Novelties are in the air for this week's European Council: Charles Michel will preside it for the first time, the gender balance will slightly improve, and it will probably be the last Council in which the UK takes part. Some novelties are expected also in terms of policy proposals.

The EU emissions trading system has reached its 2020 reduction target as early as 2017. But it still needs to fix one problem to be truly efficient.

Organic food consumption has increased by more than 80% in seven years. To meet the demand, European countries are devoting more land to organic farming. What environmental impact does it have?

The first of its kind, a new study quantifies the volume of European shipping companies’ greenhouse gas emissions. Despite being among the most polluting companies, European fleets are under no obligation to reduce their emissions. 

The latest report by the European Environment Agency predicts that Europe will not achieve its 2030 climate and energy targets "without urgent action during the next 10 years".

Without a high enough carbon price, surplus emissions permits will remain high and the European carbon market will remain broken.

A large garden, a new road bypass, a carpark built next to the new metro station – our modern lifestyles take up a lot of space. 4.2% of Europe is now artificialized by man. In theory, this leaves 95.8% of nature at peace. But it is more complicated than that.

Spain has a palm oil problem and it is nothing to do with food. The EU is going to ban the use of the crop in biofuels but Spain continues to import millions of tonnes from countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

A ban on trawling in reproduction areas brings fish stocks back to healthy levels. However, the Italian government is holding back impact assessments, forcing the European Commission to remove restrictions in the Strait of Otranto from the current Mediterranean plan.