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On Tuesday, 23 January 2024 a joint hearing on “The European Union’s Strategy in the Sahel” will be organised by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Development and the Sub-Committee on Security and Defence. It will be an opportunity to critically reflect on the EU's policy and approach towards this important region in light of recent coup d’états.
The hearing will take a holistic approach that looks at the full picture of the root causes of instability in the region and the EU's policy towards the Sahel until now. It will allow MEPs to discuss ways in which the EU's strategy should be adapted to ensure that the EU's security, development, humanitarian and democracy-support assistance contributes to lasting sustainable development and enhanced security in this vital region and complements the efforts of the EU's partners.
Location : SPAAK 3C50
Draft programme
Hearing poster
Briefing on the new EU strategic priorities for the Sahel
Video recording of the hearing
Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Recent decades have shown an unprecedented growth in demand for resources, with a trend that is projected to accelerate in the future. Policymakers around the world have started to recognise that transitioning to a more resource-efficient and circular economy (CE) is key to addressing this challenge. Two important enablers for the transition to a CE are circular business models (CBMs) and consumers. The two are interlinked, as demand shifts among consumers can foster the development and supply of new business models, which in turn require the uptake by consumers to be successful. To promote the development and increase the uptake of new CBMs, policymakers need to provide the respective regulatory frameworks and incentives. Doing so requires systemic policy mixes that go beyond encouraging technological innovations and include targeting the demand side as well. This paper zooms in on the role of the consumer for CBMs, discusses potential consumer barriers to CBM demand, and outlines how policy-making can address these barriers by applying systemic mixes of instruments to tackle the macro-, meso-, and micro-level factors that influence consumer demand simultaneously. While the macro-level describes the economic context of consumers’ decision-making, that is, the availability and supply, infrastructure and price of CBMs in the market, the meso-level characterises the social environment, including social norms and social status, whereas the micro-level focuses on individual characteristics such as consumption habits, security and quality concerns, and environmental knowledge or concern. This paper illustrates how the different consumer barriers are closely interlinked, and that, ideally, policymakers should target all three levels jointly to encourage CBM demand most effectively. In doing so, policymakers should consider the principles of the waste hierarchy in order to maximise the environmental benefits of CE policy mixes. The paper mostly takes a European perspective on the topic, especially when discussing relevant policy frameworks, and reflects on potential differences to other regions, particularly in the Global South, when appropriate

Recent decades have shown an unprecedented growth in demand for resources, with a trend that is projected to accelerate in the future. Policymakers around the world have started to recognise that transitioning to a more resource-efficient and circular economy (CE) is key to addressing this challenge. Two important enablers for the transition to a CE are circular business models (CBMs) and consumers. The two are interlinked, as demand shifts among consumers can foster the development and supply of new business models, which in turn require the uptake by consumers to be successful. To promote the development and increase the uptake of new CBMs, policymakers need to provide the respective regulatory frameworks and incentives. Doing so requires systemic policy mixes that go beyond encouraging technological innovations and include targeting the demand side as well. This paper zooms in on the role of the consumer for CBMs, discusses potential consumer barriers to CBM demand, and outlines how policy-making can address these barriers by applying systemic mixes of instruments to tackle the macro-, meso-, and micro-level factors that influence consumer demand simultaneously. While the macro-level describes the economic context of consumers’ decision-making, that is, the availability and supply, infrastructure and price of CBMs in the market, the meso-level characterises the social environment, including social norms and social status, whereas the micro-level focuses on individual characteristics such as consumption habits, security and quality concerns, and environmental knowledge or concern. This paper illustrates how the different consumer barriers are closely interlinked, and that, ideally, policymakers should target all three levels jointly to encourage CBM demand most effectively. In doing so, policymakers should consider the principles of the waste hierarchy in order to maximise the environmental benefits of CE policy mixes. The paper mostly takes a European perspective on the topic, especially when discussing relevant policy frameworks, and reflects on potential differences to other regions, particularly in the Global South, when appropriate

Recent decades have shown an unprecedented growth in demand for resources, with a trend that is projected to accelerate in the future. Policymakers around the world have started to recognise that transitioning to a more resource-efficient and circular economy (CE) is key to addressing this challenge. Two important enablers for the transition to a CE are circular business models (CBMs) and consumers. The two are interlinked, as demand shifts among consumers can foster the development and supply of new business models, which in turn require the uptake by consumers to be successful. To promote the development and increase the uptake of new CBMs, policymakers need to provide the respective regulatory frameworks and incentives. Doing so requires systemic policy mixes that go beyond encouraging technological innovations and include targeting the demand side as well. This paper zooms in on the role of the consumer for CBMs, discusses potential consumer barriers to CBM demand, and outlines how policy-making can address these barriers by applying systemic mixes of instruments to tackle the macro-, meso-, and micro-level factors that influence consumer demand simultaneously. While the macro-level describes the economic context of consumers’ decision-making, that is, the availability and supply, infrastructure and price of CBMs in the market, the meso-level characterises the social environment, including social norms and social status, whereas the micro-level focuses on individual characteristics such as consumption habits, security and quality concerns, and environmental knowledge or concern. This paper illustrates how the different consumer barriers are closely interlinked, and that, ideally, policymakers should target all three levels jointly to encourage CBM demand most effectively. In doing so, policymakers should consider the principles of the waste hierarchy in order to maximise the environmental benefits of CE policy mixes. The paper mostly takes a European perspective on the topic, especially when discussing relevant policy frameworks, and reflects on potential differences to other regions, particularly in the Global South, when appropriate

Une star zambienne est absente de la Coupe d'Afrique des Nations en raison d'un problème cardiaque, mais d'autres Africains ont joué malgré les risques cardiaques.

Die Slowakei gleitet möglicherweise in Richtung eines Orban-ähnlichen Modells. Deshalb beabsichtigt Berlin, bei dem Treffen zwischen dem slowakischen Ministerpräsidenten Robert Fico und Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz am Mittwoch die Rechtsstaatlichkeit zur Sprache zu bringen.

Thousands of kilometres of decaying asbestos cement water pipes are releasing possibly carcinogenic fibres into drinking water across Europe, but thus far, no EU measurement or reporting standards are in place.

Le Monténégro pourrait-il devenir un paradis de la cryptomonnaie ? C'est bien l'intention du Premier ministre Milojko Spajić. La réponse pourrait être apportée par la nouvelle loi visant à réguler ce marché. Explications.

- Articles / Radio Slobodna Evropa, Monténégro, Economie

Le ministre letton de l’Agriculture Armands Krauze, a réitéré sa demande auprès de la Commission européenne et des Vingt-Sept d’agir « concrètement et sans délai » pour interdire les importations de céréales russes qui affluent dans le pays balte.

Die Ziele der EU für klimafreundliche Flugkraftstoffe drohen verfehlt zu werden. Davor warnen Umweltorganisationen und Ölkonzerne in einem seltenen Akt der Einigkeit angesichts ausbleibender Investitionen in Produktionsanlagen.

L’UE lance mercredi (24 janvier) à Anvers (Belgique), principal point d’entrée de la cocaïne sur le continent, une « Alliance des ports » pour harmoniser leurs mesures de sécurité contre le trafic de drogue et combattre leur infiltration par les réseaux criminels.

Am Mittwoch und Donnerstag (24./25. Januar) beginnt der "strategische Dialog" der Europäischen Kommission zwischen politischen Entscheidungsträgern, Bauern und Interessenvertretern der Landwirtschaft. Nach Ansicht der EU-Landwirtschaftsminister kommt dieser zu spät.

Many unemployed youth in Zimbabwe are taking to gambling to support themselves. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS

By Jeffrey Moyo
HARARE, Jan 24 2024 (IPS)

Twenty years after completing high school in Zimbabwe, 38-year-old Tinago Mukono still has not found employment, and in order to survive, he has switched to betting, turning it into a form of employment.

Every day throughout the week, Mukono leaves his home to join many others like him in betting clubs strewn across Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, with the hope of making it.

With Zimbabwe’s economy underperforming over the past two decades since the government seized white-owned commercial farms, unemployment has stood out as the country’s worst burden.

According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), over 90 percent of Zimbabweans are jobless.

Such are many, like Mukono, who has desperately found betting to be the panacea.

“I wake up every day to come bet here in town. I do soccer betting, and sometimes I win, but sometimes I also lose, but I keep trying,” Mukono told IPS.

He (Mukono) spoke recently from inside a soccer shop, typically a local betting hall, where other men like him sat with their eyes glued to television and computer screens displaying soccer games, horse races, and dog races.

Littering the floor with betting receipts, many, such as Mukono, closely studied television and computer screens displaying payout dividends and other information gamblers like him hoped would help them bet victoriously.

Yet in the past, betting never used to be popular in this southern African nation, but as economic hardships grew, affecting many like Mukono, betting has become the way to go.

In the past, where it occurred in Zimbabwe, betting was often limited to the state lottery, horse betting, and casinos.

Now, whether they win or lose as they bet, with no survival options, many, like Mukono, find themselves hooked on the vice, which local police have gone on record moving in to quell, with claims that some of the betting clubs are illegal and behind a spate of robberies and money laundering in the country.

Of late, betting clubs have seen a rise in the number of patrons who frequent these places each day from morning until late as people try out their luck, battling for redemption from mounting economic hardships.

Mukono, like many other people involved in betting, said that without a job for years on end, betting for him has turned into a profession.

“I might not be reporting to someone, but for me, this is some form of job because at times I earn money, which feeds my family,” said Mukono.

Rashweat Mukundu, researcher with the International Media Support (IMS), said, “I think there are significantly reduced means or ways upon which young people, especially the youth and young male adults, can survive in Zimbabwe because of the high rate of unemployment and lack of economic opportunities, and so betting and gambling have become a way of survival.”

“So, you see the increasing number of betting houses; you see the increasing numbers of young people who go out to bet. This is a clear indication that the economic fundamentals are off the rails and many people are having to look for ways to survive outside of what you would normally expect such people to be doing,” Mukundu told IPS.

However, economists like Prosper Chitambara see otherwise.

Chitambara, who is the chief economist with the Labor and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ), said: “There are some people who are more predisposed to risk-taking through gambling or betting activities, but mental health conditions and even substance abuse are key drivers of gambling, and of course mental health is also a function of the state of the economy.”

With countrywide economic hardships coupled with unemployment, many, like Mukono, have taken to sports betting in order to raise money for survival.

In fact, across Zimbabwe, local authority halls that used to team with recreational activities have now been converted into betting clubs where gambling thrives, with many, like Mukono, frequenting them in their desperate quest to earn a living.

Meanwhile, there are no stringent rules governing Zimbabwe’s gambling sector, with betting still viewed as a pastime rather than an economic activity.

But with many Zimbabweans like Mukono now taking up betting as employment, betting club employees have a word of advice.

“Honestly, one cannot substitute betting with employment. Surely, it should not be something individuals should opt for to rely on for their economic needs,” Derick Maungwe, one of the staffers at a local betting club in central Harare, told IPS.

But owing to joblessness, said Maungwe, it has become some form of employment for many Zimbabweans.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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On 30 January, the nine applicants to host the EU’s future watchdog on fighting money-laundering and terrorist financing will present their candidacies in a public hearing.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

On 30 January, the nine applicants to host the EU’s future watchdog on fighting money-laundering and terrorist financing will present their candidacies in a public hearing.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

On 30 January, the nine applicants to host the EU’s future watchdog on fighting money-laundering and terrorist financing will present their candidacies in a public hearing.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

On 30 January, the nine applicants to host the EU’s future watchdog on fighting money-laundering and terrorist financing will present their candidacies in a public hearing.
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2024 - EP

Elections across the globe this year will be a "prime target" for countries looking to spread disinformation and undermine democracy, such as Russia, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell warned on Tuesday (23 January).

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Children and youth are particularly vulnerable to getting drawn into criminal and corrupt activities. Practitioners and institutions can play a crucial role in the early identification and prevention of delinquent behavior among young people. To foster their knowledge and expertise on this topic, the OSCE, in co-operation with youth crime prevention initiative Kurve Kriegen under the Ministry of Interior of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, gathered law enforcement representatives from Albania and Tajikistan for a joint study visit to Düsseldorf to exchange best practices.

The study visit enabled practitioners to learn how to leverage collaboration between government agencies, schools and social services to prevent at-risk youth from becoming involved in criminal and corrupt activities. Participants also strengthened their knowledge of effective approaches to promoting a culture of lawfulness and integrity among young people from an early age.

"Kurve Kriegen's experience once again showed us that crime prevention among youth people is most effective when addressed at an early age through multi-stakeholder engagement” said Klaudia Hasanllari, Director of the National Youth Crime Prevention Center in Albania. “Integrating the methods learned through this study visit into the youth crime prevention work in Albania is an ambitious plan we aim to implement," she said.

Dilshod Barotiyon, a representative of the Drug Control Agency under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, said: “Through this study visit we learned that fostering a culture of lawfulness among youth requires the adoption of a co-ordinated set of measures and actions by multiple government bodies, social workers and educational institutions”.

“According to our research, one multiple offender causes up to 1.7 million euro in social follow-up costs by the age of 25, which makes the issue of preventing youth engagement in crime from an early age extremely important and relevant” said Christopher Ursuleack, Criminologist at the Kurve Kriegen initiative. “We are thus honored to be able to share our best practices on juvenile delinquency prevention with our colleagues from Albania and Tajikistan to address this issue.”

As a follow-up to the study visit, the representatives will discuss the possibility of a partial replication of the Kurve Kriegen model in Albania and Tajikistan to strengthen early identification and prevent at-risk youth from becoming involved in illicit activities.

The study visit was held in the framework of the OSCE-wide multi-year project “Enhancing youth crime and drug use prevention through education on legality and awareness campaigns addressing threats of organized crime and corruption”, implemented by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department and the OSCE Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities. The project is funded by Germany and Italy, with additional support from Andorra, Finland and Poland.

Die deutsche Entwicklungshilfe steht auf dem Prüfstand. Experte Klingebiel hält die aktuelle Debatte für falsch. Entwicklungspolitik sei ein ganz wichtiges Instrument, um internationale Agenden mitgestalten zu können.