Unlike national governments who adopt budgets every year, EU finances cover a seven-year period and need to be agreed by all 27 member states. The bloc's next budget, the first after Brexit, will be debated by EU leaders on Thursday …
Incoming Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's pledge to turn Europe into "the world's first climate-neutral continent" means efforts to green the economy are set to go into overdrive. But where will the necessary funds come from to back the …
Cities and regions are leading the fight against global warming, calling for the EU to be zero carbon by 2050, as world leaders prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21) in November.
European efforts to increase energy efficiency have so far primarily focused on measures to improve end-use efficiency, and the potential to reduce huge losses that occur in the production and delivery of power have largely been ignored.
Paving the way for an "ambitious" agreement on the 2014-2020 budget, energy security and the European Union's Eastern neighbourhood are all key priorities of the Polish EU Presidency during the second half of 2011. The Poles, for their part, have pulled all the stops to ensure that the Union remains committed to redistributive policies at a time of economic austerity.
The cohesion policy (or regional policy) of the European Union provides a framework for financing a wide range of projects and investments with the aim of encouraging economic growth in EU member states and their regions. The policy is reviewed by the EU institutions once every seven years. The next round of programmes is to be launched in 2014.
Led by cities, EU regions are playing a frontline role in the fight against climate change as they make key investment decisions regarding the new generation of clean energy and transport projects.
EU regional policy is designed to level out economic and social disparities in the 27 member states. At the halfway point of its current regional budgetary period (2007-2013), the European Commission conducted a review assessing how well each EU country is faring in its use of cohesion funds.
The selection of a new European Commission, never the simplest of political tasks, has this year been more complex than ever. Politically and institutionally, 2009 came with a whole range of permutations regarding the 'how?', 'when?' and 'who?' of the next EU executive.
Spain takes on the European Union's six-month rotating presidency at a defining moment for the bloc, marked by the first steps of the Union's first-ever permanent president and foreign affairs chief and efforts to lift Europe out of its worst recession in decades.
Well-being and quality of life in a population, which are linked to factors such as standard of living, happiness, freedom and environmental health, are essential to economics and political science. Politicians are showing an increasing interest in developing a 'Gross National Happiness' index, similar to GDP.
The EU's enlargement on 1 May 2004 has exacerbated economic and social disparities across the EU. Recipients of Structural and Cohesion Funds such as Ireland and Spain are now being called on to contribute to the development of their new partners. In the 2007-2013 financial perspectives, cohesion policy amounts to 35.7% of the total EU budget (€308 billion), 62% of which should finance projects linked to the Lisbon agenda for growth and employment.
The EU's regional policy will come under pressure when the Union enlarges to 10 mostly poor new Member States in May 2004. The Commission is expected to present its first proposals for the 2007-2013 EU budget by the end of 2003, with Regional Policy Commissioner Michel Barnier insisting on undiminished regional development aid.
