European integration: Lessons from COP26 through ambitions and actions

Views: 78European Union didn’t expect much from COP26: the EU is already ahead of the rest of the world’s regions in climate-change-efforts’ ambitions and actions. However, it is reasonable to have a look at the COP26 outcomes and perspective implementation of the reached agreements. As Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson once said: “Don’t judge each […]

Modern trends in European integration: “smart specialization” in the Baltic Sea region

Views: 69The article is addressing only some though quite vital changes concerning EU’s single market perspectives in line with the contemporary division of labour and more coordinated political economies in the member states. The idea of a so-called “smart growth” and member states’ “specialization” coined into the EU integration sphere a decade ago is not […]

Modern EU energy policy: challenges and solutions

Views: 93European several decade’s energy policy included hundreds of regulations, directives and decisions aimed at optimal use and development of energy resources and networks. During last decade the Union’s energy policy has experienced dramatic changes reflecting global and European challenges. The energy-related triangle: energy, climate changes and environment protection has become a focal point in […]

Green transition in EU: vital modern issues

Views: 60The EU institutions in general and the European Commission in particular have suggested a “European Green Deal”, which had formulated a Union’s strategic policy framework for the EU-27 to push through the transition to green growth. In the latest Special Eurobarometer on climate change (September 2019), about 93 percent of EU citizens considered climate […]

Sustainability in modern political economy: resolving pressing issues

Views: 86The old “political-economy’s” paradigm is facing dramatic challenges: with the two spheres of science involved (i.e. economics and political science), the concept is being “refurbished” towards closer and inherent “unified connections” between the two to concentrate on the most optimal national growth models and peoples’ wellbeing. The latter in particular, is becoming a common […]

Inequality and social exclusion in Europe and globally

Views: 35The level and trends in inequality include numerous parameters, i.e. personal income before and after taxes/transfers, average and median household disposable incomes, relative poverty rates and poverty gaps, to name a few. Besides, there is another important part in combating inequality dealing with the “social exclusion”, i.e. inequality among different groups of citizens. So-called […]

“Blue economy”: new trends in national growth and business

Views: 138Blue economy comprises economic activities connected to oceans, seas and/or coastal areas. It gives work to about 5 million people in the EU member states in such sectors as fishing, shipping, ports, shipyards and tourism. Seas and oceans are not only a vital part of the blue economy: they also produce half of the […]

European industrial policy: effects for the member states

Views: 58In March 2020, the EU launched a European industrial strategy, a continental national economies’ transitional plan towards green and digital perspectives in development. After a year of deliberation, the Commission proposed a regulation which reflects to main efforts: a) a continued openness to trade and investment as a source of national strength in growth […]

Research and innovation: vital issue in shaping European future

Views: 52European Commission adopted the first strategic plan in mid-March 2021 for the EU science, research and innovation program “Horizon Europe”. The strategic plan sets perspective for targeted investments during next four years supported by the EU’s budget of €95.5 billion. The plan ensures that European and the member states’ research and innovation (R&I) actions […]

European challenges in integration: the state of the planet

Views: 62At the end of 2020, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the global community to end the “war on nature”. At one side, the human activity is at the root of human descent towards chaos; on another, human actions can help solve the problem as “making peace with nature” is the present century’s defining […]