Think Tank

Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA) was set up on 10 March 2022. Chaired by MEP Jeroen LENAERS, PEGA Committee investigated infringements and maladministration in application of EU law in relation to the use of Pegasus and equivalent spyware surveillance software. Spyware and other hacking techniques are critical threats to privacy, data protection and democracy in the EU. They serve oppressive agendas against journalists, political activists ...

A key function of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is to serve for its members as a forum for the negotiation of global trade rules. However, since the WTO's foundation in 1995, WTO members have largely failed to meet their self-defined negotiating objectives as set out in the comprehensive 2001 Doha Development Agenda (DDA). By the time of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Ministerial Conference, WTO members had settled on merely two multilateral agreements in almost 30 years: a 2013 agreement on trade facilitation ...

Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis and Commissioner Gentiloni are invited to the 15th Recovery and Resilience Dialogue (RRD) under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) Regulation. The previous RRD took place on 5 February 2024. This briefing comments on the Commission’s RRF midterm review in section 1, focuses on some of the Commission’s recent preliminary assessments related to payment requests submitted by Czechia, Denmark, and Malta in section 2, summarises the state of play of the implementation ...

This study presents an overview of how the issue of obstetric and gynaecological violence is currently being apprehended in the EU. Based on research carried out across the EU 27 Member States, it identifies issues and challenges; looks at the legal framework currently applicable to this form of violence; examines ongoing political and legal developments; and gathers initiatives carried out at the national level to improve understanding and prevention of this form of gender-based violence by healthcare ...