European Union

After three punishing Alpine stages the Tour de France ends on Sunday in keeping with tradition on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Several cyclists - including two Frenchmen - still have a realistic chance of claiming the yellow jersey that goes to the overall winner. French commentators say change has come to this event which is one of the greatest in world sport.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday (26 July) Turkey would turn elsewhere for fighter jets if the United States will not sell it the F-35 jets, adding that a US decision to cut Ankara from the program would not deter it from meeting its needs.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline company has taken an unusual legal step in its dispute with the European Commission by asking the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) to annul the amendments to the Gas Directive which the Gazprom-led...

Despite the spectre of Brexit, British MEPs can and should be properly engaged with the European Parliament as long as they are here, according to the only two UK top job holders in the European institutions so far.

EDA has launched a 3rd call for papers from defence industry, academia and research institutes on the topic of Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS) in the context to EDA’s Industry Exchange Platform on RPAS Air Traffic Integration (ATI).

The call focuses on RPAS ATI in European airspace in the timeframe 2025-2030 and aims at gathering industry proposals on new R&D and validation activities needed in the RPAS ATI domain in the following technical areas:

• Health Monitoring
• Remote Pilot Stations

The responses to this call for papers will drive the ideation of potential project proposals during the 3rd formal meeting of EDA’s RPAS ATI Industry Exchange Platform which will take place at EDA on 8 November 2019. They will also be used to update the RPAS ATI Industry Exchange Platform contributors list, in view of potentially inviting additional industry participants to this initiative.  

 
How to submit 

• Download the call for papers here
• Send your completed files to ise@eda.europa.eu with a copy to juanignacio.delvalle@eda.europa.eu 
• Deadline for submissions is 27 September 2019

 
Background

EDA’s RPAS ATI Industry Exchange Platform is part of the Agency’s approach towards establishing a structured dialogue and enhanced engagement with industry based on a set of priority actions, as supported by the EDA Steering Board on 18 May 2017. The initiative is in line with the coordinated approach amongst the main European stakeholders in Single European Sky.

The purpose of EDA’s RPAS ATI Industry Exchange Platform is:

• to establish a regular dialogue with industry on a key priority: MALE RPAS integration in the European ATM System in the 2025 – 2030 timeframe
• to share information on current R&D initiatives and strategies, also on industry side, in the RPAS ATI domain
• to identify technology gaps and solutions that can benefit both civil and military applications.

 
Contact

Juan Ignacio DEL VALLE
Project Officer Air Programmes
juanignacio.delvalle@eda.europa.eu
T+32 2 504 29 26

 

 

 

 

A relatively unknown EU fund supports coal and steel research projects. Among other things, the money is used to purchase highly toxic gases and optimise processes in the coal industry. EURACTIV Germany reports.

In July 2018, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker travelled to the US to meet Donald Trump in a bid to ease trade tensions. A year on from the EU-US joint statement, commercial negotiations are at a stalemate.

The European Parliament questions whether the ombudsman had the right to criticise the institution's "margin of discretion" in deciding on publication of confidential papers about the controversial monthly €4,513 expenses lump sum for MEPs.

In an open letter, Huawei's Vice President, Catherine Chen, hits out at recent comments from Robert Strayer, the US's Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, on Huawei's cybersecurity concerns.

Spain's outgoing prime minister Pedro Sanchez failed to become prime minister in a second vote this week, three months after the Spanish elections. He received support from 124 Spanish MPs, but received 155 'No' votes. The vote came after talks for a coalition between Sanchez's centre-left Socialists (PSOE) and the left-wing Podemos party collapsed on whether to hold an independence referendum in Catalonia, which Podemos supports but PSOE opposes.

Britain's new Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the EU on Thursday (25 July) to "rethink" their opposition to renegotiating the current Brexit deal -- only to be immediately rebuffed by Brussels.

At least 150 people drowned in the Mediterranean on Thursday, when their boat to Europe sank off the coast of Libya, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). "If current trends continue, we are likely to see more than a thousand people lose their life on the Mediterranean for the sixth year in a row, which is a bleak milestone for us to be reaching," said UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley.

The heatwave affecting western Europe continued breaking records Thursday. Paris recorded a temperature of 42.6C, breaking a 1947 record. Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands also were hit by never-before seen temperatures. A heatwave as such is not directly caused by global warming, but climate change is making such extreme events more likely. "It's not a problem that's going to go away," said the World Meteorological Organization's Clare Nullis.

Hackers in Bulgaria have got access to huge amounts of information, including files from the EU’s anti-fraud network EUROFISC. The Commission confirmed to EURACTIV on Thursday (25 July) that it was monitoring the embarrassing situation.

Let's face it, when it comes to the environment, there isn't much to rejoice about. So to spare you a long summer of eco-anxiety, we looked for some glimmers of hope. Here are five reasons to be optimistic.