Science & the Environment
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Germany: ‘The electricity price brakeman’
29 January 201324 2PresseuropHandelsblatt -
Bulgaria: Voters stay away from nuclear referendum
28 January 201327 2PresseuropTrud, Standart -
The Netherlands: ‘Growing concerns over gas drilling’
28 January 201340PresseuropTrouw -
Renewable energy: Ireland back in the green
7 January 20131337 7 La Repubblica Rome -
Ireland: Black gold fever spreading in Cork
2 January 2013175 12PresseuropLa Vanguardia -
Innovation: EU (finally) adopts single European patent
12 December 2012108 40PresseuropLes Echos, Libération, ABC -
Natural gas: Requiem for Nabucco
4 December 201257 3PresseuropSüddeutsche Zeitung -
Germany: Green energy producers cheating with coal
16 November 201261 9PresseuropDie Tageszeitung, Lidové noviny -
Renewable energy: Commissioner Oettinger rails against state subsidies
13 November 201253 10PresseuropSüddeutsche Zeitung -
EU- China: Solar wars?
2 November 2012116 37PresseuropFrankfurter Rundschau -
EU Budget: Top scientists against cuts
23 October 201263 27PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza -
Greece: There’s oil, gold and gas in those hills
15 October 2012161 7PresseuropLe Monde, La Tribune -
Czech Republic: Russians and Americans jostling for Temelín
11 October 201253 11 Ekonom Prague -
Nuclear energy: Let’s shut the power stations down
5 October 2012174 24 Frankfurter Rundschau Frankfurt -
Nuclear energy: Who will look after our nuclear security?
3 October 2012135 5PresseuropLe Monde, Trouw, Die Welt -
Energy: EU and Gazprom tensions alarm Central Asia
25 September 201241 1PresseuropLe Temps -
Central and eastern Europe: Brussels hits out at Gazprom
5 September 201229 3PresseuropFinancial Times Deutschland, Financial Times Deutschland, Adevărul -
Germany: Goodbye to nuclear, welcome back coal
5 September 2012495 92 Wprost Warsaw -
Bioethics: ECHR condemns Italian law on assisted reproduction
29 August 201249 3PresseuropLa Stampa, Gazeta Wyborcza -
Nuclear Energy: Authorities knew about cracks in nuclear plants
23 August 201253 3PresseuropDe Morgen -
Nuclear energy: Close watch on European reactors
10 August 2012110 1PresseuropLa Tribune, Le Monde -
Sustainable energies: The easy way to help the economy
9 August 2012179 14 NRC Handelsblad Amsterdam -
Energy: Nuclear no longer in vogue in Central Europe
2 August 201232 13PresseuropHospodářské Noviny -
European Commission: EU wants to simplify drug tests on humans
18 July 201293 8PresseuropBerliner Zeitung -
Economy: Hi-tech Europe has no reason to blush
17 July 201242 13PresseuropLe Monde -
Poland: Claiming benefits for coal plant that never was
12 July 201235 2PresseuropEurActiv.com -
Biofuels: Brussels will have to revise its policy
29 May 2012138 9 Respekt Prague -
Natural gas: Shale gas no longer popular
10 May 2012256 8 Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw -
Environment: Statistical fog in battle against CO2
20 April 2012133 4 The Guardian London -
Food: GM soy beans gain ground
18 April 2012120 1PresseuropFrankfurter Rundschau -
Libya: Inquiry threatens European oil firms
10 April 2012104 1PresseuropCorriere della Sera, The Wall Street Journal Europe -
Germany: The sun goes down on solar
4 April 2012276 13 Der Spiegel Hamburg -
United Kingdom: Scotland - oil, wind and whisky galore
29 March 2012349 25 The Observer London -
Central Europe: German winds causing turbulence
23 March 201293 8PresseuropFinancial Times Deutschland, Financial Times Deutschland -
POLAND: End of shale gas El Dorado?
22 March 201284 1PresseuropDziennik Gazeta Prawna, Rzeczpospolita -
Africa: Biofuels won’t feed the people
15 March 2012246 7 La Repubblica Rome -
Environment: Why Poland says no to EU’s climate policy
12 March 201295 19 Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw -
Tar sands: EU bows to oil lobby pressure
1 March 2012394 7 Trouw Amsterdam -
Nuclear energy: French plants need strengthening
4 January 201218 3PresseuropLe Figaro -
Netherlands: Second nuclear plant postponed
23 December 20111PresseuropNRC Handelsblad -
Durban conference: Union hampered by its own polluters
13 December 2011126 2 Público Madrid -
Climate change: Europe must change its attitude
8 December 2011123 3 Trouw Amsterdam -
Climate change: Europe set for ‘triple somersault’ at Durban
28 November 20111PresseuropIl Sole-24 Ore -
Pollution: A time bomb under the Northern seas
16 November 2011959 2 Trouw Amsterdam -
Natural gas: Gazprom gains first European foothold
8 November 201149 2PresseuropLe Monde -
Italy: Italian waters still dragged by illegal nets
31 October 2011119 La Repubblica Rome -
River transport: The Danube is running dry
26 October 2011161 NRC Handelsblad Amsterdam -
Poland: Shale gas, fuelling jobs
25 October 20111PresseuropDziennik Gazeta Prawna -
Bio-ethics : No patents for stem cells
19 October 2011PresseuropDie Presse -
Spain: Anti-nuclear at home, but selling it abroad
4 October 201194 1 El País Madrid
After two years of radical austerity the Irish economy is going through an upswing, thanks to new revenue the state is collecting from renewable energy and from taxing fossil fuels and rubbish. 
New nuclear reactors are become a rarity in Europe, which makes the case of the Czech Republic's Temelín power station all the more interesting, for which the Russians and Americans are engaged in a competition that involves politicians, lobbyists and secret services. 
The stress tests carried out by the EU provide more than enough reasons to shut down the old reactors. The European Commission, though, lacks the courage to follow the German example and prefers instead to rely on costly upgrades, laments an environmentalist writer. 
The stress tests on European nuclear power plants have turned up plenty of flaws in the safety of the installations. Although already hotly disputed by member states, the results are raising the question of the jurisdiction of the EU.
Instead of causing an explosion of “green energies”, the exit from nuclear that Angela Merkel announced in 2011 will bring about the building of new – and highly polluting – coal-burning plants. It’s an option that hasn’t annoyed Germany’s environmentalists. 
Not only would the introduction of more stringent energy standards benefit the environment, but they would also develop European competitiveness. Unfortunately, the EU's leaders do not seem to be aware, writes Ron Wit of the Dutch Foundation Nature and Environment. 
To achieve its CO2-emissions goals, the EU encourages biofuel crops to be grown on European farmland that once produced food. The result, though, is that the growing of the food crops is shifting to developing countries – along with the CO2 pollution and biodiversity impacts. Those unintended consequences are forcing the Commission to redraft its laws. 
France, Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic have decided to suspend the exploitation of their shale gas fields for environmental reasons. Now that the EU is under pressure to adopt a similar position, Poland may be the last European country to continue seeking to develop this energy source. 
The EU’s plan to reduce CO2 emissions is lauded for being the most ambitious scheme of its kind. But unclear criteria and wayward accounting put into doubt the success of steps taken so far. 
The company was one of the drivers of Germany’s energy turn-about. Today, solar cell manufacturer Q-Cells is the fourth and most symbolic of the solar energy companies to be sliding into bankruptcy. Competitive pressure from China can be blamed, but so too can Berlin’s subsidies policy. 
With Scotland set to vote on independence in 2014, future ownership of the UK's North Sea oil fields could see it becoming one of the world’s richest nations. 
Seeking to meet new regulations on low-carbon emission fuels, Europeans are battling over millions of hectares of African land in order to grow biofuels. This is detrimental to food crop production, warn NGOs. 
Warsaw has slapped its veto on the EU climate policy aiming to curb carbon emissions. We shouldn’t be that surprised, because it’s a policy veiled in a fog of ambiguity, writes Gazeta Wyborcza. 
The European Commission proposal to label oil produced from tar sands as highly polluting has been vetoed by London and The Hague. However, Trouw argues that it is not too late to defend the public interest. 
The EU has been unable in Durban to reach a common position on greenhouse gas emissions quotas after 2012. The veto of the former communist countries of the EU, who defended the current quotas that are so advantageous to them, is partly to blame. 
As the Durban climate conference draws to a close, the European Union can not continue to address the issue of climate change with a condescending attitude towards emerging countries. Needing these same countries to help it emerge from the financial crisis, the EU risks having the terms of any future agreement being dictated to it. 
The seas around Europe are threatened by a new source of pollution. Thousands of tonnes of chemical weapons will corrode and start to leak. In the Baltic, the possible consequences are being investigated. 
The EU banned drift nets in 2002 to protect Mediterranean wildlife and paid out compensation to the fishers. But for many of the recipients, the tuna and swordfish fisheries are far too lucrative. And so they are getting around the ban, with the help of the Mafia. 
The Danube, Europe's second longest river, is one of the most poorly navigable rivers on the continent. Despite the EU’s Danube Strategy, the summer drought has resulted in even lower water levels, resulting in an enormous traffic jam. 
The government calls itself “anti-nuclear”, and no plant has been constructed for over 20 years. And yet Spain's nuclear industry, aided by the government, continues to grow, mostly in developing countries.