Energy labels and ecodesigns in the EU: new rules

Views: 186To help EU consumers cut their energy bills and carbon footprint, a new version of the widely-recognised EU energy label will be applicable in all shops and online retailers from March 2021. The new labels will initially apply to four product categories – fridges and freezers, dishwashers, washing machines, and television sets (as well […]

Trade unions in modern political economy and European future

Views: 57Contacts and dialogues between the European Trade Union Confederation as a social partner and the European Commission as the EU”s executive institution have formed an essential part of the Union’s social market economy. The EU’s and the member states’ trade unions represent an important part of the EU’s successful integration process: it is through […]

Research and innovation: vital issue in shaping European future

Views: 53European Commission adopted the first strategic plan in mid-March 2021 for the EU science, research and innovation program “Horizon Europe”. The strategic plan sets perspective for targeted investments during next four years supported by the EU’s budget of €95.5 billion. The plan ensures that European and the member states’ research and innovation (R&I) actions […]

First steps towards “Future of Europe”: a joint declaration is signed

Views: 52Representatives of the European Parliament, Presidency of the Council (in rotating presidency, Prime Minister of Portugal) and the Commission President have signed (10 March, 2021) the Joint Declaration on the Conference on the Future of Europe. This paves the way to launching a series of debates and discussions that will enable people from all […]

Reminder for the Baltic States’ recovery plans

Views: 70In September 2020, the European Commission published the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy-2021 (ASGS-21), together with the strategic guidance for the implementation in the states of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The ASGS-21 is a follow-up of the previous year’s strategy with four main guiding principles: sustainability, productivity, fairness and macroeconomic stability; these dimensions will […]

Simplified and efficient policies and laws for perspective European integration

Views: 115New Commission’s “fit for Future platform” is aimed at gathering practical expertise in various policy areas from national, regional, local authorities, as well as from the Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee and other stakeholders. Collected data will be used for the Commission’s work on simplification of existing EU laws, […]

European challenges in integration: the state of the planet

Views: 68At the end of 2020, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the global community to end the “war on nature”. At one side, the human activity is at the root of human descent towards chaos; on another, human actions can help solve the problem as “making peace with nature” is the present century’s defining […]

New European external trade policy: integration’s perspectives and realities

Views: 65The European Commission has set out a new vision of the Union’s future external trade strategy, which reflects a concept of open strategic autonomy contributing to the economic recovery through support for green and digital transformations. Besides, the strategy includes a renewed focus on strengthening global multilateralism and reforming world trade rules to ensure […]