Dokumentai - Think Tank - Europos Parlamentas

Briefing - Targeted amendments to the CMO and other CAP regulations: Strengthening farmers' position in the food supply chain - 10-03-2025

Sun, 09 Mar 2025 23:00:00 GMT

In response to the difficulties and challenges faced by EU farmers in recent years, the Commission put forward a proposal to amend some of the rules on the common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (CMO), so as to reinforce the position of farmers in the food supply chain. The proposed amendments enhance the existing provisions on contracts involving farmers, reinforce the bargaining power of producer organisations, simplify their recognition, and establish an incentive framework for voluntary schemes and social sustainability initiatives benefiting farmers. The proposal was published, and is being advanced, together with the proposal for a new regulation on cross-border cooperation in the enforcement of the directive on unfair trading practices (UTP), which is part of the same efforts to improve the position of farmers.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2025 - EP

Glaustai - Critical Medicines Act: Addressing shortages of medicines and reducing dependencies - 06-03-2025

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 14:28:06 GMT

During its March plenary session, �Ϸ��վ is due to debate a European Commission statement on the Critical Medicines Act. The Commission is expected to adopt the proposed regulation – which aims to address the severe shortages of medicines, reduce dependencies relating to critical medicines and ingredients, and ensure the supply of affordable medicines – on 11 March 2025.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2025 - EP

Briefing - Cross-border enforcement of the Unfair Trading Practices Directive - 07-02-2025

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 23:00:00 GMT

The 2019 Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) Directive sought to address imbalances in bargaining power between suppliers and buyers of agricultural products. The directive was primarily aimed at protecting farmers, as a weaker party, selling their products to big supermarkets and food processing companies. However, experience has shown that the directive does not always provide a sufficient legal basis for mutual assistance in cross-border investigations. The Commission's proposal for a new regulation on cross-border cooperation among authorities responsible for the enforcement of the UTP Directive is part of EU efforts to improve farmers' position in the agri food supply chain. It would enable cooperation between enforcement authorities in cases of unfair trading practices where suppliers and buyers are in different Member States. Farmer associations have welcomed the proposal but are calling for a more substantial revision of the directive, in particular a ban on buying agricultural products below production cost. Retailers meanwhile are highly critical, saying that the proposal risks fragmenting the single market.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2025 - EP

Išsami analizė - The future of European electric vehicles - 22-11-2024

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 23:00:00 GMT

The European electric vehicle (EV) industry is facing fierce competition from China. The question is what this will mean for the future of European EVs. This paper provides an overview of EU-China competition in this industry and presents four scenarios for the future of European EVs by 2030. Will European EVs survive, thrive or perish in the face of Chinese competition and other challenges?

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Briefing - Implementing the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act - 19-11-2024

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 14:38:51 GMT

The EU's ability to boost its competitiveness, become a climate-neutral economy by 2050, sustain the green and digital transition and achieve strategic autonomy depends heavily on access to critical raw materials (CRMs). Key technologies, across all industries, depend on CRMs' unique physical properties. The CRM Act (CRMA), aimed at making the EU's supply of CRMs more secure, resilient and sustainable, entered into force on 23 May 2024. The CRMA lists 34 CRMs, of which 17 are considered 'strategic' (SRMs). The act includes measures to strengthen the EU's raw materials supply chains, monitor and mitigate supply risks and increase the sustainability of the CRMs consumed in the EU. It sets the following non-binding benchmarks for the overall capacity at EU level to be achieved by 2030 (in terms of annual consumption of SRMs): the EU should mine 10 % of its annual needs, process 40 % of its needs, and cover 25 % of its needs through recycling. Furthermore, the EU should diversify its imports of SRMs and, for each SRM, should not depend on any single third country for more than 65 % of its supply by 2030. The CRMA also sets a number of deadlines for key developments up to 2031. The time has now come to implement the new regulation. The CRMA has generally been hailed as a good first step in the right direction, but its weaknesses have also been highlighted. These include the lack of specific EU funding and doubt as to whether the measures to accelerate mining will prove effective. The EU's capacity to achieve the benchmarks for 2030 has therefore been questioned by a number of experts. Many proposals for improving the EU's CRM policy have recently been put forward. The Draghi Report includes 11 specific priority actions, including setting up a dedicated EU CRM platform to deliver a more comprehensive and coordinated strategy covering the whole CRM value chain. The Letta Report suggests that the EU could use joint purchasing to set up strategic reserves of key CRMs to the benefit of the single market. Other proposals outlined in this briefing include measures to boost circularity, ensure coherence of EU law affecting the CRM sector, and develop global partnerships to diversify supply.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Glaustai - What if we ran out of copper? - 16-10-2024

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 22:00:00 GMT

Copper is a relatively common element with a variety of suppliers, and that should typically mean a stable market. However, the copper market has recently been showing unusual instability. New EU legislation, though not always directly related, seems to be having a significant impact on copper prices. This is the case for the Chips Act and the Critical Raw Materials Act – designed to make EU industry more resilient by improving strategic autonomy – but also for laws concerning energy, artificial intelligence and digitalisation. New factors, including looming shortages in strategic raw materials – such as copper – may strongly influence political action.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Briefing - EU-Mongolia relations: Possible critical raw materials partnership - 02-09-2024

Sun, 01 Sep 2024 22:00:00 GMT

Mongolia is a geographically remote and resource-rich country with a peculiar location in northeast Asia. An 'oasis of democracy', it is sandwiched between its two expansionist authoritarian neighbours, China and Russia. This has required it to walk a delicate geopolitical tightrope of non alignment and a 'third neighbour' foreign policy to preserve its sovereignty and independence. During the past 35 years of bilateral diplomatic relations Mongolia has not been particularly high on the EU's foreign policy agenda, with only a handful of EU Member States having an embassy there. Since the 1990s, Mongolia has nonetheless benefited from EU development cooperation programmes aimed at supporting its sustainable economic and democratic development and from EU disaster relief for the increasingly harsh socioeconomic implications of its exposure to climate change. Classified as a lower-middle income country, Mongolia has also been a beneficiary of unilateral preferential access to the EU market, first under the generalised scheme of preferences (GSP) and later under the GSP+ scheme, and has been able to draw on additional EU funding programmes to bolster the diversification of its trade towards non-mining products. Currently, an EU-Mongolia agreement on geographical indications is under negotiation with the same objective. The EU-Mongolia political and cooperation agreement (PCA), which entered into force in 2017, has significantly broadened the scope for bilateral, regional and international cooperation to policy areas that were previously not covered by the 1993 trade and economic cooperation agreement. Joint Committee meetings under the PCA have taken place regularly, with strands on political dialogue, human rights, trade and investment, and development cooperation. EU reliance on resilient supply chains for critical raw materials (CRMs) to implement its green and digital transitions and Mongolian efforts to sustainably diversify its economic relations could draw the two partners closer. As the scramble for CRMs is in full swing and major CRM-importing countries have designed economic de-risking policies to find alternatives to China's current quasi export monopoly on processed CRMs such as rare earths, the EU and Mongolia could enter into a CRM partnership, despite the geographical and geopolitical constraints and concerns that may arise over the environment and the investment climate owing to increased sourcing of CRMs from Mongolia.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Tyrimas - Identifying data gaps in the textile industry and assessing current initiatives to address them - 23-07-2024

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 17:50:37 GMT

This study identifies data gaps throughout the textile industry supply and value chains, from fibre to the end of product life stage and assesses current initiatives addressing them. It also exposes the following challenges: missing data, data accessibility, data management, reliability and relevance, mandatory or non-mandatory data collection, data sharing, and data cost issues. Drawing on a literature review, 17 stakeholder interviews and 2 expert workshops, the study gathers essential insights from the field, and evaluates current and forthcoming initiatives for addressing data gaps. It goes on to discuss policy options geared towards using data to help achieve a sustainable transition and circular economy in the textile sector. Views on how to use data to tackle the fast fashion phenomenon are presented at the end of the study.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Tyrimas - The role of research and innovation in ensuring a safe and sustainable supply of critical raw materials in the EU - 17-07-2024

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 14:28:32 GMT

This study aims to illuminate the role of research and innovation (R&I) in ensuring a safe and sustainable supply of critical raw materials (CRM). It provides background information on CRMs, related EU policies, sustainability issues, and public controversy, tying all these in with their respective R&I needs. The study reviews the role of R&I and cooperation in securing the EU's raw material supply, highlighting the significance of R&I along the value chain and analysing patenting activities and international cooperation. It concludes by presenting 11 policy options on EU institutional and R&I capacities, international collaboration and legitimacy and regulation, assessing each against a list of dimensions (e.g. costs, benefits and feasibility).

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Išsami analizė - Global Gateway 2030: Future of Europe's global infrastructure bid - 12-07-2024

Thu, 11 Jul 2024 22:00:00 GMT

The EU Global Gateway, a €300 billion infrastructure investment strategy launched in December 2021, seeks to build sustainable and secure connections in the digital, energy and transport sectors and boost Europe's competitiveness and supply chain security across the world. What might the strategy look like in future? This paper presents four possible scenarios for the Global Gateway in 2030, based on survey responses from 30 policy experts: 'optimal gateway', 'failed gateway', 'corporate gateway' and 'public gateway'.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Išsami analizė - How to finance EU's growth model amidst global challenges? - 05-07-2024

Thu, 04 Jul 2024 22:00:00 GMT

This paper provides a review/summary of 10 papers prepared by external experts, which examine and recommend initiatives for financing the EU's growth model amidst global challenges. These papers were requested by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) of the European �Ϸ��վ. They may feed into the policy debate on how to frame a forthcoming new European competitiveness deal as agreed by the European Council.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Tyrimas - Horizon Europe support for the European Green Deal - 02-07-2024

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 14:32:02 GMT

The European Green Deal, aimed at making the EU climate neutral by 2050, outlines a comprehensive approach to sustainability, requiring profound transformation across all industrial sectors. Horizon Europe, the EU's foremost research and innovation programme, can be a critical enabler, providing the necessary funding, framework and innovation pathways to support this transition. Employing a combination of desk research and stakeholder consultations, this study evaluates Horizon Europe's alignment with the Green Deal, focusing specifically on Horizon's impact on European industry. The analysis sheds light on Horizon Europe's role in supporting research with a sustainability focus, and in facilitating industry participation in research projects. It reveals successes and identifies challenges such as administrative complexities, and the need for mechanisms to provide tailored support for small and medium-sized enterprises. The report suggests three policy options to strengthen Horizon Europe's support for industry: enhancing the capabilities of National Contact Points, expanding the 'marketplace' concept for green technologies, and prioritising selected strategic industrial and technological goals within Horizon Europe.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Išsami analizė - A European Sovereignty Fund -Investing in Europe’s Future and Security - 02-07-2024

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 22:00:00 GMT

The European Sovereignty Fund (EUSF) should invest in Europe’s future by investing indirectly in start-ups and scale-ups via the existing Fund of the European Innovation Council (EIC). This would be concrete step to advance the aims of the recently agreed Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP). The EUSF could also invest in security of supply by acquiring and managing strategic stockpiles of critical raw materials. This would foster the aim of the Critical Raw Material Act. To succeed the management of the EUSF should be strictly independent of political influence.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Tyrimas - Digital product passport for the textile sector - 28-06-2024

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 22:00:00 GMT

A European digital product passport (DPP) could enhance textile industry traceability, circularity, and transparency. This study focuses on the possibility to introduce a DPP, framed within the European Union's strategy for sustainable and circular textiles. It examines the potential, needs, benefits, and challenges associated with deploying a DPP for all stakeholders throughout the European textile sector's value chain. A DPP could benefit all actors in this complex value chain, including producers, supply-chain tiers, regulatory authorities, sorters, recyclers, and consumers. To enhance EU textile industry traceability, sustainability and business strategy, identifying where added value can be generated is crucial. This research is grounded in a review of regulatory texts, scientific literature and existing initiatives, and proposes a generic DPP model for the textile sector. Drawing on a survey of over 80 stakeholders, it gathers essential insights and outlines a three-phase deployment scenario with policy options aimed at fostering a circular economy to minimise the sector's overall footprint.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Briefing - EU-US Trade and Technology Council: The end of the legislative cycle could mark a turning point - 14-06-2024

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 22:00:00 GMT

The European Union-United States Trade and Technology Council (TTC), which has been meeting twice a year since 2021, seeks to revitalise transatlantic cooperation, boost bilateral trade and investment, and strengthen the parties' technological and industrial leadership while preserving shared values. The bi-annual ministerial meetings steer cooperation within the TTC and guide its work in areas such as technology standards, secure supply chains, tech regulation, global trade challenges, climate and green technologies, investment screening and export controls. The TTC's first four meetings focused on launching the forum, shaping its agenda and establishing political alignment and convergence of views to pave the way for tangible outcomes. This included administrative cooperation on semiconductor supply chains and a shared understanding of issues related to artificial intelligence (AI). The fifth interim meeting in January 2024 served as preparation for the April 2024 ministerial in Leuven. The sixth ministerial meeting was the final one before the upcoming European �Ϸ��վ elections and the United States congressional and presidential elections later this year. This meetings saw further progress in AI policies, the development of a shared vision for 6G, initiatives to enhance interoperability and the creation of joint guidelines and recommendations for online platforms. Most observers believe that the TTC provides additional value to transatlantic trade and tech relations. With the degree of appreciation largely dependent on the expectations set for this collaborative forum. Nonetheless experts and observers are pointing to the need to reform the TTC. Recommendations include boosting the involvement of the European �Ϸ��վ and the US Congress, increasing engagement with stakeholders and partner countries, reducing the number of ministerial meetings to one per year, limiting the TTC's focus to a few realistic and ambitious priorities and creating a permanent secretariat-like structure responsible for the ongoing running of the TTC.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Briefing - Critical raw materials act - 11-06-2024

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 22:00:00 GMT

The EU's ambition to become a climate-neutral economy by 2050, and its ability to sustain the green and digital transition and achieve strategic autonomy, all rely heavily on reliable, secure and resilient access to critical raw materials (CRMs). On 16 March 2023, the Commission put forward a proposal for a regulation on CRMs. It introduced the concept of strategic raw materials (SRMs), which are key for some strategic technologies and vulnerable to shortages. The general objective of the proposed regulation was to improve the functioning of the single market by establishing a framework to ensure the EU's access to a secure and sustainable supply of CRMs. To achieve this, the regulation would pursue four specific objectives: strengthening the whole SRM value chain; diversifying the EU's imports of SRMs (so that by 2030, no third country would provide more than 65 % of the EU's annual consumption of each SRM); improving the EU's ability to monitor and mitigate the CRM supply risk; ensuring the free movement of CRMs and products containing CRMs placed on the EU market, and ensuring a high level of environmental protection, by improving their circularity and sustainability. On 13 November 2023, the �Ϸ��վ and the Council reached a provisional agreement on the proposal. The regulation was published in the Official Journal on 3 May 2024, and entered into force on 23 May 2024. Fifth edition. The 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings are updated at key stages in the legislative procedure.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Tyrimas - Pan-European Public Goods: Rationale, Financing and Governance - 06-06-2024

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 22:00:00 GMT

Amidst a changed global environment and with the goal to defend its geopolitical weight, the EU should provide public goods with EU value added, so that efficiency gains can be achieved at the EU level. We propose an expanded EU budget to serve the dual role of more automatic stabilisation and the provision of EU public goods, where the European �Ϸ��վ should have an enhanced role in setting investment priorities. We discuss three such areas of investment priority – infrastructure, defence and security, as well as research and development.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Glaustai - Will the EU help build a cobalt refinery in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? - 03-06-2024

Sun, 02 Jun 2024 22:00:00 GMT

Most of the world's cobalt, a strategic raw material for the EU, is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is then shipped to China for processing before being used, for instance, in batteries and electric vehicles (EVs). This creates inefficiencies, extra emissions and, above all, crucial critical raw material and green sector dependencies on China. The DRC wants to move up the battery supply chain. A 2021 Bloomberg study shows that building a Congolese processing plant to produce lithium-ion battery precursors would be vastly cheaper than constructing one in the US, China or Europe. A Global Gateway partnership framework with the DRC is in place to help develop its critical raw material value chains. Could EU partners reduce critical raw material and green transition dependencies on China by building a Global Gateway cobalt processing plant in the DRC?

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Briefing - Key new factors likely to shape the EU’s trade agenda in the next five-year term. - 02-05-2024

Wed, 01 May 2024 22:00:00 GMT

The landscape in which European Union trade policy operates has changed drastically in recent years. In addition to, and partly in competition with, its traditional objective of economic wellbeing, EU trade policy has become increasingly shaped by two other considerations: geopolitics and concerns over the resilience of supply chains, and climate change. This briefing note examines the emergence of this new landscape, how it has already affected EU trade policy with measures to increase European economic security and complement the European Green Deal, how it might affect EU trade policy in the next five years, and how the new landscape has already impacted and might affect in future the multilateral trading system. EU policymakers should be cautious about the economic and climate costs associated with geopolitical-driven policies, particularly in trade. The note ends with recommendations for EU trade policy, calling for a comprehensive assessment of costs in economic terms and climate objectives to safeguard living standards and maintain opportunities for international cooperation in the current context of heightened economic security concerns. Despite evident internal divisions over the EU's approach to multilateralism, finding a strategic balance between its traditional stance and fostering key trade partnerships is imperative.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Briefing - Recent threats in the Red Sea: Economic impact on the region and on the EU - 27-03-2024

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 23:00:00 GMT

Since mid-November 2023, the Iran-backed Houthi militia, which controls large parts of Yemen, has attacked numerous Western commercial ships near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea. In response, major shipping companies have temporarily suspended Suez transits and diverted their trade. This diversion coincides with decreasing freight in another maritime chokepoint, the Panama Canal, provoked by lowered water levels. Rounding South Africa via the Cape of Good Hope is the shortest alternative route for travel by ship between Asia and Europe, a route that increases shipping time by 10 to 14 days. Shipping prices had already been on the rise recently, owing to increased fuel and insurance costs. The diversion has caused delays that have disrupted global supply chains, with certain companies choosing to halt production in their factories. If the situation persists or worsens, it could further affect energy supplies and prices, all this potentially contributing to higher inflation. This could, in turn, hamper the efforts of central banks to achieve a 'soft landing'. If, in addition, United States (US) and European Union (EU) central banks decide to keep interest rates high, developing countries will have to pay premium prices for international debt, raising repayment risks for many countries in Africa that have maturity deadlines this year. The attacks have reduced income from maritime fees and could affect commodity exports for some countries in the region, worsening an already precarious economic situation. If the situation persists or worsens, it could also impact trade for other countries in east Africa and aggravate food security challenges, generating social unrest in countries in the region. In addition to the attacks on ships, there are suspicions that the Houthis have been involved in damage to submarine communications cables. This damage – to what is categorised as critical infrastructure – could represent a significant cost to the EU and other economies. Following calls by the European �Ϸ��վ and Council, the European Commission has recently adopted a recommendation on the security and resilience of submarine cable infrastructures.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Išsami analizė - Future-proofing the EU's global health strategy - 13-03-2024

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 23:00:00 GMT

The new EU global health strategy, adopted by the European Commission on 30 November 2022, has been positioned as a crucial element of EU external policy, geopolitical influence and strategic autonomy. However, maintaining the long term commitment necessary for achieving global health ambitions in turbulent times remains challenging. Against this backdrop, in 2023 the Policy Foresight Unit of the European �Ϸ��վary Research Service conducted a foresight exercise involving external experts to explore the new strategy's resilience to diverse crisis scenarios. The outcomes of this analysis emphasise the need to prioritise prevention measures, foster multilateral cooperation and build local capacity. They underscore the interdependency of sectors in addressing global health challenges, and highlight how investment in global health today could help to mitigate future crises and enhance the strategic autonomy of both the EU and its partners.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Glaustai - Research for the AGRI Committee - The dependency of the EU’s food system on inputs and their sources. - 08-03-2024

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 23:00:00 GMT

This study analyses the vulnerabilities of the EU food system regarding inputs, describing the tools to secure those inputs and make the EU less dependent on foreign suppliers. It provides recommendations for appropriate measures to increase the EU food system’s resilience to disruptions in trade flows and price increases of imported inputs.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Tyrimas - Research for the AGRI Committee - The dependency of the EU’s food system on inputs and their sources - 04-03-2024

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 23:00:00 GMT

Glaustai - EU 'farm to fork' strategy: State of play - 12-02-2024

Sun, 11 Feb 2024 23:00:00 GMT

The 'farm to fork' strategy is about building sustainable EU food systems, in line with the EU's Green Deal. Launched in May 2020, its elements are moving at different speeds, with much debate on its objectives and priorities. The EU institutions are helping to shape the various elements of the strategy. This is an update of an 'at a glance' note first published in October 2021.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2024 - EP

Briefing - EU-US critical minerals agreement: Building stronger supply chains together - 28-11-2023

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 23:00:00 GMT

In March 2023, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and United States (US) President Joe Biden announced their intention to conclude a critical minerals agreement, seeking to foster supply chains in raw materials needed in the production of electric vehicle batteries. The paradigm shift towards clean transport is driving a massive expansion in the market for electric vehicle markets, highlighting the importance of securing the mineral inputs used in their batteries. To that end, the US Congress has embedded various support measures in enacted legislation, notably in its 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). IRA's tax credit provisions for electric vehicles are of particular concern to the European Union (EU). To qualify for these subsidies, set and progressively increasing percentages of minerals and battery components must come from North America or a country with which the US has a free trade agreement. The EU and US set up an IRA task force to find a solution under which EU vehicles could be eligible for tax credits. The EU-US agreement would enable relevant critical minerals extracted or processed in the EU to count toward IRA requirements. Commission presented the negotiating directives to the Council in June, and the latter authorised formal launch of talks in July. The EU is seeking to strengthen the international supply chains of critical minerals, facilitate trade, and improve sustainability and labour rights. It is also pushing for the inclusion of more than 50 minerals and materials relevant to the green transition in the agreement's scope. The US has expressed its intention to conclude an executive agreement without a vote in the Congress, which is drawing some criticism from US lawmakers. �Ϸ��վ, which will decide whether to give formal consent to the agreement, adopted a resolution on the negotiations in September 2023, calling for wide coverage of minerals, inclusion of critical minerals obtained through recycling, an investment transparency mechanism, and an early warning system against supply chain disruptions.

Šaltinis : © Europos Sąjunga, 2023 - EP