Euractiv has seen the Hungarian EU presidency's detailed plans for the Environment, Energy and Transport Council meetings in the second half of 2024, which outline when Budapest plans to advance individual existing legislative proposals, agree a COP29 position, and present its plans for geothermal energy.
A proposal to transit Azeri gas through Russia and subsequently to the EU raises significant strategic and security concerns, writes Sergiy Makogon.
The EU’s CO2 tariff continues to provoke basic operational questions within the business community, even though companies are already subject to its formal reporting obligations.
A closer monitoring of the consequences on European ports of the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme extension is needed, according to Spain's position expressed at Tuesday's (18 June) Transport Council.
This year's International E-Fuels Dialogue organised by the German Federal Ministry of Transport focused on the use of e-fuels in aviation. For e-fuels to be part of a globally just energy transition, the implementation of sustainability criteria should also be a priority.
All three blocs running in French parliamentary elections are promising rebates on energy bills, with most of the envisaged measures compatible with European law but subject to certain conditions.
The US Senate on Tuesday (18 June) passed a bill to accelerate the deployment of nuclear energy capacity, including by speeding permitting and creating new incentives for advanced nuclear reactor technologies.
While many economists have long advocated introducing a 'climate dividend' to avoid social tensions caused by carbon pricing, a group around Nobel-prize winner Joseph Stiglitz questioned this approach in a paper released on Monday (17 June) in Nature Climate Change.
On 1 July, Hungary will take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU from the Belgians. Euractiv has seen and reviewed Hungary's indicative plan for energy, transport and the environment during its six months as Council President.
The consequences of Ukraine becoming uninhabitable in the coming winter are underestimated by Europe and the world, write Victoria Voytsitska and Olena Halushka.
Political decision-makers and business leaders met at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin on 11-12 June, where they focused on renewable energy as a key solution to secure Kyiv's electricity supply.
How the EU addresses the climate crisis has been high up the political agenda in the approach to this week’s elections. But there are two sectors that continue to fly under the radar in the bloc’s pursuit of decarbonisation: shipping and aviation.
Ukraine’s environment has been the “silent victim” of the Russian invasion, according to Ukrainian environment minister Ruslan Strilets, but thanks to app-wielding Ukrainian citizens, he can now put a price on the damage – more than €56 billion so far.
Seventeen years ago the European Council made a commitment to construct up to twelve carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration plants by 2015. Heads of government agreed that greenhouse gas emissions could not be reduced to the extent needed without use of the technology. Yet today there is still no CO2 being stored within the EU on anything other than a pilot basis.
Germany's cabinet approved on Wednesday (29 May) two draft bills to accelerate the integration of hydrogen and carbon capture respectively, into the country's energy and industrial systems.
The European Commission identifies buildings in the EU as the primary energy consumer, accounting for 40% of our energy consumption and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions.
While Green co-lead candidate Bas Eickhout laments the politicisation of climate change by the far right, the main electoral threat may come from centrist-parties in north-west Europe.
In the context of the war in Ukraine, the three Baltic States want to accelerate the desynchronisation of their electricity grids from Russia and Belarus and complete it by February 2025 at the latest.
France achieved a 22.2% share of renewable energy in its gross final energy consumption in 2023, according to the French Ecological Ministry figures from 7 May, but the trend is not sufficient for the country to reach a target of at least 44% renewable energy by 2030, as set by EU law.
The EU’s new carbon pricing scheme for road and heating fuels (ETS2) – set to be introduced across the bloc in 2027 – could lead to higher price hikes than initially thought, key lawmakers told Euractiv.
Voters deeply concerned with living costs and climate change are being offered a voice by the European Biodiesel Board, it's calling for a balanced, inclusive, and affordable climate policy in line with the EU’s net zero by 2050 goal.
While van der Leyen has not closed the door on a future coalition with the radical right, the political programmes of the right-wing groups are unanimous in criticising the Green Deal and how to decarbonise Europe.
Today, the European Parliament votes on the Net-Zero Industry Act. What should have been Europe's first real response to the American Inflation Reduction Act has ended up in disappointment. Originally intended to boost the production of clean technologies, legislators in Parliament and Council have essentially turned it into a paper tiger, which does not address the actual challenges of industry.
Though EU countries remain divided about nuclear power, the insecurity brought on by the war in Ukraine has sparked increased interest from politicians not seen in decades. But are they willing to match big talk with big wallets?