem to be dominated by any specific party. RCEP is expected to provide trade gains for signatories and opportunities for European companies.

During its meeting of 25 February, AFCO will hold an exchange of views on a study that analyses possible avenues for further political integration in the EU after Brexit. Looking at the several crises that the EU has weathered in the past decade, the study explains how these reveal several substantive and institutional weaknesses in the current EU governance system.

Biodiversity is one of the factors influencing the emergence in recent decades of a number of infectious diseases of zoonotic origin. The in-depth analysis requested by the ENVI committee explores the complex links between biodiversity and the risk of zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19. The paper examines potential policy measures, both in and outside of the territory of the EU.

The provision of transport in low-density and depopulating areas is an important challenge for European and national policymakers. While economic logic implies that transport projects should be focused on connecting the most advanced and inhabited areas, low-density and depopulating regions are at risk of being overlooked. It may be challenging to reconcile equity and efficiency when deciding on what transport projects to carry out or to support via EU funds.

EU institutions have fragmented approaches of dealing with ethics. This study provides an overview of transparency and integrity-related elements in the current EU setting. Based on a comparison covering France, Ireland and Canada, it proposes an Independent Ethics Body (IEB) whose objective is to regain and maintain public trust by striving for a high level of integrity and transparency.

This briefing analyses gender and geographical balance in the governance structures of Horizon 2020. Horizon 2020 is the EU’s framework programme for research for the 2014-20 period. The programme’s main aim is to enable world-class research and to facilitate innovation and collaboration between the public and private sectors.