Fittex

Ir-riżultati tiegħek

Qed tara 10 minn 377 riżultati

The European automotive industry is striving to adapt to market changes driven by the dual green and digital transition. Electrification has become the main strategy for reducing CO2 emissions, especially in urban traffic. At the same time, the average size and weight of cars have greatly increased. Big electric cars are the trend, but are they really the solution? Could better planning and optimisation of resources help?

Nuclear energy and the promise of cost-effective small modular reactors (SMRs) is high on the EU's policy agenda, against the backdrop of a difficult global geopolitical context and the Union's energy security and climate ambitions. The EU is building a comprehensive strategy for the development and deployment of SMRs, acknowledging their potential benefits and challenges. Innovative nuclear technologies are of significant strategic value, with major steps being taken to increase the supply of advanced ...

Academic freedom is widely acknowledged both as a fundamental value of present-day higher education and science, and as a prerequisite for well-functioning democratic societies. Yet in recent years, major concerns about the state of academic freedom in the European Union have been raised by various stakeholders. The European Parliament launched an annual EP Academic Freedom Monitor in 2022, aimed at helping to strengthen the protection of academic freedom in the European Union. This report presents ...

Strategic foresight was identified as a political priority by the European Commission back in 2019, and was integrated into the EU's better regulation guidelines in 2021. It allows practitioners to anticipate alternative futures and, hence, represents a key tool for the EU to future-proof its policies and legislation. Its relevance spans the policy cycle, being of interest ex ante to impact assessments (IAs) and ex post to evaluations. This briefing examines the use of strategic foresight by the ...

What if the EU were energy independent?

Mad-Daqqa t’Għajn 06-12-2023

The European Union (EU) can aspire to achieve energy independence through the deployment of existing and emerging technologies. Electrification, renewables and energy storage could reduce the EU's reliance on conventional fossil fuels. What are the developments, expectations, concerns and societal implications associated with these technologies? And what initiatives and policies could lead to a resilient EU energy system, through anticipating impacts?

Health is a fundamental human right, and achieving equality in access to medicines is crucial for ensuring public health. The current system of innovation strongly relies on the private sector, while remuneration of innovation is mainly based on exclusivities. This system presents several issues, such as innovation being driven by market size, the partial misalignment between industry’s research and development (R&D) priorities and public health goals, access constraints, and the scarcity of disruptive ...

What if Europe ran out of water?

Mad-Daqqa t’Għajn 17-11-2023

Globally, it has been estimated that four billion people are facing severe water scarcity. While the situation is not yet critical in Europe, water stress is already a serious issue and climate change is expected to make it worse in the future. What is the extent of the problem, and what solutions are available to avoid running out of water?

Generative artificial intelligence applications, such as ChatGPT, are powered through complex learning processes by comprehensive datasets of – potentially dubious – human-created content. There are concerns that such tools could develop consciousness and spark emergent behaviour that is, by definition, unpredictable and therefore potentially unsafe. Do these concerns point to a need to look again at the relevant legislation?

Algorithm-generated diets tailored to our individual needs could bring health benefits, but at the cost of having to share our most personal data, such as our DNA. The promises are many, but so are the open questions about interactions between genes, nutrients, environment and health, and the role of socioeconomic factors underlying food choices. Precision nutrition advice, services and products will need to be governed by a range of laws and policies, as they are at the intersection between food ...

The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and the 2019 European Green Deal initiated a wave of EU policies and legislation to combat climate change and protect the environment. Achieving a green transition became a key driver of EU policies. While many pieces of legislation were being discussed or adopted, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine moved the political focus to supply chain security and energy dependencies. Since then, achieving open European strategic autonomy for the EU economy ...