European Parliament - EPRS Policy podcasts

The EU is an open economy, reliant on global supply chains to a higher extent than the US and China. At the same time, these complex chains are subject to increasing disruptions and uncertainties with many areas of fragility. De-risking Europe's global critical supply chains (particularly in the context of relations with China), points towards a more nuanced way of ensuring Europe's ambitions for increased resilience and strategic autonomy...

Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine is not only reshaping the security architecture of Europe, but is also influencing the EU's position as a global actor. With rising tensions between the US and China, the EU will find itself in an increasingly bipolar world. The rules-based global order is challenged and strategic relations around the world are being redefined...

The democratic information sphere is facing unprecedented strategic and systemic threats. The 'infosphere' - the online public space for debate where people not only express, but also inform themselves to make democratic decisions - is being eroded by foreign and domestic anti-democratic forces with a (geo-) strategic agenda...

The internet is a critical technology infrastructure for almost two thirds of the global population. We use the internet for personal, civic, commercial and professional activities. Failure of the internet would majorly impact how our societies, lives and work is organised. While a total global collapse of the internet is unlikely, major disruptions may arise...

With the COVID-19 pandemic, war returning to Europe and the accompanying energy crisis, a worsening economic outlook, all on top of a climate crisis, today's young Europeans are growing up in a volatile and difficult world. Concerns about economic prosperity, increasing competition for jobs, rising inflation and property prices make it difficult for young people to get ahead in life, to afford housing, to attain economic stability and to achieve a sense of satisfaction in society.

More than any other continent, Europe's biodiversity has been shaped by human activities and is under constant pressure from human production and consumption. Changes in ecosystem services that are essential to human life affect livelihoods, incomes and local migration, and can even cause or exacerbate political conflict...

In March 2023, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a 'net-zero industry act' that aims to expand the manufacturing capacity of net-zero technologies in the EU and enhance the resilience of its energy system. The proposed regulation would set up enabling conditions for the manufacturing of 10 net-zero technologies...

Road transport is a major contributor to climate change, accounting for over a quarter of road transport CO2 emissions. The European Commission proposes to revise the legislation setting CO2 emission standards for new heavy-duty vehicles in the EU. The proposed revision would expand the scope of the existing regulation to include urban buses, coaches, trailers and other types of lorries...

In March 2023, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a 'net-zero industry act' that aims to expand the manufacturing capacity of net-zero technologies in the EU and enhance the resilience of its energy system. The proposed regulation would set up enabling conditions for the manufacturing of 10 net-zero technologies...

Artificial intelligence (AI) has slowly but surely made its way (also) in the world of cultural heritage and museums. The results are both promising and surprising: reconstructing a piece of art, completing an unfinished composition of a great musician, identifying the author of an ancient text, or providing architectural details for a potential reconstruction of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral would have seemed like science fiction just a few years ago...