European Parliament - EPRS Policy podcasts

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Establishing a basis for European crowdfunding service providers Jun 08, 2018

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Crowdfunding, an open call to the wider public for raising money online, can help ensure that both individuals and companies get access to finance, especially in the early growth stages of their projects or business. Currently, different legislative frameworks are in force in the Member States of the EU, which results in cross-border investments remaining limited and service providers not scaling up their operations. To remedy this the Commission published recently two legislative proposals.
Source: © European Union - EP

EU sanctions, A key foreign and security policy instrument May 25, 2018

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Iran, Syria, North Korea, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are among nearly 30 countries to be targeted by EU sanctions, among other things for nuclear weapons programmes, violations of democracy and human rights. Sanctions can be very painful for targeted countries, but do not always succeed in changing their behaviour.
Source: © European Union - EP

European app economy, State of play, challenges and EU policy May 25, 2018

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Ten years has passed since the app economy was launched. Since then the apps evolved to play an increasingly important role in the life of citizens and became crucial to the success of many industries. Growing connectivity and availability of portable devices ensure that this trend will continue.
Source: © European Union - EP

New civil aviation safety rules Apr 13, 2018

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The EU lawmakers have reached a provisional agreement on new civil aviation safety rules. The reform introduces risk and performance-based rules, includes the first-ever EU rules for civil drones, extends the European Aviation Safety Agency's mandate and provides for using existing resources more efficiently. The provisional agreement now needs to be confirmed by European Parliament in plenary.
Source: © European Union - EP

A new directive on work-life balance Mar 09, 2018

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Despite significant progress for some social groups in the area of work-life balance, there has been a general trend of decline since 2011, and progress amongst Member States has been uneven. Attempting to compensate for the 2015 withdrawal of the proposal for an extended maternity leave directive, this proposed directive contains proposals for paternity, parental and carers' leave. It is complemented with non-legislative measures. Both the Council and the stakeholders are divided over the level of ambition and the implementation of the proposed measures. The EP (EMPL) that has been insisting on work-life balance measures over the years, is going to consider its draft report in the spring of 2018.
Source: © European Union - EP

Organic farming legislation: Revision of EU Regulation on organic production and labelling of organic products Mar 09, 2018

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Developing organic production is an EU policy objective. While the EU organic market is constantly expanding, only 6 % of total EU agricultural area is used for organic cultivation, and the difference between EU demand and production is covered by growing imports. To overcome the regulatory obstacles to the development of the sector and increase consumer confidence in the EU organic logo, the Commission adopted a proposal in March 2014 for a regulation on organic production and labelling of organic products, repealing the current framework dating from 2007. Following a series of trilogue meetings, the Maltese Presidency and the European Parliament reached a preliminary agreement on 28 June 2017. The Council's Special Committee on Agriculture endorsed the agreement, which the Parliament's Agriculture Committee subsequently approved on 22 November 2017. The full Parliament and Council now need to approve the text before the new regulation can enter into force.
Source: © European Union - EP

How the EU budget is spent: Galileo and EGNOS Feb 02, 2018

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Galileo and the European geostationary navigation overlay service (EGNOS) are two satellite navigation systems under civil control. Galileo shall guarantee to Europe an independent access to a reliable satellite signal, being at the same time more accurate than existing concurrence. The aim of EGNOS is to monitor, correct and improve the accuracy of current open signals (GPS, GLONASS) on a limited territory. Galileo and EGNOS were conceived in close cooperation with the European Space Agency. They are first infrastructures owned by the European Union. The EU allocated more than €7 billion from MFF 2014-2020 in order to reach the full operational capacity by the end of 2020.
Source: © European Union - EP

Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons ─ the 'Ban Treaty Feb 02, 2018

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On 7 July 2017, a special United Nations (UN) conference adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Will this lead to the abolition of nuclear weapons, as supporters of the Treaty hope, or in fact weaken the global disarmament and non-proliferation regime, as opponents fear?
Source: © European Union - EP

EU efforts on counter-terrorism - Capacity-building in third countries Jan 12, 2018

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In the European Union (EU), responsibility for counter-terrorism lies primarily with Member States. However, the role of the EU itself in counter-terrorism has grown significantly in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks that have hit Europe in the post-'9/11' era. The cross-border aspects of the terrorist threat call for a coordinated EU approach. Moreover, the assumption that there is a connection between development and stability, as well as internal and external security, has come to shape the EU's actions beyond its own borders. In the context of terrorism, the EU has an extensive toolkit of human and financial resources that support third countries in managing or mitigating terrorist threats. A key element of EU action is capacity-building in partner countries, to ensure local ownership, a sustainable assistance model and the full use of local expertise for challenges that are geographically distinct.
Source: © European Union - EP

Understanding artificial intelligence Jan 12, 2018

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Artificial intelligence (AI) systems already permeate daily life: they drive cars, decide on mortgage applications, translate texts, create artworks, play games, and intervene in conflict zones. The briefing explores the roots of the AI revolution that emerged from the combination of machine learning techniques and 'big data'. It also explores the current limitations of these systems: they are perform single tasks, can be biased and are opaque in their decision making. The development of AI systems requires adaptation of legal frameworks on the collection, use and storage of data. But more importantly, the key issue remains the level of autonomy given to AI systems to make decisions that could be life-changing. If the threat of a 'superintelligence' able to self-improve and dominate humans remains remains unrealistic, AI systems are expected to impact society, especially the job market, and could increase inequalities.
Source: © European Union - EP

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