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In rund 25 Prozent der Weinbaubetriebe im Kanton Genf haben Frauen das Sagen. Das ist rekordverdächtig, verglichen mit dem Rest der Schweiz. Darum wollte Blick von drei Genfer Winzerinnen wissen, welche Perspektiven dieser Beruf Frauen bietet.

Plenary session, Strasbourg

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Written by Andrés García Higuera.

The European automotive industry is striving to adapt to market changes driven by the dual green and digital transition. Electrification has become the main strategy for reducing CO2 emissions, especially in urban traffic. At the same time, the average size and weight of cars have greatly increased. Big electric cars are the trend, but are they really the solution? Could better planning and optimisation of resources help?

According to Eurostat, average passenger car occupancy for urban mobility is usually less than 1.3 persons. Therefore, it is very common in cities for heavy cars to carry a single person. To transport the weight of that one person (80 kilogrammes for instance) means moving a full 1 800 kg. This could even reach 2 500 kg for big electric or hybrid cars with heavy long-range batteries. No matter the source of power used, this can never lead to efficient and sustainable mobility. Weight rates are usually over 10 times more favourable for the average motorbike or scooter and, of course, even better for lighter vehicles such as electric bicycles or kick-scooters.

Reducing CO2 emissions in transport is a key goal of the European Green Deal. However, specifications for choosing a city car are often based on the rare long trips that would best be made with a rented vehicle. Meanwhile, traditional emissions tests using gas analysers focus on the percentage concentration of pollutants and overlook references to the total quantity. The low speed limits generally established in Europe today also help to reduce emissions. However, efforts to reduce emissions may be counteracted by a trend towards bigger sports utility vehicles (SUVs), which are less agile and efficient but more comfortable and useful for longer drives.

Some people find themselves spending long periods every day in traffic, so they see their cars as a prolongation of their living rooms, with comfortable seats, plenty of space and ‘infotainment’, including big screens. Large vehicles also account for longer traffic jams. When anti-lock braking systems (ABS) were first introduced in premium cars, accidents increased initially for that sector owing to driver over-confidence. The same effect is again being seen with modern driving assist systems. Since large vehicles are especially safe for their occupants at low speeds, this has a pernicious effect on driver attention, consequently increasing casualty figures for other road users. Every year there are fewer victims of car accidents – but not among pedestrians, cyclists and other light vehicle users. This translates into further restrictions on the use of light vehicles, then considered unsafe, to the point of banning e-scooters and restricting the use of motorbikes – while cars are allowed in crowded areas. An alternative way to interpret these casualty figures would be to consider large heavy cars a menace to other users of public thoroughfares.

The EU automotive sector has traditionally excelled at producing vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICEs). The sector accounts for around 8 % of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) and for 12.9 million direct and indirect jobs. However, the green transition, digitalisation and global competition have fundamentally altered its business model. Electrification has become the main strategy for decarbonising the sector, mostly through the extensive use of critical raw materials such as lithium-ion batteries, which have to be quite large to propel big cars with extended ranges.

Potential impacts and developments

Japan has been restricting car size in crowded areas since 1949, with the popular ‘Kei’ cars representing 40 % of the Japanese car market today. This Japanese regulation began with strict limits that have since evolved to set engine capacity at a maximum of 660 cc, vehicle length at 3.4 metres and total weight at 700 kg. Car ownership in Tokyo is restricted to corresponding parking spaces, following the idea that public thoroughfares are for public use, not for people to use for their exclusive benefit.

The high level of European industry specialisation in producing high quality ICEs accounts for its leading position in the market. However, electric vehicles do not require the same level of know-how, opening the door to other players. China became the top global car exporter in 2023, exporting mostly to Europe and Asia. China also dominates production of almost every raw material, technology and component used to make electric vehicles. Batteries require very polluting production and recycling methods, and they need to be charged.

Given the current electricity mix and the optimistic figures available, the equivalent emissions of a large electric car in Europe are of about 4 litres/100 km – not significantly lower than the emissions from a small ICE car (or Kei car). This figure is an average that results from considering: a total equivalent rising from 84 grammes CO2/km for some (partisan) sources to 125 g CO2/km considering the charging process alone for others; and that petrol produces 2.3 kg of CO2 per litre burned (i.e. divided by 23 to convert gCO2/km to l/100 km). In terms of the efficiency in transporting one person, a simple moped could do far better, not to mention public transport. Battery production process emissions are usually underestimated, considering that China produced the highest CO₂ emissions in 2022, accounting for nearly 31 % of the global total.

Anticipatory policymaking

On 4 October 2023, the European Commission initiated anti-subsidy investigations into EU imports of battery electric vehicles from China and is already considering provisional countervailing tariffs for five years. Although replacing one means of propulsion with another is clearly not enough, modest size electric cars are undoubtedly part of the solution. Even so, most European companies still lag behind in electric vehicle innovation. A smooth transition to alternative propulsion methods should be based on securing access to affordable batteries and semiconductors, improving innovation capacities in new technologies, reducing costs, and adopting a more circular approach – particularly on critical raw materials.

No European compact car qualifies as a ‘Kei’ car. As a result, 40 % of the Japanese car market is closed to competition from European manufacturers, and this share is increasing. The European Union regulation classifying vehicle categories already accounts for light four-wheelers or microcars (L7) and could be extended to include considerations regarding preferential access to urban areas. The various EU emission limits, such as the new Euro 7 regulation, propose values in g/km (not just concentrations) and revise measuring standards. The EU adopted an amendment to the EU light-duty vehicles (LDV) CO2 standards for new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles in April 2023, in line with the EU’s increased climate ambition. In July 2023, the European Commission tabled a package of three proposals for the greening of freight transport. These include CountEmissionsEU, a proposal for a single methodology to calculate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, this only refers to transport services. The European Commission also added a proposal for a regulation addressing the whole life cycle of vehicles, from design to end-of-life. With a view to ending the trend towards ever bigger and heavier vehicles, the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism is considering a proposal to overhaul the EU’s 2006 agreement standardising driving licence rules between Member States.

Promoting electric cars may lead to market distortions that run counter to European industrial interests. While complementary measures such as those contemplated in the critical raw materials act take effect, and besides the obvious move towards public transport, one way to allow the EU car industry to adapt while still reducing CO2 emissions could be to limit the size, weight and engine capacity of urban vehicles. An improved vehicle-to-passenger weight rate could hugely increase energy efficiency in urban transport.

Since light vehicles are especially suited to electrification – as increased use of bicycles and scooters can attest – and other alternative propulsion methods, it may become appropriate to let the market and European industry adapt at its own pace, with some institutional encouragement and support, to such new conditions of improved mobility efficiency.

Read this ‘at a glance’ note on ‘What if the problem with cars was not their method of propulsion?‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Listen to podcast ‘What if the problem with cars was not their method of propulsion?‘ on YouTube.

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564464 OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities High Commissioner on National Minorities encourages Bosnia and Herzegovina to continue with reforms to secure representation and inclusion of national minorities Courageous high school students from the municipality of Jajce in Bosnia and Herzegovina named winners of 2018 Max van der Stoel Award

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov visited Bosnia and Herzegovina from 4 to 6 March 2024 to attend the Regional Conference on Co-operation on matters related to National Minorities in Sarajevo.

The Conference gathered representatives of national minorities and government authorities responsible for national minority issues from south-eastern Europe. It was an opportunity to discuss good governance and exchange experiences, ideas, challenges and good practices related to the integration of diverse societies.

The event was organized by Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Human Rights and Refugees Ministry, with the co-operation of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and with the support of other OSCE field operations in the region.

The High Commissioner called on authorities and representatives to seize the opportunities presented by this event. “Let us embrace future opportunities to forge a new era of regional co-operation and understanding on national minority issues in south-eastern Europe. This is possible because co-operation is our language,” Abdrakhmanov said. The High Commissioner is hopeful that such meetings will become a regular occurrence.

While in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the High Commissioner took the opportunity to meet with government authorities, including Human Rights and Refugees Minister Sevlid Hurtić, as well as national minority representatives and civil society organizations in Mostar.

Jetzt geht es nach Brüssel: Der Bundesrat hat das Verhandlungsmandat mit der EU über die Bilateralen III verabschiedet. Die SVP kritisiert den Aussenminister Ignazio Cassis noch während der Medienkonferenz.

Marie-Theres Nadig war der erste weibliche Ski-Star der Schweiz. Am 8. März feiert die Doppel-Olympiasiegerin von 1972 ihren 70. Geburtstag. Auch heute noch ist sie oft auf den Pisten und in der Natur anzutreffen.

Heidi Diethelm Gerber tritt als Funktionärin und Trainerin aus dem Schiesssportverband aus. Die Gründe seien persönlicher Natur.

Ein internes Dokument des Armee-Finanzchefs deutet erneut auf massive Geldprobleme der Armee hin. Es widerspricht damit Verteidigungsministerin Viola Amherd, die keinerlei Probleme sehen will.

For the first time, two African documentary feature films are up for an Oscar.

Several small EU countries have on Thursday (7 March) warned against the increased use of national subsidies within the EU, which they warn undermines the foundations of the single market.

En l’honneur de la Journée Internationale des Droits de la Femme, Air Algérie, fière compagnie aérienne nationale, a récemment annoncé via un communiqué publié sur […]

L’article Air Algérie : offres spéciales pour la Journée Internationale des Droits de la Femme est apparu en premier sur .

Co-rapporteurs Andrus Ansip (Renew, Estonia) and Cyrus Engerer (S&D, Malta) will brief journalists following the plenary vote on the green claims directive.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Co-rapporteurs Andrus Ansip (Renew, Estonia) and Cyrus Engerer (S&D, Malta) will brief journalists following the plenary vote on the green claims directive.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Co-rapporteurs Andrus Ansip (Renew, Estonia) and Cyrus Engerer (S&D, Malta) will brief journalists following the plenary vote on the green claims directive.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Co-rapporteurs Andrus Ansip (Renew, Estonia) and Cyrus Engerer (S&D, Malta) will brief journalists following the plenary vote on the green claims directive.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Das Zürcher Verwaltungsgericht hat die Baubewilligung für die Siedlung Brunaupark in der Stadt Zürich aufgehoben. Es ist ein erneuter Rückschlag für das Projekt der Pensionskasse der Credit Suisse (CS).

Le parlement béninois a adopté, mardi 05 mars 2024, un nouveau Code électoral. Les dispositions contenues dans la nouvelle loi qui régit le jeu électoral au Bénin, favorise la participation des partis politiques, toutes tendances confondues, aux différentes élections, notamment celles de 2026 qui retiennent les attentions.

La réforme du système partisan telle que souhaitée par la classe politique, et mise en œuvre par le chef de l'Etat Patrice TALON s'est matérialisée une fois encore au parlement, par l'adoption, mardi 05 mars 2024, d'un nouveau Code électoral. La nouvelle loi a été votée en présence des élus des grands partis politiques représentés à l'Assemblée nationale, notamment le Bloc Républicain (BR), l'Union Progressiste le Renouveau (UPR), et Les Démocrates (LD), principale formation politique opposée au régime du président Patrice TALON.
Selon le nouveau Code électoral, ces trois grandes formations politiques disposent du nombre de parrains nécessaires pour participer à la présidentielle de 2026. Aucune disposition du code n'empêche un parti, fut-il Les Démocrates, la Force cauris pour un Bénin émergent (FCBE), ou d'autres, de participer aux élections législatives et communales de 2026. Mieux, le fait que leurs élus ne puissent être débauchés, les stabilisent. Un parti comme la FCBE qui n'est représenté au parlement, mais qui dispose de maires, pourra valablement participer aux élections. Par ailleurs, le seuil de 20% des suffrages défini pour lever des sièges, ne constitue pas une entrave à leur participation aux élections. Toutefois, les grands ensembles qui s'estiment les plus forts, et assez représentatifs, doivent s'en féliciter.
A deux ans des élections générales de 2026, les partis qui s'estiment moins forts, et faiblement représentés à travers le territoire national, ont encore la possibilité de mieux s'enraciner.
En optant pour l'alignement du nombre de parrains nécessaires pour être candidat à la présidentielle, au seuil de représentativité dans les circonscriptions électorales par exemple, certains partis ne pourraient pas disposer des parrains nécessaires. D'où l'option retenue par le parlement, et qui permet à tous les partis politiques représentés à l'Assemblée nationale, de participer valablement à la présidentielle de 2026.

Le Centre européen de prévention et de contrôle des maladies (ECDC) a souligné la nécessité d’agir face à l’augmentation significative des infections sexuellement transmissibles (IST) dans l’UE et l’Espace économique européen.

Sie war Thema in der Rede von US-Präsident Biden in der Nacht auf Freitag: Laken Riley wurde auf ihrer Jogging-Runde von einem Einwanderer getötet. Das Verbrechen wird nun von den Trump-Anhängern politisch ausgeschlachtet.

Während die EU den Handel mit Kyjiw liberalisieren will, erklärte der ukrainische Handelsvertreter, dass auch Gespräche mit Warschau über Schutzmaßnahmen der lokalen Märkte geführt werden. Man sei bereit, auf die Interessen der Nachbarländer einzugehen.