On 19 July, after eight years of waiting, Albania finally participated in the first intergovernmental conference as a candidate country for the European Union. Thus the accession negotiation process begins, but unresolved bilateral issues with Greece could already get in the way
In 2017, "Zicer" was born in Zagreb, the Center for Innovation, a municipality space designed to develop and support innovative companies. Zicer is now home to about eighty companies and is the flagship of the city. We talked about it with director Frane Sesnic
Within the EU, the Balkan countries are among those that invest less in research and innovation. European funds make a positive contribution, but the gap with the rest of Europe still tends to widen. The reasons are manifold
Media expert lawyer Andrea Di Pietro positively comments on the anti-SLAPP package of the European Commission and stresses the need for training initiatives aimed at legal practitioners, to recognise and combat the gag complaints that threaten freedom of expression and the right of citizens to participate in the public debate
Artificial intelligence and algorithms are at the heart of the EU’s new mobility-control system. High-risk automated decisions are being taken on human lives. It is an emerging multi-billion-euro unregulated market with dystopian 'smart' applications
The second of a series of insights into the digital aspect of the so-called 'Fortress Europe' and of existing and potential abuses: the impact of surveillance systems on vulnerable populations, money for Frontex drones, and monitoring the movement of citizens within the European area
The first of a series of insights into the digital aspect of the so-called 'Fortress Europe' and of existing and potential abuses: we start from a description of the main systems in use in Europe to manage the mobility of people across its borders and countries
Quickly resolving the economic issue relating to journalists, fighting harder against SLAPPs or gag complaints, using the rule of law to improve media conditions. These are the keywords of Maja Sever, the first woman to lead the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
Energy efficiency and renovation programmes in the building sector are crucial to achieve the 2050 climate neutrality target envisaged by the European Commission. This topic was discussed in a stakeholder session during the European Macro-Regions Week 2022
A little more than two months after an article on the journey of Cuban exiles to the EU, we return to the subject with the voices of those directly involved gathered in Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. With a specific focus: the LGBT community
Poor infrastructure, little maintenance. The Romanian railways are in bad shape even though the network is among the longest in Europe. Will the local PNRR reverse course?
The Montana174 project shared a series of video testimonials on how the support of the European Union through cohesion policies has made a difference for many who live in the mountains
The consortium running the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) – consisting of the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), ARTICLE 19 Europe, European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), Free Press Unlimited (FPU), International Press Institute (IPI), and Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa (OBC Transeuropa) – has been granted funding for 18 months from the European Commission to continue its work to defend and support press and media freedom throughout all EU member states, candidate countries, and Ukraine
With the Digital Services Act, the European Union aims to establish new standards on the obligations and responsibilities of social networks and other large platforms in the management of problematic content. The result is the outcome of an ongoing dialogue between the Commission, Parliament, and the Council, with the involvement of civil society
The giants of Silicon Valley are taking in 70% of the profits generated by cloud computing in Europe. Despite the problems thrown up by GDPR, some of this money continues to flow through beefy public contracts
Whether they’re evacuating civilians, transporting troops or exporting goods, Ukrainian railways are on the frontline of resistance against the Russian invasion
The energy needs of these physical infrastructure, where much of the world’s digital information is stored, have grown exponentially in recent years. While business has been booming, so have concerns about their sustainability and the environmental threats that data centres present.
In Romania, Cluj-Napoca is one of the cities that have most believed in European planning, investing most of the funds in sustainability and new technologies
Since the beginning of the war, many Ukrainians – but also Russians – have been seeking refuge in the countries of the European Union. Where are they going, and which are the countries that already hosted the largest Ukrainian communities?
Scientific research and good practices. These are the two main elements that for some years have brought together researchers and volunteers from Italy, Spain, Greece, Albania, Croatia, and Slovenia in the fight to safeguard the protected natural areas of the Mediterranean from plastics
Gabrovo, in central Bulgaria, used to be one of the country's main industrial centres: to relaunch it, the city university has launched a Centre of Competence, to reconnect the academia and the business world and foster research and training
Ukrainian refugees now enter the EU under the aegis of the ultra-fast special protection system, but regular reception centres across the Union are piling up hundreds of thousands of applications and rejecting many. EU members states' asylum systems average more than 15 months of delay
Civic movements that go beyond national borders, populism, and the construction of the common European home. We talked about it with sociologist Paul Blokker, starting from what is happening with the "Conference on the Future of Europe"
The European Parliament approved by a large majority the establishment of a commission of inquiry to shed light on the abuse of Pegasus and other digital surveillance tools against journalists, critical voices, and opposition figures in the countries of the European Union
From the Pegasus spyware investigation to mass surveillance: a dialogue with researcher Philip Di Salvo to understand the impact of new technologies for all those involved in journalism and beyond
A NATO member with strong strategic and economic ties with Moscow (but also with Kyiv), Turkey is facing the Russian aggression against Ukraine with extreme caution, in an attempt to minimise the risks, but also to take advantage of possible opportunities
Digitalisation and technological innovation are key to the development of the European maritime industry. Digital services for communicating data and information are increasingly essential to ensure better connectivity and safer, more sustainable navigation in European waters
The pandemic, which moved citizen’s lives into the digital sphere, saw a rise in security breaches within European businesses and institutions. Cyber attacks against key European sectors doubled in 2020. Although Brussels is working to plug the gaps, the invasion of Ukraine threatens to intensify the cyber war
