The EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) lays down maximum annual levels of EU spending in different areas. The current MFF covers the 2014-2020 period and is the EU's fifth consecutive multiannual financial plan. However, the Framework is the first to take the form of a regulation, and the first to contain provisions providing for a mid-term review that may lead to its revision. Source : ©...

The United States is a key European Union partner in the area of justice and home affairs (JHA), including in the fight against terrorism. While formal cooperation on JHA issues between the US and the EU goes back to the 1995 New Transatlantic Agenda, it is since 2001 in particular that cooperation has intensified. Today, and for the period up until 2020, the key areas of transatlantic efforts in...

For many, Schengen is one of the EU´s most important achievements. Today, more often than, we can jump on a train or hop in the car to visit friends in neighbouring countries without having to show our passport at the border. But current migratory pressures and security concerns have led several countries to reintroduce temporary border controls. Will this be the end of Schengen? Or will the EU ma...

What started as a pro-European revolution in downtown Kiev has escalated into an full-blown international crisis, putting the European Union and the US at odds with Russia. And despite that the guns have largely fallen silent, the conflict is nowhere near over... Stay with us for a recount of the origins and evolution of a conflict that has shaken the foundations of Europe's security architecture....

Recent estimates by the European Parliament suggest that moving from 28 national markets to a single one could contribute €415 billion per year to our economy and create millions of new jobs. The EU's single market is one of the greatest successes of European integration. But switch from the physical to the online, and you'll see the picture is not quite the same. Find out about the progress and c...

What started as local anti-government protests in south-western Syria in 2011 has evolved into a fully-fledged war whose end is not yet in sight. The conflict has forced over 4.5 million Syrians to flee the country, many of them seeking refuge in Europe. In this EPRS policy podcast, we will analyse the roots, evolution and international response to an external conflict that became EU business. Sou...

Achieving Europe's 2020 targets of sustainable growth is a team effort that will require the coordination of Member States' budgetary and economic plans. To lead this fiscal and economic choreography, the EU has set up the European Semester, a key element in the EU's economic governance. The European Semester aims to detect, prevent, and correct dangerous economic trends such as excessive governme...

With a budget of €14.7 billion over 7 years, Erasmus Plus brings together seven existing programmes in the fields of education, training and youth. And, for the first time, it also includes sport, supporting grassroots projects and combating match-fixing, doping, violence and racism. Erasmus Plus supports transnational partnerships among education, training, and youth organisations in 33 different...

In a traditional linear economic model, things work like this: a company produces a good, say a mobile phone or a hair-dryer, we buy it, we use it, and when we don't need it anymore, we throw it away. This model assumes that resources are abundant, available and cheap to dispose of, so it bases itself on a 'take-make-consume-throw away' pattern. In sharp contrast to this a circular economy is base...

The Commission Work Programme, adopted on 27 October 2015 spells out actions on 10 political priorities for the coming twelve months, some of which were already presented in 2015, such as the measures on firearms or the Circular Economy Package. Well, ahead of the Commission's adoption of the new work programme in October 2015, the European Parliament set out its recommendations and urged the EU e...

Human rights and fundamental freedoms form the basis of European societies, but in other parts of the world, men and women must confront violence, abuses and impunity. Even at the risk of their own lives, some dare to stand up against these abuses… So what is the European Parliament doing to support them? Source : © European Union - EP

To make the EU aviation sector more competitive, the EU is pushing forward a new set of rules to make it fly even higher. Aviation is a key driver of economic growth and jobs in Europe and has a major impact on the life and mobility of its citizens. Find out more in this policy podcast. Source : © European Union - EP

In early December, negotiators from more than 190 nations around the world will meet are due to meet in Paris to hammer out a new global climate change agreement. But what's really at stake? In this podcast, we'll look at climate action in Europe and world-wide, and analyse the state of the negotiations ahead of the Paris conference. Source : © European Union - EP

Pushed by war and poverty and pulled by the dream of a better life, hundreds of thousands of people embark on perilous journeys to reach the EU's borders. We'll look at EU action to respond to this unprecedented migratory crisis and the challenges ahead. The Parliament, on its side, has repeatedly called on Member States to act quickly and in solidarity with each other, to help alleviate one of th...

Key to a fair single market, EU rules do not allow State aid, unless it is used to promote general economic development, for example, when tackling the challenges of global competition or the ongoing financial crisis … The European Parliament agrees with this general principle, but calls for less and better targeted state aid in the future. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html...

The fifth generation of communication technologies, known as 5G, is fundamental to achieving a European gigabit society by 2025. But how will this affect our health and that of our children? Is 5G really safe? https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2020)646172 Source: © European Union - EP

The Commission proposes, Parliament and Council decide … has been the traditional approach to law-making in the European Union, until now … But the increasing need to put the citizens' voice at the heart of EU law-making, giving the European Parliament greater power to propose laws, is challenging this assumption and could open the door to a more democratic Union. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/th...

Since 2012 – when Xi was first made General-Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – the China-Russia relationship has evolved into an informal alliance in the face of what both countries consider a rising threat from the West to their regimes. China's response to Russia's war on has so far been much closer to Russia than it was in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea. At the same time, develop...

In the EU, the distinction between delegated acts and implementing acts was introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon. The distinction seems clear only at first sight. Delegated acts are defined as non-legislative acts of general application, adopted by the European Commission on the basis of a delegation contained in a legislative act. In contrast, implementing acts are not defined as to their legal nat...