Calls have been coming from all sides for the EU to intervene in the COVID-19 crisis in the name of European solidarity. Although the Union has little room for manoeuvre in the public-health sphere, it can use the powerful lever of economic and monetary policy to counter the coming economic downturn.
Most of the drugs sold worldwide come from India and China, where production is cheapest. As a result, Europe’s supply of medicines is in the hands of a few companies.
The COVID-19 outbreak has revived fears over acute drug shortages in Europe, sparking calls to repatriate the production of pharmaceutical ingredients from China. But rebuilding capacity would take years, if it were even possible.
How prepared are European hospitals to manage a steep increase of intensive care hospitalizations, needed in severe cases of coronavirus syndrome? We have collected some data, but the picture is far from complete.
According to the European Commission, 1 out of 5 European citizens has a disability which prevents them from fully taking part in society.
Europe is set to lose up to 15,000 km of shoreline due to erosion. The UK, France, Greece, Spain and Italy will be especially affected. And European holidaymakers will find less sand on beaches during their trips to warm destinations around the world.
In certain areas of Italy the distance to the nearest railway station makes this form of transport impractical. Below, we take a look at how well or poorly – and how many – schools in these areas are connected to households' places of residence.
Virgin forests in Central-Eastern Europe are the last remaining ones on the continent, yet they are being mercilessly torn down. Part of this multi-billion euro industry is a mafia-like system that stretches all the way from Romania to Ukraine. Austrian timber companies are right at the heart of it.
Key climate hazards are already affecting Europe and will increasingly do so, a series of maps published by the European Environment Agency reveals. Impacts, calculated through different scenarios and models, can only be reduced by keeping the global temperature increase well below 2°Cs.
Many people claim they are flying less to protect the environment, but figures from 2018 say otherwise. The aviation industry is doing better than ever and its emissions have more than doubled since 1990.
