Europäische Union

Applauded for its eloquence and timeliness, Carney’s speech at Davos may be bookmarked as a defining moment that marks the end of the liberal world order as we know it and signals a new global order looming on the horizon, with stronger emphasis on “value-based realism.” I disagree with pessimistic accounts that dismiss such a foreign policy, that is both principled and pragmatic, as a contradiction. My research shows that transparent communication of strategic interests may pay off in the Global South countries and increase trust in the West again. Also, accounts that underestimate the leading role middle powers can play in establishing a new global order are missing the mark. It was, after all, not just the US hegemony, but middle powers like Canada that helped build the liberal institutional order brick by brick.

Applauded for its eloquence and timeliness, Carney’s speech at Davos may be bookmarked as a defining moment that marks the end of the liberal world order as we know it and signals a new global order looming on the horizon, with stronger emphasis on “value-based realism.” I disagree with pessimistic accounts that dismiss such a foreign policy, that is both principled and pragmatic, as a contradiction. My research shows that transparent communication of strategic interests may pay off in the Global South countries and increase trust in the West again. Also, accounts that underestimate the leading role middle powers can play in establishing a new global order are missing the mark. It was, after all, not just the US hegemony, but middle powers like Canada that helped build the liberal institutional order brick by brick.

A delegation of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) will visit Podgorica and Tirana from 16 to 18 February, led by Committee Chair David McAllister (EPP, Germany).
The visit will enable AFET MEPs to evaluate the state of play of accession negotiations and outstanding reform priorities in each country and reaffirm Parliament's commitment to supporting both countries on their European paths.
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

A delegation of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) will visit Podgorica and Tirana from 16 to 18 February, led by Committee Chair David McAllister (EPP, Germany).
The visit will enable AFET MEPs to evaluate the state of play of accession negotiations and outstanding reform priorities in each country and reaffirm Parliament's commitment to supporting both countries on their European paths.
AFET Missions
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

We replied to citizens who took the time to write to the President (in French and English):

English Current EU legislation

A 2023 European Union (EU) law ensures that products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are clearly labelled.

Agreement on new genomic techniques

On 4 December 2025, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an agreement on the European law governing products derived from new genomic techniques (NGTs).

The agreement stipulates that products derived from plants considered comparable to natural or conventional plants (known as NGT1) will be exempt from the GMO labelling requirements for consumers. However, labelling will remain mandatory for seeds, allowing farmers to make an informed choice.

Plants with more complex modifications (referred to as NGT2) will remain subject to the existing GMO legislation requirements, including mandatory labelling for all derived products.

Plants that have been modified to tolerate herbicides or produce an insecticidal substance will be classified as NGT2. No NGTs will be allowed in organic production.

The agreement allows NGTs to be patented, except for traits or sequences that already occur in nature or are produced organically. Safeguards will be put in place to prevent the market from being dominated by a few firms and keep seeds affordable and accessible to farmers.

Next steps

The law will enter into force after formal approval by the Parliament and the Council (representing the governments of EU countries).

French Législation européenne en vigueur

Une loi de l’Union européenne (UE) de 2003 assure que les produits contenant des organismes génétiquement modifiés (OGM) soient clairement étiquetés.

Accord sur les nouvelles techniques génomiques

Le 4 décembre 2025, le Parlement européen et le Conseil de l’UE sont parvenus à un accord sur la loi européenne qui régira les produits dérivés des nouvelles techniques génomiques (NTG).

L’accord prévoit que les produits dérivés des plantes considérées comparables à des plantes naturelles ou conventionnelles (dénommées NTG 1) seront exemptés de l’obligation d’étiquetage des OGM pour les consommateurs. Cependant, l’étiquetage restera obligatoire pour les semences, afin de permettre aux agriculteurs de faire un choix éclairé.

Les plantes dont les modifications sont plus complexes (dénommées NTG 2) resteront régies par les règles actuelles applicables aux OGM, ce qui implique un étiquetage obligatoire pour tous les produits dérivés.

Les plantes modifiées pour tolérer les herbicides ou produire une substance insecticide seront considérées NTG 2. Aucune NTG ne sera autorisée dans la production biologique.

L’accord autorise les brevets pour les NTG, à l’exception des caractères ou séquences présents dans la nature ou produits par des moyens biologiques. Des garanties sont prévues pour empêcher la concentration du marché et pour garantir que les semences restent abordables et accessibles aux agriculteurs.

Prochaines étapes

La loi entrera en vigueur après l’approbation formel du Parlement et du Conseil (représentant les gouvernements des pays de l’UE).

Background

Citizens often send messages to the President of the European Parliament expressing their views and/or requesting action. The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (AskEP) within the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) replies to these messages, which may sometimes be identical as part of wider public campaigns.

Die Abgeordneten fordern die EU auf, ihr politisches Engagement sowie Finanzierung und Koordinierung für die vollständige Umsetzung von Europas Plan gegen Krebs zu erneuern.

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

Parliament strongly condemns all violence against civilians in north-east Syria and calls on all parties to abide by the ceasefire.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Parliament strongly condemns all violence against civilians in north-east Syria and calls on all parties to abide by the ceasefire.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Am Donnerstag forderte das Parlament mehr Mittel und eine bessere Koordinierung zur Bekämpfung von Armut und sozialer Ausgrenzung in der EU.
Ausschuss für Beschäftigung und soziale Angelegenheiten

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

On Thursday, Parliament adopted three resolutions on the human rights situations in Iran, Türkiye and Uganda.

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

As the battlefield stabilizes, a window for negotiations opens

On Thursday, Parliament adopted new measures to protect European farmers from unfair trading practices by buyers of agricultural products.
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Speaking at the Leaders’ retreat on competitiveness, President Metsola said that there was “a narrow window of opportunity” to do the necessary to push Europe forward.

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Deutschland wird allein mit europäischen Partnern nicht schnell genug verteidigungsfähig. Südkoreas starke und exportorientierte Rüstungsindustrie könnte zügig helfen, meint Eric Ballbach.

DRAFT OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing the European Competitiveness Fund ('ECF’), including the specific programme for defence research and innovation activities, repealing Regulations (EU) 2021/522, (EU) 2021/694, (EU) 2021/697, (EU) 2021/783, and amending Regulations (EU) 2021/696, (EU) 2023/588, (EU) [EDIP]
Committee on Security and Defence
Riho Terras

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

One of the hallmarks of colonization was transplantation of the European nation-state to the colonies in line with colonialism’s consideration of sedentarism as indispensable to its ‘civilization’ by domination mission. The structuring of space and belonging around the Eurocentric notion of nationhood and statehood became the vehicle through which populations in the colonized parts of the world were reconfigured as insiders and outsiders as well as legal and illegal among other designations. This chapter addresses the Eurocentric configuration of space around the nation-state, its reproduction in the colony and post-colony and the implications for contemporary global mobility. Building on Michel Foucault’s (1986) heterotopic spaces and Freerk Boedeltje’s (2012) discussion of the structuring of space around the ‘normal’/‘deviant’ binary, the chapter argues that this dichotomous dissection of space inscribes varied texts on mobile bodies and creates hierarchies that bestow varied identities and differential mobility opportunities on people who inhabit different spaces. The Eurocentric structuring of space construes mobility as anomalous and straining the hyphen in nation-state through its disruption of the order created around sedentarism and spatial demarcation of belonging. The chapter highlights how the nation-state attaches belonging to space in ways that restrain mobility particularly by ‘othered’ bodies from ‘deviant’ spaces. It illustrates its main argument by discussing the tethering of belonging to space exemplified by physical and legal barriers buttressed by securitizing discourses that seek to deter presumably transgressive mobilities’ ‘encroachment’ into spaces where they are ostensibly anomalous.

One of the hallmarks of colonization was transplantation of the European nation-state to the colonies in line with colonialism’s consideration of sedentarism as indispensable to its ‘civilization’ by domination mission. The structuring of space and belonging around the Eurocentric notion of nationhood and statehood became the vehicle through which populations in the colonized parts of the world were reconfigured as insiders and outsiders as well as legal and illegal among other designations. This chapter addresses the Eurocentric configuration of space around the nation-state, its reproduction in the colony and post-colony and the implications for contemporary global mobility. Building on Michel Foucault’s (1986) heterotopic spaces and Freerk Boedeltje’s (2012) discussion of the structuring of space around the ‘normal’/‘deviant’ binary, the chapter argues that this dichotomous dissection of space inscribes varied texts on mobile bodies and creates hierarchies that bestow varied identities and differential mobility opportunities on people who inhabit different spaces. The Eurocentric structuring of space construes mobility as anomalous and straining the hyphen in nation-state through its disruption of the order created around sedentarism and spatial demarcation of belonging. The chapter highlights how the nation-state attaches belonging to space in ways that restrain mobility particularly by ‘othered’ bodies from ‘deviant’ spaces. It illustrates its main argument by discussing the tethering of belonging to space exemplified by physical and legal barriers buttressed by securitizing discourses that seek to deter presumably transgressive mobilities’ ‘encroachment’ into spaces where they are ostensibly anomalous.