Meklēt

Hydrogen has an important role in helping the EU achieve its target of climate neutrality by 2050. In March 2023, the Commission announced the European hydrogen bank, to facilitate investment in the hydrogen value chain. This initiative aims to support production and imports of hydrogen in the EU. In November, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy adopted an own-initiative report, suggesting key improvements. The text is due to be voted by the Parliament during the December plenary session ...

On 3 May 2022, the Commission adopted a proposal for a regulation establishing the European health data space (EHDS). It aims at ensuring individuals' access to and control of their electronic personal data (primary use), while setting the framework for data re-use across the Union (secondary use). The European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) adopted their joint report on 28 November ...

On 30 June 2022, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and then New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the conclusion of negotiations on a comprehensive EU-New Zealand free trade agreement (FTA). The agreement was signed on 9 July 2023. Although the 2014-2019 Commission had initially aimed to finalise negotiations before the end of its mandate, both sides raised several sensitive issues during negotiations, not least because New Zealand is a major and competitive producer and exporter ...

Companies can play a key role in building a sustainable economy and society. At the same time, their global value chains can pose risks to human rights and the environment. A growing number of EU companies have taken initiatives to deploy due diligence processes, often using existing voluntary international standards on responsible business conduct. Some Member States have meanwhile started developing their own legal frameworks on corporate due diligence. In a legislative-initiative resolution adopted ...

Semiconductors (or chips) are the foundation of the digital transition. Their production relies on complex and vulnerable global supply chains. Against the backdrop of global chip shortages, a global 'subsidy race' in the world's main producing regions, and the renewed EU industrial policy, the Commission presented a proposal for an EU chips act aimed at reinforcing the whole EU chips value chain in February 2022. The proposal for a chips act was based on a three-pillar structure, which has been ...

Batteries are critical to the EU's clean energy transition. In December 2020, the European Commission tabled a proposal to modernise the regulatory framework for batteries and secure the sustainability and competitiveness of EU battery value chains. Two years later, the European Parliament and the Council reached a trilogue agreement on the proposal. The agreed text is due to be put to the vote in plenary in June.

Global value chains enable two-thirds of international trade, notably for the EU. The EU wants to preserve its commercial links with third countries and organisations to make up for trade disruptions. This study examines sustainable supply of raw materials, commodities, and critical goods using the EU's Open Strategic Autonomy concept. It examines which raw material are crucial for sustainable supply and necessary for the green transition. The paper examines EU internal legislation and international ...

The impact assessment (IA) accompanying the proposal on corporate sustainability due diligence received two negative opinions from the Commission's Regulatory Scrutiny Board. Additional evidence was provided in a follow-up document to the Board's second opinion, explaining how the IA's preferred options were revised in the proposal, but no change was made to the IA itself. The IA cannot therefore be read without this follow-up document. It also makes the analysis quite difficult to follow, as evidence ...

The proposed European chips act, presented by the European Commission in February 2022, aims to mobilise €43 billion in 'policy-driven investment' for the EU's semiconductor sector by 2030. The Commission expects long-term private investment to exceed this. The plan serves to enable immediate EU coordination against supply disruptions, strengthen and scale up production and innovation throughout the EU semiconductor value chain, and further enhance the Union's technological leadership, practical ...

On 23 February 2022, the European Commission (EC) published its proposal for a corporate sustainability due diligence directive. This In-depth Analysis for the European Parliament Sub-Committee on Human Rights (DROI) initially presents the EC proposal and its main features, contextualising these against broader European and international developments in business and human rights regulations. It then undertakes an in-depth comparative analysis of the EC’s 2022 draft Directive against (i) the position ...