The implementation of the "Spyros Doxiadis" Action Plan of public health screening is expected to get back on track within the first semester of 2024, as Greece’s new health minister takes office. First up is the cervical cancer screening programme, due to start next month.

The future of European competitiveness and innovation and its global investment attractiveness is at a critical juncture. In the coming years, it’s imperative that EU policymakers remain laser-focused on addressing pressing challenges—including tech, environmental, sustainability, and security policy—and transforming them into opportunities for EU leadership. Join global technology trade association ITI, EU lawmakers, industry leaders, and tech policy experts for this in-person event to explore how policymakers can transition to a more innovative digital economy, strengthen open trade, and further deepen the single market. This event will include a keynote interview and panel conversation with a leading EU policymaker moderated by ITI’s global President and CEO Jason Oxman.

Amid growing farmers' protests across the EU, the French EU Greens chief on Tuesday (23 January) called for a new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that temporarily insures farmers' pay and limitations on free trade deals that could undermine EU farmers' competitiveness.

With an EU space rulebook in the works, Europeans should already look at the space programme's next generation, including a launcher demand aggregator, and threat mapping strategy, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said on Tuesday (23 January).

In an internal document obtained by Euractiv, the Belgian presidency shared preliminary thoughts on supporting and regulating online influence, tapping into an open discussion at the EU and national level.

The European Ombudsman’s inquiry has found maladministration regarding the European Commission’s meetings with tobacco lobbyists, but the EU executive insists there are sound transparency measures in place.

Last weekend, around a million protesters took to the streets in various German cities to protest against the far right. However, even this new wave of civil commitment is unlikely to stop the astronomical rise of the AfD party.

The European Commission released on Tuesday a proposal to review the timelines for companies to comply with the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation to ensure availability and avoid shortages.

The European Commission is set to adopt a decision establishing the European Artificial Intelligence Office, according to a draft document obtained by Euractiv.

Alcohol consumption trends have shifted in recent years, with daily consumption declining but occasional binge drinking continues to rise, according to a study published on Tuesday (23 January) by the French health agency SPF, which reflects a similar trend across Europe.

Europe’s first-ever Offshore Network Development Plan, published on Tuesday (23 January), highlights the huge investment needed to connect offshore wind farms to final consumers, with an estimated 54,000 kilometres of transmission assets expected to be built in European waters by 2050 – almost 1.5 times the equator’s length.

France registered a record number of applications for asylum in 2023, the third-highest number amongst EU countries, after Germany and Spain. 

Slovak hospitals are failing to fulfil the minimum recommended 8-hour/day skin-to-skin contact for preterm babies, which is considered critical for the survival and development of infants by the WHO and European standards.

Concerned about the affordability of innovative drugs in the Netherlands, the Dutch Association of Innovative Medicines has called in an open letter for more support for innovative businesses with measures that attract skilled workers and protect the intellectual property they create.

In April 2023, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a new Directive and a new Regulation, aimed at revising and replacing the existing General Pharmaceutical Legislation (GPL). The proposal focuses on modernising the pharmaceutical sector with a patient-centred approach, while also fully supporting an innovative and competitive industry. Through the proposal, the EU aims to offer an attractive and innovation-friendly environment for research, development, and production of medicines in Europe. The EU plans to create this environment by promoting world-class innovation, governed by stable and consistent rules that keep pace with innovation and which increase competitiveness while reducing red tape and costs. One of the sectors impacted by the proposal is that of biotechnology, which has been instrumental in the discovery and development of therapies, diagnostics, vaccines and, most importantly, advanced medicines. These ‘next generation medicines’ are delivered through a complex and interdependent biotechnology ecosystem, where companies of all sizes contribute to establishing a pathway to patients. Join this Euractiv Hybrid Conference to discuss Europe’s biotech innovation in light of the EU’s reform of the General Pharmaceutical Legislation. Questions to be discussed include: - How can Europe’s biotechnology industry maintain its competitiveness in the global medical market? - How can we establish a framework that fosters the growth of small biotech innovators? - What are the reactions of investors to the challenges faced by small biotech companies, and how do these reactions influence the trajectory of innovation in the biotech industry? - What strategies can be employed to establish a successful innovation pathway for biotech companies, while considering and aligning with the objectives of the reformed GPL?

In June 2024, European citizens will go to the polls to elect new Members of the European Parliament. This event is the first of a series of institutional changes which will mark the start of a new five-year mandate for the European Institutions.

Elections across the globe this year will be a "prime target" for countries looking to spread disinformation and undermine democracy, such as Russia, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell warned on Tuesday (23 January).

US and British forces carried out a fresh round of strikes on Monday (22 January) in Yemen, targeting a Houthi underground storage site as well as missile and surveillance capabilities used by the Iran-aligned group against Red Sea shipping, the Pentagon said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Ukrainians abroad on Monday (22 January) for their support during Russia's invasion, and proposed changing the constitution to allow dual citizenship.

A leaked election manifesto of the centre-right European People’s Party group (EPP) vows to “revise” the combustion engine phase-out, raising questions as to whether hard-won Green Deal laws will unravel in the wake of a more conservative EU.