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Revision of Regulation (EC) 648/2004 on detergents
A revision of the Detergents Regulation is expected to be published in the first quarter of 2023. The revision of the regulation is aimed at ensuring consistency with other EU chemicals legislation, adapting the legislation to technical progress as well as reducing administrative burdens. In the context of the EU chemicals strategy for sustainability, provisions may be introduced or reinforced to take account of the combination effects of chemicals and to extend the generic approach to risk management ...
EU carbon border adjustment mechanism: Implications for climate and competitiveness
The EU has the world's largest carbon-pricing system, the emissions trading system (ETS). Emissions pricing can encourage industrial decarbonisation, but it also risks carbon leakage, whereby EU companies move their production abroad. To date, the EU has mitigated this risk through free allocations to certain industries, but with rising climate ambition and higher carbon prices, the Commission is now seeking to phase out free allocations. A new carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) would also ...
Deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure: Fit for 55 package
On 14 July 2021, the European Commission presented a package of proposals to equip the EU's climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 % by 2030, compared with 1990 levels – the 'fit for 55' package. The package includes a proposal to revise the 2014 directive on alternative fuels infrastructure and turn it into a regulation. In the draft regulation, the Commission proposes binding targets for electric vehicle charging points and ...
The six policy priorities of the von der Leyen Commission: State of play in spring 2023
This EPRS paper analyses progress made in carrying through the policy agenda set by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, and her College of Commissioners when they took office in December 2019. It looks in particular at the state of play with respect to delivery of the agenda's six key priorities, as we enter the final year running up to the 2024 European elections. The von der Leyen Commission – either on taking office or more recently – has announced a total of 597 planned ...
State of play of academic freedom in the EU member states: Overview of de facto trends and developments
Ever since the early history of European universities, academic freedom has been acknowledged to be a fundamental feature of any higher education research system or institution. The emergence of the research university model in Germany in the early 1800s, highlighting the basic concepts of Lehrfreiheit and Lernfreiheit, contributed strongly to the central position of academic freedom in present-day higher education systems. Following the widespread democratisation of Europe and other parts of the ...
Distortive foreign subsidies regulation: A level playing-field for the single market
Public financing of enterprises, which has been on the rise globally, can have a distortive effect on competitive markets. In response to this trend, in May 2021 the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation to tackle foreign subsidies with a distortive effect on the EU single market. It would enable the Commission to investigate subsidies granted by non-EU public authorities to companies operating on the single market, and to apply countervailing measures, should these subsidies ...
Harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law
The initiative aims to harmonise certain substantive rules on insolvency proceedings across the EU. The IA examines the nature and scale of the problems and who they affect. It establishes a clear intervention logic, from the problems and their drivers to the initiative's objectives and options. The IA identifies only two options, which are cumulative. It is questionable whether such options qualify as alternative options, as required in the BRGs. This range of options is very limited, and some policy ...
The EU's external borders: Key trends and developments
The effective management of the EU's external borders is a prerequisite for creating the EU area of freedom, security and justice. In response to an unprecedented influx of refugees and immigrants into Europe in the 2015-2016 period, the EU took steps to strengthen the management of its external borders, and to reform the common European asylum system. Several major challenges have affected the EU's external borders in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed Member States to adopt extraordinary ...
Artificial intelligence [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The recent launches of artificial intelligence (AI) tools capable of generating direct textual answers to questions, notably the chatbot ChatGPT, and the development of general-purpose AI technologies, are expected to revolutionise the application of AI in society and the economy. New AI tools in general offer massive potential for developments in industry, agriculture, health, education and other areas. However, many scientists and politicians are calling for the establishment of a legal and ethical ...
L'Etat de droit, une perspective de droit comparé - Conseil de l'Europe
Ce document s’intègre dans une série d’études qui, avec une perspective de droit comparé, visent à faire une présentation du concept d’État de droit dans différents États. Après avoir expliqué la réglementation et la jurisprudence applicables, le contenu, les limites et la possible évolution de ce concept son examinés. La présente étude a pour objet le cas du Conseil de l’Europe. L’expression prééminence du droit, seule utilisée dans le Statut du Conseil de l’Europe et la Convention européenne des ...