Highlights

EU fisheries and aquaculture sectors were among the food sectors most immediately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study analyses the main effects of COVID-19 on these sectors during 2020. It gives an overview of general impacts of the crisis and develops eight case studies on selected Member States. It also provides policy recommendations in order to strengthen the sectors' resilience, and to address their current vulnerabilities.

EU national Parliaments are recognised as active and legitimate players at a supranational level. However, their Europeanisation involves challenges that need to be addressed. This study examines how national Parliaments have adapted to these challenges over the last decade, and how they are involved in EU affairs.

This recent BUDG study suggests that the seven EU agencies in the health and safety field demonstrate strong European added value and that this is widely recognised by Member States and other stakeholders including business. The agencies have played an important role in the COVID-19 pandemic. The study concludes that the cost of ‘non-agencies’ would be higher to the European Commission, national authorities and business than the current cost of the seven agencies to the EU budget.

This in-depth analysis reviews the state of play of EU policy action on foreign subsidies and in public procurement markets. The EU identifies gaps in existing EU instruments, and aims to take the lead at the multilateral level, promoting coordinated action. More specifically, it shows that the EU has taken initiative with: (i) FDI screening and trade defense reforms; (ii) the proposal for an International Procurement Instrument; and (iii) the proposal for a new regulation.

Fair, simple and efficient taxation is key to the EU goal of digital and sustainable transformation and crucial also to financing the post COVID recovery. This research paper for FISC committee explores opportunities and challenges of new technologies for EU tax policy and administration. It stresses the need for greater interoperability in order to step up the fight against tax fraud and base erosion, looks into the role the EU could play and considers potential legal challenges to EU action.

Since the EP's 2018 resolution on climate diplomacy, several trends have shaped this area of the EU’s external action, including the launch of the Green Deal and the consequences of the pandemic. This study assesses the advance of climate diplomacy, with a focus on climate security, trade, development cooperation, sustainable capital flows, gender equality, science, research and innovation. It also highlights the role of the European Parliament in this policy field.