Cuardaigh

On 14 July 2021, the European Commission adopted the 'fit for 55' package with a view to adapting existing EU climate and energy legislation to meet the EU objective of a minimum 55 % reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, as required under the European Climate Law. The 'fit for 55' package includes a recast of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), aligning its provisions to the -55 % GHG target. The current EED is designed to meet the existing goal of 32.5 % energy efficiency improvements ...

Between 2018 and 2020, over 18 000 migrant and refugee children were reported as missing in Europe. It is feared that many may have been exploited and abused for sexual or labour purposes. The European Parliament has repeatedly stressed the need to address the disappearance of migrant children in the EU. The conflict in Ukraine and the subsequent mass displacement of people have only made the situation worse, creating fertile ground for criminal networks to take advantage of vulnerable people, especially ...

On 19 July 2022, the Commission put forward a proposal for a regulation establishing the European defence industry reinforcement through common procurement act (EDIRPA). The key goals are to create a short-term joint defence procurement instrument addressing the EU's most urgent and critical defence capability gaps and to incentivise the EU Member States to procure defence products jointly. The Council adopted its general approach on the proposal on 1 December 2022. The AFET and ITRE joint committee ...

On 15 December 2021, the Commission adopted a legislative proposal to recast the 2009 EU Gas Directive as part of the proposed hydrogen and decarbonised gas markets package. This reflects the EU's growing climate ambitions, as set out in the European Green Deal and its 'fit for 55' package. The proposal aims to support the decarbonisation of the energy sector by ramping up the production of renewable gases and hydrogen, and facilitating their integration in EU energy networks. The recast directive ...

This briefing presents, in tabular form, information available on submitted payment requests under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), and of Commission disbursements following approval of such requests. It will be regularly updated.

This study analyses the design and functioning of windfall profit taxes for energy suppliers in the EU. Based on profit data from 2021, the estimated revenue gains from the solidarity contribution amount to 4.4 bn EUR for the selected sample of firms. Applying the revenue cap to power prices of 2022 suggests a tax revenue of 106 bn EUR. The actual tax revenue might diverge substantially from these numbers due to different energy price levels during the application period. The revenue can be redistributed ...

The magnitude of current global challenges, such as the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, stresses the relevance of joining forces worldwide and pooling human and financial resources to facilitate the creation and dissemination of knowledge and innovative solutions for EU research. In 2021, the European Commission adopted a communication on a global approach to research and innovation – the new European strategy for international cooperation. In 2022, the European Parliament and the EU Member ...

This briefing focuses on policy measures to contain aggressive tax planning (ATP) that six Member States – Ireland, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta and the Netherlands – have laid out in their individual national recovery and resilience plans, which were drawn up in order to benefit from the Next Generation EU (NGEU) recovery instrument. The countries were selected because their European Semester and 2019 and 2020 country-specific recommendations (CSRs) highlighted ATP concerns. ATP is a harmful ...

EU integration represents an inspiring example of conflict resolution. Some 30 years of violent sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland was brought to an end in 1998, with the signature of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement. At the time, both the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland were Member States of the European Union, having both joined the European Communities on 1 January 1973. The EU's engagement in the Northern Ireland peace process materialised first through support for the International Fund ...

Discussions at the European Council meeting of 23 March concentrated on Europe's long-term strategy for economic competitiveness, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and energy. Other topics mentioned in the European Council conclusions include migration, the donors’ conference in support of the victims of the recent earthquake in Türkiye and Syria, the agreement on the path to normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, the sentencing of Belarusian democratic opposition leaders ...