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The revamp of the bloc's regulatory framework for pharmaceuticals, presented by the European Commission on Wednesday (26 April), features a new and somewhat controversial system of incentives to promote the development of new antimicrobials.

The European Commission presented its legislative proposals for a reform of the EU rules for national debts and deficits on Wednesday (26 April), moving closer to the position of Germany but keeping the key concept of country-specific debt reduction plans.

The UK’s antitrust authority has blocked Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard, dealing another blow to the troubled merger. 

The climate crisis is real, and simply hoping that EU citizens will voluntarily change their ways enough to create the necessary change is idealistic at best. European politicians are coming around to the idea of a more rigorously planned approach, so-called state 'planification'.

Member states will need to lift unilateral bans on the import of agricultural goods from Ukraine in order to receive financial aid, EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski told agriculture ministers in a closed meeting.

EU lawmakers adopted a resolution calling for coordinated action on foreign interference, warning of risks in the lead-up to next year’s European Parliament elections. 

For the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by telephone on Wednesday (26 April) to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after months of pressure from Kyiv and Western leaders for such talks.

EU ministers have raised concerns over the compatibility of international plant health requirements with the EU's plan to reduce the use of pesticides, warning this risks ‘jeopardising’ agricultural exports from the EU.

The United States signed an administrative arrangement with the European Defence Agency (EDA) on Wednesday (26 April), establishing forums of consultation but falling short of agreeing to cooperation on technology research and development.

Despite the availability of various family planning tools, worldwide 121 million unintended pregnancies occur every year, or 331,000 per day on average, revealing striking disparities in contraceptive provision and accessibility.

On this World Intellectual Property Day 2023, IP Europe applauds Europe’s role in the development of open standards but also sounds the alarm that these very same patents, and with them Europe’s leadership in technologies such as 5G, are under threat.

Despite favourable winds prompted by the EU’s rising climate ambition, the European wind energy industry is facing a combination of challenges caused by inflation, supply chain issues, and growing competition from cheaper Chinese manufacturers.

While European governments boost their wind power ambitions, the industry is struggling with rising production costs and growing competition from China.

Every plane departing from an EU airport will have to partially run on green jet fuel from 2025, according to a deal reached by the European Parliament and EU member states late on Tuesday (25 April).

Brussels should not be led by the US but by its own Digital Services Act and the GDPR, as doing otherwise would subvert its prized new internet regulation, write Kai von Carnap and Antonia Hmaidi.

Join this EURACTIV Virtual Conference to learn about the proposals for a new Regulation on the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products. -Are these proposals comprehensive enough to reduce the bloc’s environmental footprint? -Is a 50% reduction in the use and risk of pesticides a feasible target for Member States to achieve? Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

After the world celebrated Earth Day on Saturday (22 April), now is a good moment to take stock of the environmental destruction brought by the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine, writes Valentina Romano.

Finnish utility Fortum said on Tuesday (25 April) it has begun recovering raw materials from the "black mass" of electric vehicle batteries at its new recycling facility in Finland.

With a 2 May deadline looming, one of Russia's leading pro-democracy and human rights centres - the Sakharov Centre - is preparing to close after receiving an eviction notice from the Moscow municipality due to its designation as a "foreign agent".

Major green energy projects are sprouting up across Spain as it seeks to position itself as a future green energy leader – but experts have urged caution over costs and demand uncertainty.