Budget

Driverless cars could be a revolution for people with disabilities – but they also have good reason to be worried

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, September 27, 2023

In theory, fully autonomous driverless vehicles will offer huge advantages to people with disabilities.

Key Points: 
  • In theory, fully autonomous driverless vehicles will offer huge advantages to people with disabilities.
  • Too often, people with disabilities face multiple problems while using public transport.
  • They often need to rely on friends and relatives for lifts or spend too much of their limited budgets on taxis.

Gaining independence

    • Driverless cars should allow individuals with disabilities to travel independently, whenever they want and to wherever they want.
    • These studies have also looked into what might prevent individuals with disabilities from welcoming their introduction.
    • Disquiet has also been voiced regarding possible equipment failures, software malfunctions, and dangerous and irresponsible driving by other road users.

Prior knowledge

    • Our third major finding concerned the critical role of a disabled person’s prior knowledge of driverless cars.
    • We found that prior knowledge often made people with disabilities more confident around driverless cars.
    • But some of the group with prior knowledge had also decided that they disliked them.
    • Given the importance of prior knowledge when it comes to being happy about using an autonomous vehicle, favourable information about driverless cars will be crucial to convincing people with disabilities of the advantages of this new technology.

Every country can make a difference – but carbon reductions need to be realistic and fair

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, September 5, 2023

On the table will be the common goal of limiting global temperature rise as climate chaos becomes ever more evident.

Key Points: 
  • On the table will be the common goal of limiting global temperature rise as climate chaos becomes ever more evident.
  • When we talk about limiting climate change, we’re really talking about the global carbon budget set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
  • Meanwhile, countries which have industrialised later like Mexico, China, Argentina, Turkey, India and Indonesia are sitting below their fair carbon budgets.

What’s new about this?

    • If each of these countries ended their reliance on fossil fuels and other emissions sources, we’d be most of the way to tackling the climate crisis.
    • We did this to show how every country can make this energy transition in a timeframe realistic to their circumstances.

India: minimal historic impact but rising fast

    • But in recent decades, it has begun to emit more and its future emissions might rise substantially.
    • India has relied heavily on coal power, but its renewable sector is growing exceptionally fast.
    • If this industry relies on old coal technology, it will add to emissions and eat away at the global carbon budget.

China: giant of emissions, manufacturing – and renewables

    • Cleaning up its enormous industrial sector through green steelmaking and other new techniques will be actually be harder than getting off coal power.
    • On the positive side, China has emerged as the world’s leading nation in solar and wind energy deployment and manufacturing.

America: gas, inefficient cars and a clean energy boom

    • Fossil gas plays a major role for power and heat generation, while America’s cars and trucks are the most inefficient in the world.
    • But, thankfully, America’s much-vaunted Inflation Reduction Act has triggered an enormous investment boom in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Australia: rich in renewables – and gas and coal

    • Our relatively small population means we’re not one of the largest overall emitters.
    • Huge coal and gas reserves mean Australia has long profited from fossil fuel income.
    • We’re the second largest coal exporter and one of the top liquefied natural gas exporters.

Fair is possible – and necessary

    • This weekend’s G20 summit gives an opportunity to build political momentum and formulate plans for concrete action among high-emitting countries.
    • Read more:
      COP27 roundup: how the world can stick to its carbon budget fairly

Highlights - Vote in CONT: Opinion on the Regulation establishing the Ukraine Facility - Committee on Budgetary Control

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 31, 2023

Vote in CONT: Opinion on the Regulation establishing the Ukraine Facility

Key Points: 
  • Vote in CONT: Opinion on the Regulation establishing the Ukraine Facility
    31-08-2023 - 11:32
    On 4 September 2023, the Members of the Committee on Budgetary Control will vote on the draft opinion to AFET and BUDG Committees on the Regulation establishing the Ukraine Facility.
  • The CONT Committee is voting on its opinion in the form of a letter to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, and on Budgets.
  • The opinion concerns mainly the protection of the EU financial interests, the use of the Early Detection and Exclusion System, and the role of the Audit Board envisaged in the proposal, including the appointment of an independent external auditor.

Governors may make good presidents − unless they become 'imperial governors' like DeSantis

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 30, 2023

In fact, a 2016 Gallup Poll found that almost 74% of people say that governing a state provides excellent or good preparation for someone to be an effective president.

Key Points: 
  • In fact, a 2016 Gallup Poll found that almost 74% of people say that governing a state provides excellent or good preparation for someone to be an effective president.
  • But as the former executive director of the National Governors Association for 27 years, I have worked with well over 300 governors.
  • During that time I have been part of many conversations with governors regarding other governors running for president.

A dominant position

    • That experience often creates a false impression that what they did in their states they can do for the nation.
    • These are not exactly issues important to citizens of most other states and thus not useful as a foundation for a presidential campaign.
    • This is clearly reflected in a recent New York Times poll of Republicans, where only 17% supported an anti-woke campaign, while 65% supported a law-and-order campaign.

Significant power

    • Governors traditionally have more constitutional and legal powers than do presidents, particularly in terms of budgets and in cases of emergency.
    • Often, I heard these comments during discussions with governors at National Governors Association meetings.
    • Similarly, many governors can cut previously enacted state budgets by up to 5% without consent from the legislature.
    • Governors also typically have more power than presidents during emergencies.

Political prominence

    • Governors often are the dominant political force in their states.
    • They particularly tend to overshadow the legislative and judicial branches – which significantly limit the power of the president at the federal level.
    • Governors dominate the legislature, in part, because state lawmakers tend to have very few staff to help them – if any at all.
    • In addition, most state legislators are part time and may only be in session a few weeks per year.

A matter of timing

    • The last governor that I remember who reached imperial status was Scott Walker, Wisconsin’s governor from 2011 to 2019.
    • He ran for president in 2016 but withdrew after only two months because of his poor showing in the polls.
    • This year, in addition to DeSantis, five other former or current governors have declared they are running for president.
    • But most of them are not imperial governors nor at risk of becoming one.
    • In addition, many in his party believe he would have had difficulty in his bid for reelection.

Newsletters - August 2023 - Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Access to page content (press "Enter")

Key Points: 
  • Access to page content (press "Enter")
    Direct access to language menu (press "Enter")
    Direct access to search menu (press "Enter")
    EN - English
    BG - български
    ES - español
    CS - čeština
    DA - dansk
    DE - Deutsch
    ET - eesti keel
    EL - Ελληνικά
    EN - English
    FR - français
    GA - Gaeilge
    HR - hrvatski
    IT - italiano
    LV - latviešu valoda
    LT - lietuvių kalba
    HU - magyar
    MT - Malti
    NL - Nederlands
    PL - polski
    PT - português
    RO - română
    SK - slovenčina
    SL - slovenščina
    FI - suomi
    SV - svenska
    News
    MEPs
    About Parliament
    Plenary
    Committees
    Delegations
    Other websites
    Other websites
    News
    MEPs
    About Parliament
    Plenary
    Committees
    Delegations
    Multimedia Centre
    President’s website
    Secretariat-general
    Think tank
    EP Newshub
    At your service
    Visits
    Legislative train
    Contracts and Grants
    Register
    Open Data Portal
    Committees
    European Parliament
    Search
    Search
    Please fill this field
    AGRI
    European Parliament
    Search
    Menu
    Choose your committee
    Choose your committee
    All committees - Homepage
    Foreign Affairs
    Human Rights
    Security and Defence
    Development
    International Trade
    Budgets
    Budgetary Control
    Economic and Monetary Affairs
    Tax Matters
    Employment and Social Affairs
    Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
    Public Health
    Industry, Research and Energy
    Internal Market and Consumer Protection
    Transport and Tourism
    Regional Development
    Agriculture and Rural Development
    Fisheries
    Culture and Education
    Legal Affairs
    Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
    Constitutional Affairs
    Women’s Rights and Gender Equality
    Petitions
    Beating Cancer
    COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and recommendations for the future
    Special Committee on foreign interference and disinformation, and on strengthening integrity in the EP
    Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation
    Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age
    Protection of Animals during Transport
    Use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware
    Go to the page
    AGRI
    Home
    Highlights
    Members
    Press releases
    Newsletters
    Publications
    Meetings
    Meeting documents
    Webstreaming
    Votes
    Minutes
    Documents
    Latest documents
    Motions for Resolution
    Search
    Work in progress
    Events
    Hearings
    Workshops
    Meetings with National Parliaments
    European Citizens’ Initiatives
    Supporting analyses
    Latest documents
    Search
    Presentation
    About
    Go back
    AGRI
    Home
    Newsletters
    August 2023
    August 2023
    Share this page on Facebook
    Share this page on Twitter
    Share this page on LinkedIn
    AGRI newsletter of 30-31 August 2023
    (PDF - 1 MB)

Highlights - AFET-BUDG - Members to discuss Establishing the Ukraine Facility - 30.08.2023 - Committee on Budgets

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 29, 2023

AFET-BUDG - Members to discuss Establishing the Ukraine Facility - 30.08.2023

Key Points: 
  • AFET-BUDG - Members to discuss Establishing the Ukraine Facility - 30.08.2023
    28-08-2023 - 11:46
    The co-rapporteurs, Michael Gahler (AFET, EPP) and Eider Gardiazábal Rubial (BUDG, S&D), will present their draft report during a meeting of the Committees on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and on Budgets (BUDG).
  • The Ukraine Facility is part of a package also containing the targeted revision of the EU's long term budget (multiannual financial framework - MFF) and the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP).
  • The draft report focuses on strengthening the proposal on the role of regions in Ukraine, the role of the EP as well as aligning it with previously adopted legislation in order to homogenise practices.

Highlights - Meeting with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine - 31.08.2023 - Committee on Budgets

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Meeting with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine - 31.08.2023

Key Points: 
  • Meeting with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine - 31.08.2023
    28-08-2023 - 11:59
    The Committee on Budgets will meet remotely with the Rada's Budget committee, to discuss issues of joint interest and to take cooperation between the two committees a step forward.
  • It is a follow-up to the BUDG hearing from April, in which the Chair of the Rada's Budget committee, Ms Roksolana Pidlasa, had participated.
  • This meeting will focus on budgetary matters.
  • It will touch upon issues such as the committees mandates and tasks, EU financial support for Ukraine, Ukraine's future financing needs, the implementation of Macro-Financial Assistance Plus as well as the Commission's recent proposal establishing a Ukraine Facility.

Climate change threatens the rights of children. The UN just outlined the obligations states have to protect them

Retrieved on: 
Monday, August 28, 2023

And the humans to be most affected by climate catastrophe are the youngest ones: children.

Key Points: 
  • And the humans to be most affected by climate catastrophe are the youngest ones: children.
  • So what are the responsibilities of governments to reduce the harm climate change will wreak on the lives of children?
  • It clearly stipulates why and how the rights of children are compromised by climate change – including the very basic right to life.

A practical guide to help children

    • This is an international agreement on a broad range of human rights as they relate to children, including their health, education, development, best interests and living standards.
    • Rather, it’s a practical “how-to” guide to action.
    • This document will help children, young people and their advocates hold governments and others accountable for their decisions.

So what does the document say?

    • It states the “adverse effects of climate change” on the enjoyment of children’s rights “give rise to obligations of states to take actions to protect against those effects”.
    • By extension, this means children have a right to participate in the drafting of environmental policies or laws that will affect them.

1. Best interests of the child

    • A key principle of the treaty is the best interests of the child should be a primary consideration when making decisions on their behalf.
    • The general comment expands on this, saying:
      the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration in the adoption and implementation of environmental decisions affecting children.
    • the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration in the adoption and implementation of environmental decisions affecting children.

2. Protecting Indigenous children

    • The comment says states are obliged to ensure the right to life, survival and development of Indigenous children.
    • They are also expected to “engage with Indigenous children and their families in responding to climate change by integrating, as appropriate, Indigenous cultures and knowledge in mitigation and adaptation measures”.

3. Actions of the business sector

    • Where the impacts of a business cross national boundaries, governments are expected to ensure businesses operate at “environmental standards aimed at protecting children’s rights from climate-related harm”.
    • Governments should also protect the rights of children when implementing tax regimes and procuring goods and services from the private sector.

Facing up to the challenge

    • The UN committee articulates the responsibilities of states and details how children’s rights should be protected by all levels of government.
    • Read more:
      Thinking of having a baby as the planet collapses?

Talk of a new Cold War is overheated – but NZ faces complex challenges in the era of ‘strategic competition’

Retrieved on: 
Monday, August 28, 2023

As the general election nears, the campaign focus so far has been almost exclusively on domestic issues.

Key Points: 
  • As the general election nears, the campaign focus so far has been almost exclusively on domestic issues.
  • And yet, over the past two months, no fewer than five government documents have been released outlining the significant defence and security challenges the country now faces.
  • That assessment matches other national security reports, defence reviews and Indo-Pacific strategies released in the past 12 months by Australia, Germany, Japan, Britain and South Korea.

No new Cold War

    • Unlike the Soviet Union, which dominated Eastern Europe after the second world war, Russia cannot even secure victory against a state on its periphery.
    • Read more:
      NZ’s first national security strategy signals a 'turning point' and the end of old certainties

      At the same time, the US relationship with China is fundamentally different from its Cold War relationship with the Soviet Union.

    • During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the US had formidable global alliance systems.

The rise of ‘strategic competition’

    • It will shape the character and rules of the international system for the 21st century and beyond.
    • China is a formidable competitor seeking to balance US power, not least in the Indo-Pacific, the powerhouse of the world economy.
    • Essentially, the US view is that alliances and partnerships will determine the course of world politics, even more than during the Cold War.

Washington needs allies

    • The first involves the objective decline in US power since the 2008 global financial crisis and the rise of its allies and partners.
    • The stability and fortunes of the international order that Washington has constructed will increasingly hinge on the willingness of those allies and partners to defend key principles that underpin the system.

Speaking truth to power

    • These countries are critical in sustaining the existing economic and political order, and expect US restraint in its defence of it.
    • An enlightened understanding of America’s own national interest is consistent with those expectations.
    • For example, most reasonable observers in the US would now agree with the Helen Clark government’s position of “speaking truth to power” in not backing the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Slower ageing, but slower economic growth: the Intergenerational Report in 7 charts

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, August 24, 2023

The Australian government has just released the latest iteration of its Intergenerational Report, the sixth since the first was published in 2002.

Key Points: 
  • The Australian government has just released the latest iteration of its Intergenerational Report, the sixth since the first was published in 2002.
  • Each provides a snapshot of the sort of Australia in which future generations will find themselves in 40 years’ time, should current government policies continue.

1. Increasing optimism about ageing

    • The chart below shows the projections in each of the six reports for the proportion of the population aged 65 and over.
    • And ageing will slow further if net migration climbs higher than the 235,000 per year assumed in the latest report.
    • A more reasonable migration assumption might be that it will in fact increase alongside increases in the total population.

2. Increased optimism about willing workers

    • While participation is still expected to drop, the latest projection is for more of a glide than a dive, leaving participation higher in 2063 than it was in 2002.
    • As the report puts it, participation is projected to decline from a record high of 66.6% in 2023 to 63.8% by 2063.
    • More of us will be older and less able to work, but within most age groups, more of us will be in work.

3. Increased optimism about the cost of the pension

    • Spending on pensions is projected to fall rather than climb as a share of the economy, falling from 2.3% to 2% of GDP.
    • While in other countries pensions are more generous and increase with earnings, in Australia the age pension is more modest and reduces with means.
    • By pairing the age pension with superannuation, which increases people’s means in retirement, pension spending falls.

4. Increased optimism about spending on health

    • Government spending on health as a proportion of GDP is still projected to increase, from 4.6% now to 6.2% in 2063, but is expected to remain well short of the first intergenerational report’s projection of more than 8% by 2042.
    • Only 40% of this projected increase in health spending is due to ageing, which ought not to be the least bit surprising.

5. Increased pessimism about the cost of aged care


    Spending on aged care is set to grow more than many other types of spending, albeit from a low base. The Intergenerational Report has it doubling from 1.1% of GDP in to 2.5% in 2063. The projection may well be an underestimate. Governments are yet to fully respond to demands for greater quality of care set out in the report of the royal commission into aged care quality and safety.

6. Increased pessimism about living standards

    • Productivity growth, and assumptions about future productivity growth, have continued to decline with almost every intergenerational report.
    • The assumption for long-term productivity growth in this report is 1.2%, down from 1.75% in the 2002 intergenerational report.
    • The 2002 intergenerational report had living standards (GDP per person) climbing 90% in 40 years.

7. A deteriorating Commonwealth budget

    • While slower ageing means this report predicts the government’s future budget deficits will be lower than those projected in all previous reports bar one, the budget is expected to be in a deepening deficit for much of the next 40 years.
    • Read more:
      The intergenerational report sets the scene for 2063 – but what is it?