European Union

The world is in constant need of more food and new genetic engineering methods such as the CRISPR gene editing method offer a solution. However, these remain contested, EURACTIV Germany reports.

In a wide-ranging interview, the former Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who has founded a new centre-left force, Pro-Romania, doesn’t mince his words criticising his former party, the ruling PSD. The Party of European Socialists (PES) should, if necessary, show PSD the red card, he says.

A proposal to introduce stricter criteria for foreign bidders to access Europe's multi-billion public procurement market remains deadlocked, as a strong majority of member states remain unconvinced about the benefits of the plan.

France this week kicks off meetings under its presidency of the club for the world's seven most developed nations as questions mount over the relevance of the group at a time of tension between Europe and the United States.

Prime Minister Theresa May appeared to pave the way for accepting a softer Brexit on Tuesday (April 2), as she offered to enter talks with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in a bid to build cross-party support and break the Brexit impasse.

The EU will not be held hostage to a UK political crisis, French president Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday after meeting Irish PM Leo Varadkar. Macron warned London that a long extension should not be taken for granted and that "should the UK be unable to propose a solution backed by a majority, they will de facto have chosen for themselves to leave without a deal".

An extension for vine planting authorisations, nutrition info on wine labels, and a provision banning the use of terms like burger for veggie and vegan products were among the main suggestions filed by the current AGRI committee directly to the next European Parliament.

On 4 April 1949, after weeks of negotiations, twelve state leaders placed their signature on a document that laid the foundation of what some call "the most successful alliance" so far.

Germany's Greens (die Grünen) want to stabilise their steep rise in popularity and formulate new basic principles. What do they want to do differently? Read a point-by-point explanation by EURACTIV Germany's media partner Der Tagesspiegel.

EDA’s ‘OMBT-Leo2’ project, launched in spring 2017 with the ambition to optimise existing Main Battle Tank (MBT) capabilities in Europe (with an initial focus on the Leopard 2A4), will enter a new phase in the coming days with the publication of a call to European industry to participate in a Preliminary Market Consultation (PMC) and offer possible market solutions. 

The purpose of the PMC is to gather accurate information regarding possible commercial solutions for upgrading Leopard 2A4s up to the 2A7 or equivalent version, in-line with existing technical standards and requirements. Participants are asked to respond to the PMC with proposed solutions that are sufficiently detailed and include a realistic price range and possible timelines. 

The objective is to reach out to the full European defence industry spectrum and ensure the collection of comprehensive and accurate cost data.  To this purpose, the PMC will be disseminated via the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) and EU National Defence Industry Associations (NDIAs). Industry will have to submit their responses to the PMC until 18 July 2019. Only responses covering full system-level solutions will be taken into further consideration.

EDA encourages the establishment of European multinational cross-border industrial partnerships as the preferred mechanism to exploit this opportunity. The Agency also considers this programme as a suitable vehicle for enhanced access for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) to the cross-border supply chain.

The PMC follows EDA’s Request of Information (RFI) in 2017 through which a first contact was established with industry on this concrete programme
 

Business-to-business workshop

In order to support the PMC, EDA will organise a business-to-business (B2B) workshop at its premises in Brussels around mid-May. Further details on this workshop, including participation criteria and related requirements, will be communicated by EDA to industry in due time.

The aim of the B2B workshop is to promote cross-border cooperation within the EU and enhance mid-caps/small and medium enterprises’ access to defence contracts in general, and to the future OMBT-Leo2 programme (contractual) implementation in particular, by facilitating initial contacts between industrial stakeholders with relevant expertise (at full-system and / or subsystem level), in this field. Specific criteria for participation of interested industries will be part of the communication and each request will be assessed by contributing Member States experts and EDA, on a case-by-case basis.
 

Way ahead

The information gathered through the PMC will be assessed by EDA and governmental subject matter experts. The results of the assessment will further support contributing Member States in their national decision, and EDA in the awarding process of possible future contracts.
 

Background

In spring 2017, EDA launched the ‘OMBT-Leo2’ project, a new Pooling & Sharing initiative which aims at optimizing existing Main Battle Tank (MBT) capabilities in Europe with an initial focus on the Leopard 2A4. The concept foresees the offer of surplus Leopard platforms available in certain Member States (the ‘providers’) and transfer them (lease, rent or sell) together with an upgrading package to one or several other Member States (the ‘receivers’) interested in acquiring and introducing in-service this type of capability. The Pooling & Sharing of training, exercises and maintenance between providers and receivers, using already existing facilities, is also part of the concept. Upgrade of legacy MBTs to the latest technical standards would have a positive impact for European defence industry in the area of land systems. It would also contribute to the maintenance of technological excellence of the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). Additionally, regarding economies of scale, Member States owning and operating for national purposes the same type of MBTs, can opt-in for upgrading their in-service fleet.
 

More information : 

• EDA seeks European defence industry’s input on Main Battle Tank optimization (EDA news, September 2017)
  
  

Plenary and committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2019 - EP

Greece and North Macedonia signed a number of crucial agreements to enhance their economic and military collaboration following a historic visit of Greek premier Alexis Tsipras to Skopje.

After British MPs once again rejected all alternative options, the EU's chief negotiator said it is "very likely" the UK will leave without a deal. And a long extension needs a "strong justification" from the UK.

Natural gas of fossil origin has “no future” in Europe, Greens have warned as EU energy ministers prepared to sign a declaration on Tuesday (2 April) promoting “smart gas infrastructure” as part of a low-carbon energy mix for 2050.

Conflicting messages about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have been aired in recent days: "Territories for peace" and a “new war for new territories”.  But the European Union made it clear it trusted the messages of peace.

The backlog of money the European Union must pay from its budget reached a new high of €267 billion at the end of 2017, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) warned on Tuesday (2 April) and urged the Commission to reduce it.

European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis warned on Tuesday (2 April) that UK’s disorderly departure from the EU could cause “disruptions” following decades of financial integration and bring volatility to markets and business operations.

Introduction

Written by Silvia Polidori.

Over the last decade, public discourse has been moved, to a great extent, into virtual spaces. In the empire of social media, influencers and service providers employing algorithms have overtaken up the important role of shaping public opinion previously the domain of the classical (printed and electronic) media. In the current crisis of representative democracy, marked by the perception of a growing distance between the elite and the public, promoting public participation in the European policy-making process is more at stake than ever. Using social media as a new type of stakeholder dialogue and awareness-raising tool is crucial not only for fighting against disinformation, but also for achieving effective communication in support of evidence-based decision-making.

It is essential therefore to explore and understand the way viral content and influencers’ techniques work, and to bring scientists, policy-makers and media experts together for an in-depth discussion of the topic. In view of the forthcoming European elections, it is important to investigate how activism and key messages work online, how they motivate and attract people, and to assess their political impact. This is particularly important in the current European social and political context.

European Science-Media Hub (ESMH) Workshop

3 April 2019, European Parliament, Brussels

9.30-12.00 – Room P3C050

The workshop

A workshop organised by the European Parliament’s European Science-Media Hub (ESMH) will focus on the role of ‘influencers’ in using modern technologies to increase the number of their ‘followers’. It will look at how technologies can carry and amplify messages, becoming ‘viral’, and the type of communication used. The event will also explore the ‘eco-chamber effect’ in communication within modern societies.

Besides the technological aspects, the workshop will also employ social science considerations to deal with the psychological aspects of ‘viral media communication’ and its social impact, with particular attention paid to political influence, e.g. the ‘yellow-vest’ movement. The idea is to explore whether we can use a social media communication methodology, going beyond keywords and sentiment, and looking at the full social discourse, to understand the broad themes that attract and motivate people to join the conversation and gain insight into their behaviour.

The workshop will feature discussion between various experts in the fields of communication technologies and social sciences on the ‘science of virality’. It will also include communication practitioners involved in past electoral campaigns and social media representatives in a session on the ‘practice of virality’. The event will be moderated by a senior online communication expert.

Besides the workshop, the ESMH will also perform and compile interviews of the speakers as part of an ‘event report’ to be published on its website.

The event will take place on 3 April 2019, just fifty days before the next European elections. It therefore provides a very useful occasion to reflect, exchange and debate on the topic among Members of the Parliament and the other participants, especially on how the European message can be conveyed more effectively. In fact, ‘influencers’ and ‘viral content’ can also pose a threat, a challenge, as well as an opportunity to pass positive messages. The ESMH, in its role of a promoter of sound science communication, is ideally positioned to inform the Members of the Parliament and other related and interested actors about the topic.

The subject is also relevant in the framework of the current discussions on the role of new media in relation to big data, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), such as those that took place in the context of the European Parliament resolution of 12 February 2019 on a comprehensive European industrial policy on artificial intelligence and robotics. It also bears on a number of recently published or ongoing STOA studies, especially those on algorithmic transparency and accountability, polarisation and the use of technology in political campaigns, and regulating disinformation with AI.

Follow the workshop online and join the debate via Twitter: #ViralityESMH

To keep up to date with this workshop and other STOA activities, follow our website, the EPRS blog, Twitter and Think Tank pages.

Europe could be left behind in the international battery-building race, the EU auditors have warned in a new report and stressed that better storage is needed if the bloc is to hit its climate and energy targets.

Hundreds of thousands of people in need of full-time care in 16 member states will be excluded from voting in the European elections in May. In Germany, a dispute on this matter arose some time ago, but it remains unlikely that the electoral laws will change before the elections. EURACTIV Germany reports.