EU Member States politically endorsed the NDICI-Global Europe at the European Council in December 2020, which was then adopted by the European Parliament on the 9th of June 2021. The EU is now equipped with an instrument to deal with development, neighbourhood, and international cooperation for the next seven years.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hungary and Poland have progressively slipped further towards authoritarianism.
Europe and Africa are strategic partners and their relations are built on a comprehensive set of diplomatic, trade, and financial instruments. In the field of the green transition, the EU-Africa partnership is characterized by a high degree of complementarity. Cooperation over renewable energy best exemplifies this. Africa needs the support of the EU both in terms of technical and financial assistance to unlock its renewable energy potential and address its lack of energy access, which remains the main obstacle in the path towards sustainable growth.
Debate over a shake-up of the international corporate tax system has been ongoing for many years now, with few concrete outcomes (Figure 9). But this time looks different. The pandemic has had a profound effect on public finances around the world. And with governments scrabbling for additional revenues, corporate taxes are an attractive source.
When it comes to Iran, the European approach has always been characterized by a degree of pragmatism. Contrary to the US policy of isolation and containment, the European Union has been advocating for engagement since the beginning of Iran’s reconstruction era in 1989. Even with ups and downs, the EU has tried to maintain dialogue, either in the form of “critical dialogue” or “comprehensive dialogue”.
“America is back” è la promessa che Joe Biden aveva fatto prima ancora di essere del tutto certo della vittoria elettorale, all'inizio di novembre dell'anno scorso; che ha ripetuto quasi quotidianamente nei suoi primi cento giorni di presidenza, e in quelli successivi; la promessa alla quale ora, nel suo primo viaggio oltre l'Atlantico, il presidente deve dare contenuti chiarificatori.
Polarization and discrimination linked to religion have been increasing in many parts of the world, including on the two shores of the Mediterranean. Against this background, however, seeds of hope have emerged from a number of religious leaders who have called for a new narrative of human fraternity and inclusive citizenship.
Both the G7 and the G20 summit platforms arose from responses to economic and financial challenges. As a result, finance ministers have a dominant role in both the discussion and the discourse among leaders of the major economies. The Covid-19 crisis has broadened the agenda of both groups of leading countries, along with urgency of climate change and the imperative of dealing with systemic social inequalities revealed by the pandemic.
G7 leaders gather in Cornwall on June 11-13 for their most important summit since the start in 1975. They will produce a strong success, perhaps the strongest of all time.
From inaction to action – that is the message that the 2021 G7 summit seems to be more than willing to get across. And, indeed, things appear to be moving fast: from bolder commitments on climate change to the recent announcement of a global corporate tax, from redoubled promises to help vaccinating the world to foreign policy coordination.
Last year brought about new, unforeseen challenges for the global community. The Covid-19 pandemic came as an unexpected “black swan” and put abruptly under discussion our life styles, our working practices, the ways we used to do business. In a nutshell, the whole globalization paradigm, which had reached its peak, was under threat by an invisible and microscopical enemy. Today, as we are finally getting out of the most acute phase of the emergency – at least from the health point of view – we are called to a possibly even daunting challenge: how can we build back our societies better?
The G7 finance ministers and central bank governors communique of 5 June 2021 contains commendable language to ensure a “Transformative effort to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss". The critical commitment “to properly embed climate change and biodiversity loss considerations into economic and financial decision-making” now needs to be comprehensively implemented by G7 Leaders.