Publications Archive

In the fight against corruption and for higher social and environmental standards, the European Union wants to tighten the Directive on non-financial reporting. In the future, about 15,000 companies in Germany alone are to be obliged to also present an annual report on sustainability — thirty times more than before. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep) has analysed the Commission's plans.

The European Union wants to significantly reduce the pollution of air, water, soil and consumer goods by 2050. Pollutants should then be able to endanger neither human health nor the environment. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep) has analysed the so-called zero-pollutant target.

The COVID pandemic has led to a cross-border health emergency in the European Union. On the basis of a regulation, Brussels wants to determine when such a state of emergency begins and when it ends. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep) has analysed the EU proposal.

 The European Union wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. With this aim, the production of offshore renewable energy – such as wind, wave and tidal energy – is to be increased fivefold from the current twelve to a total of 61 gigawatts. The amount of renewable energy as a proportion of overall energy consumption is therefore to rise significantly. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep) has analysed the EU’s plan.

The Corona pandemic has led to a cross-border health emergency in the European Union and exposed deficits in dealing with health threats. To improve preparedness and response capacity, the EU Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is to play a key role in the future. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep) has analysed the EU's plans.

The dramatic effects of climate change are forcing the EU to act. Heat waves, droughts, storms, heavy rain and floods lead to damages to the ecosystem and cause economic losses of around twelve billion euros annually in the EU alone. In line with the European Climate Change Act, the Commission has presented an adaptation strategy to make the EU resilient ("climate resilient") to the unavoidable impacts of climate change by 2050.

The second part of the cepPolicyBrief on the Digital Markets Act examines enforcement and procedures of the planned law. Enforcement at the EU level avoids divergent application of the DMA in the individual member states. However, to ensure speedy procedures, national authorities should be involved in the application of the DMA.

Tech giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook or Apple dominate the global internet market. Competition law is not enough to prevent abuse of power. The Commission therefore presented a law for digital services, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), last December. The law aims to prevent operators of large online platforms from restricting competition or imposing unfair conditions.

Imports from third countries with low climate protection standards are jeopardising the competitiveness of companies in the EU. The Commission therefore wants to introduce a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) that would make imports from countries with lax standards, such as Russia, more expensive. The amount of the levy is to correspond to the price of EU emissions trading ("notional ETS").

Cyber attacks increasingly threaten the security of companies in the European Union, in particular, energy suppliers, oil pipelines and hospitals. The EU Commission therefore wants to improve the level of cyber security, especially for critical infrastructures, and tighten reporting requirements.