The EU/European Union describes a economical and political union of 28 States. With an estimated population of around 510 million the European Union policies aim to allow the free movement of people, goods and services. Within the internal market it aims to maintain common policies on agriculture, trade and more.
Members
The EU and European citizenship were established in 1933. With the inner original 6 being Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. Although no member state has ever left, in 2016 the UK announced its intention to leave and has begun negotiating their departure for 2019.
More foreign aid is provided by the EU than any other economic union. Due to its Global influence and reach the Union has been described as an emerging superpower.
In 2024, the European Commission reported that wind power became the European Union's second-largest source of electricity, overtaking natural gas and coming in just behind nuclear.
The UK has relaxed policies to allow Ukrainian refugees to safely enter Britain – but why have these policies not matched the generosity of some EU States?
Russia has launched an attack on the former Soviet republic, as President Putin stands against Ukraine from joining the NATO military alliance – he claims he is defending the people from Ukraine’s ‘militarisation’.
Lars Rensing, CEO of enterprise blockchain solution provider Protokol, believes that the launch of EU digital identities will allow the EU to make freedom of movement ‘even freer’, and allay concerns around data security by giving EU citizens control over their own data.
Marcin Nowacki, Member of the EESC, Employers’ Group (Group I), charts the energy transition to carbon neutrality that cannot happen without nuclear & coal.
Adélio Mendes, Full Professor from University of Porto and coordinator of 112CO2 project, describes the concept of low temperature catalytic methane decomposition for COx-free hydrogen production.
Themis Christophidou, Director-General of Education, Youth, Sport and Culture at the European Commission, shares plans for the European Year of Youth 2022.
Following COP26, it is clear that local governments have a huge role to play in policy change and combatting socio-ecological challenges. To work towards global promises, they must listen to their communities, and here, we learn about innovative tools enabling them to do so.
Maaike De Ridder and Nadja Krotow, RECONNECT researchers, explore how democracy and rule of law can be strengthened through education and raising awareness.
Open Access Government charts some of the key policies tasked with Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President and European Commissioner for Democracy and Demography.
An analysis considers the impacts of large-scale agriculture and industries on the human right to drinking water, advocating for the access to safe water for all.
The European Commission has adopted three new proposals to stop deforestation, manage sustainable waste, making soils healthy for the environment, and promoting a circular economy.
Johannes Bahrke, European Commission Coordinating Spokesperson for Digital Economy, Research and Innovation spoke to Open Access Government about the next generation of microchips and industrial cloud/edge computing technologies.
