Voices from Brussels

The glimmer of hope brought by the “historic” agreement in the Council on a reform of the Pact on Migration was short-lived, as major obstacles remain.
A podcast by Vincenzo Genovese - brought to you by Euranet Plus.
 
 
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Russia's war on Ukraine has made the European Union wake up to its vulnerability to hybrid threats. But given their scale, potential impact and rapid evolution, the task of defending against them is daunting.
 
 
 
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The European Union has brought out its "strategic compass" to strengthen its future defence and security, in particular by increasing its capacity for action. But will the path it has charted be relevant - and sufficient? Journalist Vincenzo Genovese followed its path and met MEP Andrius Kubilius (EPP, Lithuania) and experts Zach Paikin of CEPS and André Sapir of the Bruegel think tank.
 
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In this episode journalist Léa Marchal looks at the EU's Net Zero Industry Act, Brussels' attempt to prevent clean tech companies from relocating their manufacturing to the US.
 
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The war on the European continent has resulted in a new effort to strengthen the European Union's defence capabilities. However, beyond military support for Ukraine, is there a shared EU vision for its future security and defence policy?
 
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In this episode Léa Marchal meets the leaders of the largest political groups in the European Parliament to reveal what MEPs are hoping to achieve in the run-up to the next European elections. Beyond the war in Ukraine, they want to show concrete results in the fight against inflation, social justice, easing migration flows and creating jobs.
 
MEP Iratxe Garcia Pérez at a plenary voting session early in 2023 © European Union 2023 - EP

The war in Ukraine has reshuffled the cards of the bloc’s defence and security policies and its relationship with NATO. Whether this will serve its geostrategic ambitions is still unclear. Listen to the first episode of a series on EU defence and security by journalist Vincenzo Genovese.
 
EU-NATO leadership sign third joint declaration in January 2023 © NATO, 2023

The EU has just put the finishing touches to a series of important texts targeting CO2 emissions in industry. While hitting the mark in terms of ambition, this latest Green Deal move is not likely to bear fruit as quickly as Brussels might have liked.
 
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Search and rescue vessels in the central Mediterranean cause tensions among EU countries in the EU, while the Western Balkan route has seen the biggest increase in arrivals, causing great concern in Austria. Vincenzo Genovese takes us through interviews with MEPs and experts in Brussels to give us fresh - even chilling - news on EU migration policy.
 
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Nine months after the start of the war and eight sanction packages later, the Ukrainian army is making significant progress in pushing back the Russian army. This progress has not come about thanks to the restrictive measures imposed by the EU. But then what do these sanctions achieve? 
 
Anti-war rally in Spain © Photo by Al More on Shutterstock