English

Robert Hodgson

Green News

Commission insists no plans to delay anti-deforestation law

Amid a growing backlash from trading partners and conservative lawmakers, the European Commission maintains it is working to implement new legislation that will ban from January the import of products linked to deforestation overseas.

Green News

Green groups breathe a sigh of relief on von der Leyen’s climate picks

Climate activists and the renewable energy lobby have broadly interpreted Ursula von der Leyen’s commissioner picks – the Netherlands’ Wopke Hoekstra, Denmark’s Dan Jørgensen and Spain’s Teresa Ribera – as signalling continuity with the Green Deal that marked her first mandate.

Europe News

EU bungled plastic waste tax, auditors say

A new levy intended to discourage the landfill and incineration of plastic waste is plagued by dodgy data, and may have led to an uptick in crime, auditors warn

Green News

Von der Leyen moots market-based system to avert ecosystem collapse

The European Commission is considering a market-based system to encourage farmers and industry to conserve nature and restore lost biodiversity by putting a price on ecosystems.

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Green News

Global charity calls for end to EU incentives for crop-based biofuels

Oxfam argues that despite caps introduced in recent years the EU continues to drive demand for food crops and land to be diverted into fuel production, but the biofuel industry continues to insist it is part of the solution to climate change.

Europe News

EU Parliament set for showdown between Orbán and opposition leader

Buoyed by a bombshell opinion poll result showing his six-month old party has almost closed the gap on Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz, which has ruled Hungary since 2010, the insurgent opposition leader Péter Magyar plans to put the nationalist premier on the spot in the European Parliament next week.

Europe News

EU still hesitant to sanction Russian gas as imports continue

The annual State of the EU Energy Union report shows Europe still relies on Russia for nearly a fifth of its gas imports, while the EU executive is concerned at the slow pace of the transition away from fossil fuels.

Europe News

Suppliers spooked by Draghi’s calls to reform EU electricity market

Mario Draghi’s EU competitiveness report, launched with much fanfare in Brussels yesterday, included a proposal for an electricity market reform that the European Commission shied away from during the energy crisis of 2022.

Green News

Hungary slammed for 'absurd' proposal to delay aviation fuel levy

While the diesel, petrol and electricity used for rail and road transport is heavily taxed, airlines and maritime transport – from fishing boats to cruise ships – continue to enjoy a free ride – a situation that may encourage environmentally harmful travel choices.

Europe News

Czechia floats plan to replace Russian gas supplies to eastern EU

Czechia's trade minister and the likely next EU energy commissioner has urged the incumbent Kadri SImson and Berlin, Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna to intensify efforts to wean the bloc off Russian gas

Europe News

Commission nominee says energy transition boosts European integration

Spanish minister tipped for key role in the next EU executive says power grid expansion should be a core European project for the second von der Leyen Commission.

Green News

Agriculture report could signal dramatic change in EU farm subsidies

Seven months of intense debate behind closed doors appears to have produced what election campaign tubthumping and rowdy street protests failed to deliver: the outline of way forward for Europe's unsustainable food production model.

Green News

Food retailers demand labelling of new-generation GMOs

Without labelling requirements for food made from a new class of 'GMO-lite' crops, consumers will be deprived of choice and the organic sector could face an existential threat, retailers have warned.

Green News

Airlines must monitor vapour trails under new EU climate rules

The controversial new green plans, opposed by the industry, were agreed by officials on Friday

Europe News

UK seeks closer EU cooperation on energy security, net-zero

New Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to "reset" EU relations after saying the Brexit deal was "botched"

Europe News

Green activists seek to force revision of EU’s climate targets

Backers of EU court challenge are emboldened by a recent legal finding that suggests failing to effectively tackle climate change violates human rights

Europe News

EU executive to contact Budapest over eviction of Ukrainian refugees

The European Commission has said is 'looking into' a new Hungarian law that cancels state-funded accommodation for refugees from parts of Ukraine that Budapest says are not directly affected by military action.

Europe News

Ukrainian refugees face eviction after Hungarian asylum rule change

Thousands of Ukrainian refugees face eviction from Hungarian state-funded accommodation in a move by Budapest that human rights activists say could contravene EU law.

Europe News

EU remains 'fully committed' to lithium deal despite unrest in Serbia

The EU Commission remains committed to strategic partnership on raw materials with Serbia despite recent protests, while Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen are rumoured to be set to visit Belgrade.

Europe News

Why is Europe desperate for lithium, and why are Serbians up in arms?

With green groups set to mass for a protest on the streets of Belgrade this weekend over the planned opening of a Lithium mine, what is it about this controversial mineral that has Europeans keen to acquire supplies?

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