The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have recently launched two new financial instruments under the European LIFE Programme for the Environment and Climate Action: the tool Private Financing for Energy Efficiency (PF4EE) and the Natural Capital Financing Facility (NCFF). The Private Financing for Energy Efficiency (PF4EE) will fund projects focusing on energy […]
In the last 650.000 years, the Earth has experienced seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat. Current climate era dates back 7.000 years ago, when the last ice age ended. The cycles were mainly caused by very small variation in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy out planet receives. However, the current […]
On the 4th of February the European Commission approved the proposal to advance 1 billion euro in payments from the Youth Employment Initiative (COM(2015) 46 final). The initiative was presented by Commissioner Thyssen at the plenary session of the 10th of February and encountered a wide support by many MEPs. The proposal stems on the […]
This issue of NEU is our tenth number. For us a first, little goal reached. During these ten issues our audience has enlarged, the interest in what we write has grown, the identity we are step by step building seems clearer. And this is undoubtedly thanks to you, our readers. We are trying not to […]
The victory of the anti-austerity party in Greece is expected to have all sorts of spill-overs. One of which could be emulation in other Member States. Eyes are set particularly on Spain, where the Podemos Party – after surprising results in the European Elections – is leading the polls and threatens to beat the incumbents […]
One year ago, the confrontation against Bashar al Assad’s regime was overshadowed by the rapid expansion of ISIS / Daesh, the self-claimed state that occupied a core-territory of around 100.000 sq.m across Iraqi and Syrian border. Their further expansion, an atrocious and brutal wave of violence, triggered the EU reaction: former foreign policy chief Ashton […]
A new Horizon 2020 call (SCC-01-2015) is dedicated to projects for smart cities and communities, and is open to proposals on energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, integration of new ICT and smart tech solutions with the aim of supporting infrastructural innovation. The European Union, also for 2015, has mobilized significant resources for the development of solutions […]
The Court of Justice of the European Union stated in a very recent judgment (Khaled Boudjlida v Préfet des Pyrénées-Atlantiques, case (C-249/13), 11 December 2014), that an illegally staying third-country national has the right to be heard before the adoption of a return decision concerning his or her person, according to the Return Directive (Directive […]
In the last years, the European Union is stressing on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure: the goal is “breaking the oil dependence of transport and set a target of 60% greenhouse gas emissions reduction from transport by 2050”. The European alternative fuels strategy comprises both some efficiency policies and a series of alternative fuels, […]
With this issue of NEU, we would like to introduce a regular spot in the Editorial section that will be dedicated to interviews. This time, the focus will be the semester of Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and we decided to interview Ms. Cristina Scarfia, an important functionary during the period. […]
