European “health union”: pros and cons

Views: 60New efforts to create a EU-wide health union seems to be the best way in establishing better, more resilient and responsive regional health system. A comprehensive and strong health union will protect citizens, facilitate sustainable growth patterns and enhance European integration. Present initiatives reflect analysis of future outbreaks, joint preparedness and planning with the […]

Hydrogen: a new priority for the European energy sector

Views: 71Attention to climate-neutrality in the world and in Europe has shown increasing common commitments: about 90% of the countries have committed themselves to emission reduction by 45% by 2030. The “green hydrogen” is one of the safest ways to practical implementation; this clean energy has become a best solutions: now, the second European Hydrogen […]

European resilience and recovery through research and innovation

Views: 59The newly adopted “Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe” sets out new vision and priorities for the European Research Area and sets up a new structure for its management. The Pact for R&I defines common values and principles for research and innovation in Europe, such as freedom of scientific research and free circulation […]

European financial support for the member states: Latvian example

Views: 58Assistance of the EU’s institutions to the member states during Covid-pandemic takes various forms. Thus, European Investment Fund, backed by the Investment Plan for Europe, in association with the national financial services, provides favourable lending to students and learners in the EU states to cover their study and housing costs. Now Latvian students and […]

Modern trends in European integration: “smart specialization” in the Baltic States

Views: 62The ideas of a so-called “smart growth” and member states’ “specialization” have been introduced into the EU integration perspectives about a decade ago. It was regarded both as one of the strongest facets of modern EU’s political economy, and a specific economic modernisation tool in the member states’ growth patterns; both shall be within […]

Post-COVID effect on modern competition: European Commission’s vision

Views: 52Competition policy remains a vital tool that serves the needs of all EU states: consumers benefit from lower prices, wider choice and higher quality; workers gain from a vibrant labour market, and corporate entities benefit from innovative, diverse and reliable market inputs on a level playing field. However, the pandemic and modern challenges required […]

European integration: Lessons from COP26 through ambitions and actions

Views: 67European Union didn’t expect much from COP26: the EU is already ahead of the rest of the world’s regions in climate-change-efforts’ ambitions and actions. However, it is reasonable to have a look at the COP26 outcomes and perspective implementation of the reached agreements. As Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson once said: “Don’t judge each […]

European “energy union”: anatomy of growth and challenges

Views: 44Two years ago the EU launched the European Green Deal, which included the clean energy transition as a major component of the Union’s “energy union”, alongside five other energy directions. That means, greater efforts will be required by the member states in reaching on one side, for a goal of cutting net emissions by […]

The European economic future: governance’s issues for 2022

Views: 45The EU governance traditions are based on long-term strategies (concentrated in the political guidelines adopted by each Commission’s team at the start of the term) and short-term programs adopted for each year (the latter are discussed and adopted each fall). This time, in the Commission’s work program for 2022 (called CWP-22) there were announced […]

Energy issues and LNG in Europe and the Baltics (part I)

Views: 61Natural gas currently represents around a quarter of the EU’s overall energy consumption: about one third is used in power generation (including combined heat and power plants) and around 23 percent in industry; the rest is mostly used in the residential and other services sectors. The EU’s gas demand is around 485 billion cubic meters […]