Europeum

POLICY PAPER | The EU-Mercosur trade agreement, will it ever reach a green end?

March 29, 2023

In her policy paper, Benedetta Milani discusses the trade agreement between the EU and the South American trade bloc Mercosur. Trade between the EU and Mercosur will have to wait some time before it is approved, because the agreement must be backed by the national parliaments of the 27 EU Member States and the 4 Mercosur partner countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay).

Euractiv: Debate on synthetic fuels for cars is nonsense, the fundamental question is elsewhere

March 15, 2023

The future of cars with exhausts is stirring Europe. That is why Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka (ODS) went to Strasbourg to discuss the promotion of "realistic" rules. He is partly right. However, in the fight for synthetic fuels, which has been launched by the Germans, realism is clearly on the side of a proposal that has long been on the table. And whose future is now being threatened by Kupka and co. The commentary was written by our senior researcher Vít Havelka.

Finmag: An unequal fight with the USA. Czech industry must turn green to survive

March 13, 2023

Relatively unnoticed, in August of last year, the Congress of the United States of America voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This decision may be one of the most important steps in the fight against climate change this decade. Inflation Reduction Act is a massive investment package that can fundamentally affect the current approach of Europe and other countries to green transformation. The transition to clean technologies, research, development, and production, can no longer be perceived purely as a question of reducing emissions, but also as a question of maintaining competitiveness on the global market. The green race has started and the Czech Republic should step up.

Ekonews: Czech industry must turn green to survive, says expert

March 06, 2023

Last August, a decision was made that may be one of the most important steps in the fight against climate change this decade. Relatively unnoticed, the United States Congress voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act. This is a massive investment package that could fundamentally affect the way Europe and other countries have approached the green transformation to date.

BLOG | European Media Freedom Act on the case of Slovenia: Has Slovenia overtaken the European Commission with its new law?

February 08, 2023

In September 2022, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a new media regulator - the European Media Freedom Act. Slovenia is one of the most struggling EU countries in terms of media freedom and independence. In the summer of 2020, the Janša government proposed a media-focused law that would increase the state's influence over Slovenia's national press agency and limit its funding of the public broadcaster RTV. Has Slovenia's new law put the European Commission ahead of the game? That is what our intern Klára Landová discusses in her blog.

iROZHLAS: Suspension of the Erasmus programme for Hungary? "Punishment and isolation of students."

January 17, 2023

Hungarian students from 21 universities are at risk of not being able to participate in the Erasmus+ education programme. The European Commission has temporarily cut them off. "The students who stand to lose the most from Erasmus are not the children of upper-middle-class parents, but those from smaller towns and rural areas. They don't have the means to travel abroad," Hungarist Oszkár Roginer, Global EU project manager at the EUROPEUM Institute, criticised the decision to iROZHLAS.cz.

iDNES: Major reform of emission allowances coming, will make fuel and coal more expensive

January 10, 2023

Against all odds, the EU is sticking to its goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050. The next step is a major reform of emission allowances, tentatively agreed by EU Council and European Parliament negotiators just before Christmas. Emissions trading (ETS) will also apply to buildings and road transport from 2027. Our Senior Researcher Kateřina Davidová commented on this issue for iDNES.

ČT24: EU summit - energy and support for Ukraine

December 15, 2022

Representatives of EU Member States met in Brussels to discuss energy and Ukrainian support. Poland's opposition to the financial package received great attention. Our senior research fellow Jana Jůzová commented for ČT24.

Blog | European Media Freedom Act

December 12, 2022

In her blog, our intern Leonor Tavares focuses on the new European media freedom act. Independent media as a means of freedom of expression is under threat in some EU member states and is being used for political propaganda or is being shut down altogether. The new law should ensure that public service media provide a plurality of information in an impartial manner, while regulating their funding and the acquisition and protection of journalistic sources.

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EUKI Report | Industrial decarbonisation policies in the EU

November 23, 2022

This report, written by Tatiana Mindekova, is the first part of the future publication for our project “Decarbonization of the Industrial Sector: Sustainable finance as an opportunity?“, which is funded by the European Climate Initiative. It offers an overview of the key climate policies of the European Union, with special attention paid to the heavy industry sector.