Articles

On 1 July 2022, the Czech Republic took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months. Our office Directors in Brussels and Prague, Eva van de Rakt and Adéla Jurečková, analyse the priorities of and challenges facing the Czech EU Council Presidency.

Energy prices in Europe have soared to new highs since the autumn of 2021, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine amplifying the trend and bringing energy supply to the forefront of conversations regarding the mitigation of impacts of the war on Europe. This study, based on data from Germany and Spain, shows that whilst electricity prices rose, so did the profits of energy companies. These developments were exacerbated by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine but are also symptomatic for wider issues within the European electricity market. Windfall profit taxation can help to soften the blow of high energy prices, but we also need longer term restructuring of the market mechanisms, argues Suzana Carp.

Energy policy plays a central role following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ahead of the EU-Western Balkans leaders' meeting on Thursday 23 June 2022, Simon Ilse spoke to Dirk Buschle, Deputy Director of the Vienna-based international organisation Energy Community, about the energy and geopolitical implications of EU enlargement.

The UK’s plan to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda – even before their applications have been concluded – may have been halted just in time this time, but the government is still pushing forward with its controversial plans.

Some 100 million people are currently forcibly displaced worldwide. This year's World Refugee Day therefore, once again, marks a sad record: never before have there been so many refugees as this year, according to UNHCR figures. The brutal war of aggression against Ukraine has played a part in that.

A new report by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and Environmental Action Germany (DUH) finds that current EU energy supply policies run the risk of prolonging dependence on fossil gas rather than decisively moving towards alternatives, particularly in the heating sector.

The new Federal Chairman of Alliance 90/The Greens, Omid Nouripour, on political responsibility in times of climate crisis and war.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked a debate on food security in Europe. Three months later, the fear of food shortages is still used as a pretext to question environmental goals of the CAP and the European Green Deal more broadly. This article sets things straight on the derogation to allow production on fallow land, analyse the state of grain production and use as feed in Europe, reflect on what it entails for the future of the livestock sector and screen some CAP Strategic Plans and related Observation Letters to see what can be expected in the years to come to achieve coherent food security in Europe.

The approval of the Brazilian General Data Protection Legislation (LGPD) in 2019 marked a new paradigm in the defence of fundamental rights in Brazil. However, Brazilian society still struggles to enforce LGPD’s rules. One huge challenge has been the difficulty in matching the promotion of public sector efficiency with personal data protection in recent policies of the government to reduce bureaucracy. The following paragraphs will cover some recent episodes where these values have clashed in a false dichotomy.

The unexpected ban of secondary school education of girls on 23 March 2022 by the Taliban authority was condemned by the international community. Professor Michael Daxner, who has been actively involved in the higher education sector in Afghanistan for the last several years, gives an overview of challenges currently faced.