Europäische Union

In its rush to diversify trading partners amid growing global uncertainty, the EU should not sacrifice the potential of trade negotiations to improve rights and address abusive practices.

The powerful sister of North Korean leader labeled the “Freedom Shield” exercises as war rehearsal while warning of overwhelming deterrent response.

This weekend’s meetings between China’s vice premier and the U.S. treasury secretary and trade representative will help determine the outcomes of the big summit in April.

Um kreative Arbeit in der EU zu schützen, sind bei der Nutzung urheberrechtlich geschützter Werke durch künstliche Intelligenz Transparenz und eine faire Vergütung erforderlich.
Rechtsausschuss

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

Iran’s ban on food exports and the disruption of trade corridors are hitting the landlocked economies of Central Asia at a vulnerable moment.

Am Dienstag verabschiedete das Parlament seine Empfehlungen zur Bekämpfung der Wohnraumkrise in der EU und schlägt Lösungen für angemessenen, nachhaltigen und bezahlbaren Wohnraum vor.
Sonderausschuss zur Wohnraumkrise in der Europäischen Union

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On Tuesday, MEPs heard Jackie Fox’s testimony about the cyberbullying her daughter suffered and her subsequent work to protect children and adults against such harm.
Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

The plan to train thousands of civil servants as National Reserve troops is drawing criticism over risks of militarizing the bureaucracy.

Of course these elections have no real competition. But they are not meaningless.

Die Namen der ersten Preisträger des Europäischen Verdienstordens, die einen bedeutenden Beitrag zur europäischen Integration geleistet haben, wurden heute in Straßburg bekannt gegeben.

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

MEPs in plenary on Tuesday approved the nomination of Boris Vujčić to become Vice‑President of the European Central Bank.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs

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DRAFT REPORT on the 2025 Commission report on Kosovo
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Riho Terras

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Das Kapitel analysiert die wechselseitige, jedoch nicht deterministische Beziehung von Frieden und Entwicklung. Defizite in der Entwicklung erhöhen Konfliktpotenziale, während Gewalt Fortschritte rückgängig macht. Frieden führt jedoch nicht automatisch zu hohem Entwicklungsniveau, ebenso wenig garantiert Entwicklung dauerhafte Stabilität. Zentrale Faktoren sind inklusive Institutionen sowie Gleichheit. Die viele Jahrzehnte währende Programmatik, Frieden und Entwicklung gemeinsam zu denken, verliert an Bedeutung. An ihre Stelle treten sicherheits- und verteidigungspolitische Prioritäten.

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

La Première ministre de la République démocratique du Congo, Judith Suminwa Tuluka, a pris part à New York à la célébration de la Journée internationale de la femme, organisée dans le cadre de la 70ᵉ session de la Commission de la condition de la femme des Nations Unies. Les travaux sont placés sous le thème : « Droits, Justice, Action, pour toutes les femmes et les filles ».

Renewable energy has seen rapid uptake, particularly in the Global South. Solar energy projects have boomed in recent years, but uptake by countries is uneven. Beyond geophysical conditions, technological innovation, market dynamics and donor-driven “lighthouse projects”, political institutionalisation has played a critical role in decarbonisation. In this policy brief, which is based on extensive research from Global South case studies, we argue that political institutionalisation is key to determining whether and how innovative solar initiatives become stabilised, scaled up, and mainstreamed.
Drawing on the research project Institutionalizing Low Carbon Development in the Global South (INLOCADE) and expert contributions from a follow-up IDOS workshop, this policy brief synthesises comparative policy-relevant findings on how institutionalisation unfolds in various emerging economies of the Global South, including Brazil, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and South Africa.
Key messages:
• Political institutionalisation – understood here as an enduring change of formal and informal rules and practices towards low-carbon development – is essential for making renewable energy projects sustainable by embedding them in conducive, stable governance frameworks. Isolated, donor-driven initiatives are at risk of provoking resistance and backlash, and of fading away once external support ends.
• Multiple pathways for institutionalisation exist. State leadership, subnational action, alliances between development partners and communities,
and crisis-driven coalitions can enable institutionalisation under different conditions. Policies should be tailored to the institutional realities of each context rather than using one-size-fits-all models. Similarly, development partners should assess local realities and adapt their strategies accordingly.
• Distributive justice and participation must be actively supported. Political institutionalisation can lead to inequitable outcomes and reinforce exclusionary practices. Development partners should take a proactive role by aligning their interventions with inclusive and equitable approaches to ensure support for marginalised groups leads to socially just transitions, not just box-ticking.
• Crises can be opportunities. Energy shortages and climate shocks can disrupt fossil-fuel lock-ins and open the door to innovation. Development partners need flexible instruments and strategies to help translate crisis-driven experiments into durable institutional change.
• Development partners are catalytic, not deci-sive. They can accelerate change by providing finance, technical expertise, and legitimacy, especially when working with domestic actors beyond national governments. German and EU development cooperation should place greater emphasis on strengthening domestic institutional enviro-ments, including regulatory stability, administrative capacity, and actor coalitions that embed projects in lasting policy and organisational change. This helps ensure donor interventions contribute to sustained low-carbon transitions beyond initial project cycles.

Dr Joshua Philipp Elsässer is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Environment, Economy and Energy (C3E) of the Brussels School of Governance.
Prof em. Dr Harald Fuhr is a Professor Emeritus of International Politics at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Potsdam.
Anna Fünfgeld is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Hamburg; Mercator Professorship for Sociology.
Prof Dr Markus Lederer is a Professor of International Relations at the Technical University of Darmstadt.
Dr Jens Marquardt is a Research Associate in the Research Group “International Relations” at the Technical University of Darmstadt.
Dr HyunAh Yi is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Comparative Governance, Korea University, and an Associate Researcher at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).

 

Nach dem Nationalrat hat auch der Ständerat einem Vorstoss zugestimmt, der Veteranen den Armeedienst wieder ermöglichen will. Hinter dem Vorschlag steckt ein Armeekritiker aus dem solothurnischen Kriegstetten.

AMENDMENTS 1 - 163 - Draft report Recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union on Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on promoting transnational governance on water in the interests of conflict prevention and peace
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Leoluca Orlando

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Next AFET committee meeting will be held on:

• Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 March, room ANTALL 4Q2 Brussels

Meetings are webstreamed with the exception of agenda items held "in camera".

AFET - DROI calendar of meetings 2026
Meeting documents
Webstreaming
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP