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Europe's long-term strategy for the competitiveness of its economy, notably regarding investment, innovation and trade, will be at the centre of the European Council meeting on 23 and 24 March 2023. EU leaders will of course address Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and consider the multidimensional (political, financial, economic, humanitarian and military) assistance the EU and its Member States have been providing to Ukraine, particularly joint ammunition procurement. Regarding energy ...

This EPRS publication, ‘Key Issues in the European Council’, which will be updated quarterly to coincide with European Council meetings, aims to provide an overview of the institution’s activities on major EU issues. It analyses nine policy areas, explaining the legal and political background and the main priorities and orientations defined by the European Council. It also assesses the results of European Council involvement to date and identifies future challenges in the various policy fields.

There is growing interest in the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in the agri-food sector, to extract or exploit the information in datasets resulting from the monitoring of products and processes. Artificial intelligence algorithms, and the models derived from them, are used as support systems for better decision making or, in some cases, are implemented in automatic control processes and robotics, to alleviate drudgery. In this study, sensing and data collection in different agri-food ...

'This is Europe' – an initiative proposed by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola – consists of a series of debates with EU leaders to discuss their visions for the future of the European Union. In his address to the European Parliament on 14 March 2023, the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, emphasised three topics: i) support for Ukraine and that country's place in Europe (i.e. enlargement); ii) the importance of historical memory; and iii) the challenges facing Europe ...

Plenary debates on the conclusions of European Council meetings with the president of the European Council are among the most visible and frequently recurring interactions between Parliament and the European Council. These debates are important because they are the only place at EU level where the results of European Council meetings are examined and scrutinised, and the institution is held accountable. By examining and assessing the reports made by Charles Michel to the European Parliament following ...

The European Union guidelines on human rights defenders, adopted in 2004 and revised in 2008, establish a framework and instruments for protecting human rights activists in third countries. During the March I plenary session, Members will debate their implementation, on the basis of an own-initiative assessment report from Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs. Later in the session, the Council and Commission are due to make statements on the specific situation of human rights defenders working ...

On 25 February 2023, after an electoral campaign held amidst rising insecurity and economic turmoil, Nigerians will elect their new president and federal legislature. The way this very competitive election is conducted, and its outcome, will have a sizeable effect on sub-Saharan Africa's largest economy, African democracy and the future of Africa's relations with the European Union (EU) and the rest of the Western world.

On 25 November 2021, the European Commission put forward a proposal to modify Council Directive 94/80/EC on the right of mobile EU citizens to vote and stand as candidates in municipal elections. The proposal tied in with the Commission President's priority for a new push for European democracy. The proposal was presented together with three others: a proposal to modify Directive 93/109/EC on EU citizens' right to vote and stand as candidates in elections to the European Parliament; a proposal on ...

The European Union (EU) has a strong leadership role, globally and regionally, in implementing the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development but as a matter of urgency its ambitions now need to be translated into strategies and actions. Major global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and climate change, have all effectively reversed progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and further exacerbated interrelated challenges relating to poverty, inequality, carbon ...

'This is Europe' – an initiative proposed by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola – consists of a series of debates with EU leaders to discuss their visions for the future of the European Union. On 13 December, the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Robert Golob, envisaged a European Union that believes in the power of integration, the power of cooperation and the power of unity. His main message was the importance of the energy transition. In the context of current high energy prices ...