Think Tank

On 5 April 2022, the Commission presented a proposal for a regulation on fluorinated greenhouse gases that would repeal Regulation (EU) No 517/2014. The proposal is amongst the last in the 'fit for 55' package, aiming to align EU climate and energy laws with the EU Climate Law's 2030 target. The proposal aims to further reduce emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases). It would change the existing quota system, gradually reducing the supply of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) to the EU market to ...

With a population of almost 236 million, Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world. The country has been hit by extreme weather events this year. In March and April 2022, an extreme heat wave hit Pakistan and India. This was followed in June by the heaviest monsoon rains in over a century. The rains left a third of the country under water – an area almost three times the size of Portugal. The damage is significant – over 1 600 people have been killed by the rains, floods and landslides ...

For the past two weeks, Iran has seen massive protests over the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman arrested for allegedly violating Iran's compulsory veiling laws. Protests have spread to more than 150 cities across Iran, including universities. The government has reacted violently to the protests, leading to at least 75 deaths and over a thousand arrests. Iranians are protesting not just against Amini's death, but also against an increasingly repressive regime that ...

Several Member States and regions are facing population decline, caused by factors such as low fertility rates and net emigration. The emigration of skilled workers, referred to as 'brain drain', undermines the growth potential of the areas concerned. An ageing society also plays a part in depopulation. Depopulated regions are often low-income rural or post-industrial areas, with fewer job opportunities. In the context of its oversight over other EU institutions, the European Parliament has recently ...

Following the fragile November 2020 ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, hostilities have recently broken out on Armenian territory. Both countries participate in the EU's Eastern Partnership, and the European Parliament will use its powers of oversight in the revived 'question time' during its October I plenary session, to question the High Representative/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP), Josep Borrell, on the issue.