25Oct 2024 by Joost Mulder

EESC adopts Opinion on Environmental, Social and Governance ratings

On 25 October 2023, the European Economic and Social Committee adopted a report by Krzysztof Balon on the transparency and integrity of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) ratings, on which Better Europe’s senior consultant Yiorgos Vassalos acted as advisor to the rapporteur. In the report, the EESC recommends the adoption of minimum quality requirements for ESG ratings, such as the mandatory inclusion of the assessment of company impact on people and the environment (double materiality). It also proposes reinforcing the provisions against conflicts of interest, improved transparency by moving more information on the methodology of ratings to the public domain, and a lot more. The full EESC opinion was adopted in plenary with 166 votes in favour, 2 against, and 2 abstentions, and several Members of the European Parliament have…

28Mar 2024 by Joost Mulder

EU Friday – 28 March

EU Friday

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. EU STOPS THE CLOCK ON SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS LAWS Good news – EU Member State representatives indicated their governments agree to the "stop-the-clock" proposal to postpone sustainability reporting for two years, a message that Europe's large companies have been desperately wanting to hear. The decision will save them a lot of resources that can be reinvested into competitiveness, which is desperately needed in view of sudden geopolitical winds of change. And even better news is that the rules on due diligence will also be postponed by one year, which should give a breath of relief of companies that are busy to survive and therefore not able to dedicate time and resources to checking their supply chains. After all, there is nothing wrong…

07Mar 2024 by Joost Mulder

EU 2024: Half-way there, the sprint begins

Opinion, Views

There are three months left before this year’s EU elections on 6 to 9 June. By the end of March, a complete list of Spitzenkandidaten for the top European Commission job should be finalised. Since January, the pace of weekly political and legislative developments in Brussels has not slowed down. Previously contested laws such as the Nature Restoration law have been finalised, while others including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive have been held hostage. The last two-month sprint begins before the last Plenary session of the current Parliament on 22 to 25 April. No slowing down In the course of February and the beginning of March, almost all European groups, that recognise the Spitzenkandidaten process, have put forward their candidates for the role of the next European Commission president.…

09Feb 2024 by Joost Mulder

EU 2024: a busy start to a busy year

News

The new year 2024 is a year of elections: citizens in the U.S., India, and of course Europe, will go voting. In the EU, the race for the European Parliament has already started, with elections due to take place in June. In January, the new Presidency of the Council took over with a clear goal in mind (to finalise as many legislative files as possible), current President of the European Council Charles Michel announced his candidacy in the European Parliament elections, and several lead candidates for national lists were announced. January was definitely a busy start for the European Union, with the pace expected to only accelerate further. Busy start As usual, with the new year, a new presidency kicked in. The Belgians, who took over after the Spanish, announced…

20Dec 2023 by Joost Mulder

EU2024: Time is ticking

News

In less than six months, between 6 and 9 June 2024, Europeans in all 27 EU member states will choose 720 MEPs – the new European Parliament composition for the next legislative mandate (2024-2029). While time is ticking ahead, the months ahead still provide interesting advocacy opportunities that can help you to achieve key policy objectives in the next mandate. Right on the rise November 2023 brought a record high in opinion polls for Identity and Democracy (ID), the most right-wing party in the European Parliament, with projected 87 seats in total. This puts them four seats ahead of the other right-wing group, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), and only two seats below the liberal group Renew Europe. If this trend continues, the race for third place in the…

01Nov 2023 by Joost Mulder

EU Friday – 1 November

EU Friday

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. GEORGIAN ELECTIONS FURTHER COMPLICATE EU ACCESSION Following Georgia’s legislative elections on 28 October, the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory with 54% of the vote. Amid reports of vote-buying, irregularities, and polling station violence, international observers including the OSCE declared the elections neither free nor fair. Pro-European opposition leaders, led by President Salome Zourabichvili, condemned the outcome as fraudulent and called for public protest. In a controversial move, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, visited Tbilisi to endorse Georgian Dream’s vision of “pro-European” politics, which he framed as a commitment to peace and a rejection of Western calls to confront Russia. EU leaders, however, voiced alarm over Georgia’s democratic backsliding which could lead to a slowdown of the EU accession process, and…

25Oct 2023 by Joost Mulder

EESC adopts Opinion on the Retail Investment Strategy proposals

Uncategorized

Just one day ahead of the European Parliament's deadline for amendments, the European Economic and Social Committee adopted a report from Kestutis Kupsys on the Commission's Retail Investment Strategy, on which Better Europe's director Joost Mulder acted as advisor to the rapporteur. In the report, the EESC recommends basic products to be extended to provide a benchmark for product manufacturers to do better; to increase training requirements for people selling financial products who often themselves do not fully understand the complex products they are selling, including on sustainability matters; to measure and disclose the actual sustainability impact of investments; to always offer a sustainable product in investment advice situations, with a default for the sustainable option, and much more. The full EESC opinion was adopted in plenary with 209 votes…

06Oct 2023 by Joost Mulder

The Spitzenkandidaten process – is there room for civil society?

News

In a bit more than a year from now, in early November 2024, the mandate of current von der Leyen Commission (2019-2024) will officially come to an end. A new Commission mandate will kick in and will last until 2029. While most senior Commission staffers will keep their positions, the political leadership of the European Union executive, the 27 Commissioners and their personal cabinets, is likely to go through significant changes, based on the results of the 2024 EU elections and shifts in national governments since the last EU elections in 2019. The Spitzenkandidaten process explained Ahead of European elections, European political parties appoint their lead candidates for the role of Commission President, with the expectation that the Presidency will go to the candidate capable of securing sufficient parliamentary support.…

13Sep 2023 by Joost Mulder

EU Friday – 13 September

EU Friday

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. DRAGHI'S MEGA-INVESTMENT PLAN TALK OF THE TOWN IN BRUSSELS Mario Draghi’s €800 billion investment plan, unveiled this Monday, has set off a storm of reactions across Europe. The former ECB chief is advocating for a hefty annual boost—equivalent to 4.4-4.7% of EU GDP—to tackle decarbonisation, digitalisation and defence. His aim: to help Europe catch up with other global heavyweights like China and the US. With no surprises, the centre-right side of the political spectrum has been quite satisfied with the report, praising it for its concrete pathways for solutions. Green advocates, on the other hand, raise serious concerns amid the already environmentally unfriendly political atmosphere. CAN Europe criticised the report for neglecting crucial elements and being too heavily focused on industrial…

24Aug 2023 by Joost Mulder

EU2024 – the Final Countdown begins

Uncategorized

The current European Parliament (2019-2024) is coming back to work after its last summer recess, in view of a very busy autumn into the Brussels bubble. With the official date of the last plenary session now set for 22-25 April 2024, the final countdown before the 2024 elections, which will bring forward a brand-new European Parliament, has officially begun. Summer developments The two major European political parties, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), show two different trends according to the July polls. The EPP continues to lose another 4 seats compared to earlier polls, bringing it down to 157 seats, and S&D recovers a bit, to 143 seats. The race for third place goes on as the liberal Renew Europe group…