Section: European Parliamentary Research Service Blog (EU)
Slovakia to take over Council of the EU Presidency – 1 July 2016
Written by Dora Boytha (Office of the Deputy Secretary-General), On 1 July 2016, Slovakia will take over the six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU from The Netherlands, as part of the Dutch-Slovak-Maltese ‘Trio Presidency’. The Slovak “coalition of historic compromise” was only sworn in on 23 March 2016 and Prime Minister...
Chernobyl 30 years on: impact and response
Written by Didier Bourguignon, © Photosmart / Fotolia In the early hours of 26 April 1986, an incident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and subsequent explosions released nuclear radioactive material into the atmosphere. Some 600 000 people took part in the containment operations and around 350 000 people were displaced in the years following...
Chernobyl 30 years on: The EU’s response
Written by Philippe Perchoc, © Photosmart / Fotolia In the early hours of 26 April 1986, a test on the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant resulted in a massive energy surge, which led to the biggest nuclear accident in history. Some 600 000 men participated in the containment operations, putting their lives at risk, and around...
EU action in a globalised world: April plenary session
Written by Clare Ferguson, © Europen Parliament / P.Naj-Oleari The key debate on Parliament’s agenda for this Strasbourg session week (Wednesday) will be the Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 17-18 March 2016 and the outcome of the EU-Turkey summit – obviously linked to the migration situation in the Mediterranean. Conscious of...
Ukraine — in limbo between crisis and transformation? [Policy Podcast]
Written by Naja Bentzen, © peteri / Fotolia When Ukraine’s then President Viktor Yanukovich caved in to Russian pressure and refused to sign the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in 2013, he involuntarily sparked the ‘revolution of dignity’ that paved the way for his own ousting on 22 February 2014, igniting hope for a European future....
Sanctions over Ukraine Impact on Russia
Written by Martin Russell, © Martin Capek / Fotolia In early 2014, Russia violated international law by annexing Crimea and allegedly fomenting separatist uprisings in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass. The European Union, the United States and several other Western countries responded with diplomatic measures in March 2014, followed by...
Supporting Ukraine between crisis and transformation – Ukraine Week in the European Parliament
Written by Naja Bentzen, © peteri / Fotolia When Ukraine’s then President Viktor Yanukovich caved in to Russian pressure and refused to sign the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in 2013, he triggered the ‘revolution of dignity’, that paved the way for his own ousting on 22 February 2014 and sparked hope for a European future. Today —...
