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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 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 ...

In recent years, there has been renewed interest in the true degree of academic freedom around the world despite international declarations, and constitutional and legal protection. This study aims to support the European Parliament's STOA Panel in developing a procedure to monitor developments in academic freedom in the EU Member States. The study provides an overview of the interpretation of academic freedom in different international declarations, and offers a critical assessment of existing evaluation ...

The impact assessment's strong points include a well-substantiated problem definition, an evidence base that appears to be recent and relevant, and a broad stakeholder consultation, the results of which were put to good use. However, the report's weak points limit its potential to inform decision-making clearly. Firstly, there appears to be a mismatch between the problem description, the objectives and the options of the IA. Secondly, the IA does not explain in sufficient detail why no alternatives ...

The impact assessment is informed by the findings of the European Commission's fitness check of the water directives, in line with the Better Regulation Guidelines' 'evaluate first' principle. The IA's strong points include a dynamic baseline that takes into account the likely changes to emissions, the current and proposed legislation, and external factors. The IA proposed a satisfactory range of options and was transparent in reporting the limitations of assessing the costs and benefits, which depend ...

This paper examines the evolving notion of crisis response, how it is currently addressed by the EU budget under heading 6 of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (amounts and instruments/programmes) and how it may continue to be addressed in the future.

The Commission’s reform orientations propose that debt sustainability analysis (DSA) should serve as an anchor in EU fiscal rules. After discussing the main assumptions of DSAs in projecting public debt ratios, we analyse four critical aspects in designing such a reform: making judgement calls with regard to DSA assumptions; ensuring transparency and democratic legitimacy; promoting public investment in the context of climate goals; and tackling cross-border effects of fiscal policy, in particular ...

People from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds face discrimination and its consequences on a daily basis, but the exact scale of the problem is hard to gauge owing to a lack of data and general under-reporting of racist incidents. The coronavirus pandemic saw a major increase in reports of racist and xenophobic incidents, and the crisis it triggered had a disproportionately large negative effect on racial and ethnic minority groups, in the form of higher death and infection rates. Although, since ...

The IA clearly identifies the current AAQDs' shortcomings, provides references to the updated WHO guidelines and lists the fitness check findings, stakeholders' opinions, and supporting data. It sets a general objective to further improve air quality in the EU and diminish the impact of air pollution on human health and the environment. It does not make it clear however whether the translation of the general objective into specific objectives, as formulated, fully addresses some relevant drivers. ...

24 February 2023 marked one year since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before the war, starting in 2021, the euro area was experiencing inflationary pressure attributed to supply-side factors, in particular to pandemic-related supply chain disruptions. The war in Ukraine amplified inflationary pressures through energy and food prices, later feeding into goods and services inflation. Later in 2022, the relative contribution of demand-side factors became more prominent. With the recent ...