Mediaboss Marketing

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, today announced a substantial Resilience and Growth package for Armenia, to underpin the Armenia-EU Partnership Agenda.

The announcement was made after a trilateral meeting between the EU, the US, and Armenia, held in Brussels.

We are delivering on a promise we made last October: the promise to stand shoulder to shoulder with Armenia, and at the same time, the promise to set a vision for the future of our partnership, Von der Leyen told a press conference.

To underpin this partnership, the EU is proposing a 270 million Resilience and Growth Plan for Armenia for 2024-2027: 200 million in grant assistance and 70 million in grant funding to leverage investments in connectivity, resilience and business development.

We will invest in making the Armenian economy and society more robust and resistant to shocks. We will support your businesses, your talents, in particular your small and medium enterprises, so that we can help them to grow, to innovate and to access new markets. And we will invest in key infrastructure projects, Von der Leyen said.

She said the EU was ready to support the Black Sea electricity cable that can notably bring clean, renewable energy into Europe. In parallel, the EU will continue investing in Armenias renewable energy production and in better interconnections with Georgia.

The European Commission will also propose new measures for aviation and nuclear safety, and for trade diversification.

The new support package builds on the existing Economic and Investment Plan from the European Union for Armenia that, according to Von der Leyen, has already mobilised over half a billion euros in investments.

Ursula von der Leyen also welcomed the measures that Armenia has taken against the circumvention of EU sanctions against Russia in particular, to make sure that lethal equipment and technologies do not end up in the hands of the Russian military. This shows, she said, that the European Union and Armenia are increasingly aligned in values and interests.

She also said that the EU was ready to do even more to support the long-term integration of refugees displaced from Nagorno Karabakh, in addition to the more than 30 million allocated since September last year.

Find out more

Press release

Excerpt from:
EU announces new 270 million Resilience and Growth package for Armenia - euneighbourseast.eu

The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) announced the 2024 winner and special mentions in Brussels yesterday. The Danish author, Theis rntoft, received the award yesterday for his book Jordisk. The Icelandic author, Mara Elsabet Bragadttir, received a special mention for her book Spufuglinn.

The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) recognises emerging fiction writers from the European Union and beyond. Engaging the 40 countries participating in the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, the Prize celebrates 40 outstanding new literary talents across a cycle of three years.

Spotlighting the creativity and the immense and diverse wealth of Europes contemporary literature in the field of fiction, EUPL aims to promote the circulation of literature within Europe and encourages greater interest in non-national literary works.

Thirteen countries participated in EUPL 2024: Albania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Tunisia. The13 national nominees were revealed on 29 February 2024,one for each participating country. The authors and their novels were nominated by national entities, knowledgeable about the literary scene in their countries and used to promoting their national literature abroad. Aseven-member European jurymade of literary experts with professional influence read translated excerpts of the 13 nominated books and selected one overall laureate accompanied by five special mentions.

We are pleased to announce the #EUPL2024 laureate:

Denmark: Theis rntoft, Jordisk, Publisher: Gyldendal

This years five special mentions are, in alphabetical order by country:

Bulgaria: Todor Todorov, , Publisher: Janet 45

Germany: Deniz Utlu, Vaters Meer, Publisher: Suhrkamp

Iceland: Mara Elsabet Bragadttir, Spufuglinn, Publisher: Una tgfuhs

Netherlands: Sholeh Rezazadeh, Ik ken een berg die op me wacht, Publisher: Ambo|Anthos

Slovenia: Tina Vraj, Na klancu, Publisher: Cankarjeva zaloba

All nominated authors will be continuously promoted on a European stage, aiming to reach a wider and international audience, as well as connect with readers beyond their national and linguistic borders.

The EUPL is organised by a Consortium of associations comprising the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) and the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF), with the support of theCreative Europe Programme of theEuropeanUnion.

Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Iliana Ivanova said: "All works nominated this year showcase the richness and diversity of European literature. At the European Commission, we take pride in supporting a prize that helps talented writers from across Europe connect with readers worldwide through translations and promotion. Let's keep celebrating our diverse European literature!"

Ricardo Franco Levi, FEP President said We now have a decision for our expert jury. Congratulations to Theis rntoft and the special mentions. To all authors nominees, being on the EUPL longlist is a unique chance to increase the visibility of your book to a professional audience and of course, to readers. I would encourage you all to make the best use of EUPL opportunities and in a few months, to have the chance to read many of you in translation.

Jean Luc Treutenaere, co-President of EIBF, said: Congratulations to Theis rntoft for winning the 2024 EUPL Prize, along with the five special mentions and all the nominated authors in this edition. Their literary work further consolidates the role of the EUPL as an ambassador for the diversity and richness of European contemporary literature, underpinning a message of tolerance and mutual understanding. I wish their novels find the recognition they deserve in bookshops across Europe and beyond, and that they contribute to creating bonds between different regions and culture.

Read the rest here:
Mara Elsabet receives a special mention for Spufuglinn - EEAS

Crippa, M. et al. Food systems are responsible for a third of global anthropogenic GHG emissions. Nat. Food 2, 198209 (2021).

Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar

Ellis, E. C., Klein Goldewijk, K., Siebert, S., Lightman, D. & Ramankutty, N. Jean Henri Dunant: father of the Red Cross and Nobel laureate. Glob. Ecol. Biogeogr. 19, 589606 (2010).

Article Google Scholar

Wu, B. et al. Quantifying global agricultural water appropriation with data derived from Earth observations. J. Clean. Prod. 358, 131891 (2022).

Article Google Scholar

Clark, M. A. et al. Global food system emissions could preclude achieving the 1.5 and 2C climate change targets. Science 370, 705708 (2020).

Article ADS CAS PubMed Google Scholar

Ray, D. K. et al. Climate change has likely already affected global food production. PLoS ONE 14, e0217148 (2019).

Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

430 million of EU funds to support the EU agricultural sector. European Commission https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_3189 (2023).

Mora, O. et al. Exploring the future of land use and food security: a new set of global scenarios. PLoS ONE 15, e0235597 (2020).

Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

Springmann, M. et al. Health and nutritional aspects of sustainable diet strategies and their association with environmental impacts: a global modelling analysis with country-level detail. Lancet Planet. Health 2, e451e461 (2018).

Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

Sun, Z. et al. Dietary change in high-income nations alone can lead to substantial double climate dividend. Nat. Food 3, 2937 (2022).

Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar

Linares Quero, A. et al. Assessment of the Common Agricultural Policy 20142020 in supporting agroecological transitions: a comparative study of 15 cases across Europe. Sustainability 14, 9261 (2022).

Article Google Scholar

Financing of the CAP: facts and figures. Fact Sheets on the European Union https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/106/financing-of-the-cap (2022).

Heyl, K., Ekardt, F., Sund, L. & Roos, P. Potentials and limitations of subsidies in sustainability governance: the example of agriculture. Sustainability 14, 15859 (2022).

Article Google Scholar

Langlais, A. The new Common Agricultural Policy: reflecting an agro-ecological transition. The legal perspective. Rev. Agric. Food Environ. Stud. 104, 5166 (2023).

Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

Peer, G. et al. Action needed for the EU Common Agricultural Policy to address sustainability challenges. People Nat. 2, 305316 (2020).

Article Google Scholar

Ekardt, F., Wieding, J. & Zorn, A. Paris Agreement, precautionary principle and human rights: zero emissions in two decades. Sustainability 10, 2812 (2018).

Article CAS Google Scholar

Baldock, D. & Mottershead, D. Towards an Integrated Approach to Livestock Farming, Sustainable Diets and the Environment: Challenges for the Common Agricultural Policy and the UK (IEEP, 2017).

Gautam, M. et al. Repurposing Agricultural Policies and Support (World Bank & IFPRI, 2022).

Springmann, M. & Freund, F. Options for reforming agricultural subsidies from health, climate, and economic perspectives. Nat. Commun. 13, 82 (2022).

Article ADS CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

Bruckner, M. et al. FABIOthe construction of the Food and Agriculture Biomass Input-Output Model. Environ. Sci. Technol. 53, 1130211312 (2019).

Article ADS CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

FADN Public Database (European Commission, 2022); https://agridata.ec.europa.eu/extensions/FADNPublicDatabase/FADNPublicDatabase.html

Vanham, D., Bruckner, M., Schwarzmueller, F., Schyns, J. & Kastner, T. Multi-model assessment identifies livestock grazing as a major contributor to variation in European Union land and water footprints. Nat. Food https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00797-8 (2023).

Bureau, J. C. & Swinnen, J. Involvement of protein solvation in the interaction between a contrast medium (iopamidol) and fibrinogen or lysozyme. Glob. Food Secur. 16, 106115 (2018).

Article Google Scholar

Navarre, N., Schrama, M., de Vos, C. & Mogolln, J. M. Interventions for sourcing EAT-Lancet diets within national agricultural areas: A global analysis. One Earth 6, 3140 (2023).

Export Competition WT/MIN(15)/45WT/L/980 (WTO, 2015).

Borrell, B. & Hubbard, L. Global economic effects of the EU Common Agricultural Policy. Econ. Aff. 20, 1826 (2000).

Article Google Scholar

A multi-billion-dollar opportunityRepurposing agricultural support to transform food systems (FAO, UNDP & UNEP, 2021); https://doi.org/10.4060/cb6683en

Stanaway, J. D. et al. Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 19902017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet 392, 19231994 (2018).

Article Google Scholar

Caldecott, B., Howarth, N. & McSharry, P. Stranded Assets Programme (Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Univ. of Oxford, 2013).

IPCC. Climate Change and Land. An IPCC Special Report on Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security, and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2019).

Poore, J. & Nemecek, T. Reducing foods environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science 360, 987992 (2018).

Article ADS CAS PubMed Google Scholar

First Report of Cercospora citrullina Causing Spot Disease on Watermelon in China, Plant Disease (FAO, 2023); https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS

Arable land (hectares)European Union. World Bank https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.ARBL.HA?locations=EU (2013).

Read more:
Over 80% of the European Unions Common Agricultural Policy supports emissions-intensive animal products - Nature.com

The "All In Plus: Promoting greater gender equality in sport" joint European Union - Council of Europe project will receive the Grand Prix Edouard Eskenazifrom the Association Franaise du Corps Arbitral Multisports (AFCAM).

The AFCAM Executive Committee and its President Patrick Vajda unanimously decided to grant this prize to the "All In Plus" joint project, in recognition of its work highlighting the benefits of gender equality in officiating and more specifically promoting women's refereeing.

The Edouard Eskenazi Grand Prize stands as a testament to innovation, teamwork and dedication within the realm of multisport officiating, recognising initiatives that enable refereeing to progress. By selecting "All In Plus", AFCAM recognises the efforts made to promote gender equality in officiating, in particular through its data collection in more than 20 European countries.

"We are immensely proud to receive the Grand Prix Edouard Eskenazifrom AFCAM," stated Francine Hetherington Raveney, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Council of Europe's Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS). "This accolade not only recognises our collective endeavours but also reaffirms our unwavering dedication to promoting gender equality in officiating at European level and beyond."

The award ceremony scheduled to take place on 5 April 2024 will serve as a platform to explore the three pillars of the "All In Plus" project. Over 220 representatives from Olympic, national and school federations and referees' associations as well as other stakeholders will be brought together on the occasion of the 39th AFCAM General Assembly.

More information about the "All In Plus" joint project:

"All In Plus: Promoting greater gender equality in sport" (1 March 2023 28 February 2025) is the follow-up project to the "All In: towards gender balance in sport" joint project (1 March 2018 31 October 2019). Its overarching goal is to highlight the benefits of greater gender equality in sport and its key objectives are to ensure that the relative invisibility of women in sport and the ongoing lack of awareness about gender imbalance in sport are brought clearly to the forefront. The joint project is structured around three pillars:

More information about AFCAM:

The French Association of Multisports Referees (AFCAM) was founded in 1985 with the aim of assisting officiators and referees in all sports. In November 2020, AFCAM brought together the refereeing body of more than 80 disciplines/130 structures, i.e. a total of 244,000 judges or referees, 30.32% of whom are women. Its mandate is to:

More information about Edouard Eskenazi: Secretary General of AFCAM for several terms, he died of a serious illness a few weeks after his appointment as the lead judge of the Olympic Games London 2012 and was therefore unable to carry out his dream of being a referee at the Olympics. In 2012, AFCAM decided to create a grand prize that would allow to perpetuate his memory. The crystal blockbearing his effigy is awarded annually to a person or an institution that has done much for the advancement of officiating. Normally, and with two exceptions, this award is never given to a referee and was never handed over to a sitting referee.

See original here:
All In Plus joint European Union - Council of Europe project to receive the Grand Prix Edouard Eskenazi by AFCAM - Council of Europe

You can now follow the concrete experiences of local actors trying to overcome border obstacles thanks to a fresh series of videos on b-solutions now available on DG REGIOs Youtube channel.

B-solutions is an initiative of the European Commission carried out in partnership with the Association of European Border Regions. It aims at overcoming legal and administrative cross-border obstacles hindering European Integration thanks to the expertise and recommendations of legal experts.

Different regulations hampering business between Norway and Sweden, difficulties for German and Danish students to pursue their internships on the other side of the border, impossibility for French patients with a Luxembourgish doctor to benefit from home hospitalisation All these videos are narrated by the very people who experienced these obstacles and received legal support from B-Solutions experts to overcome them.

For even more insights into concrete stories of border solutions, you can now download the publication Living in a cross-border region: Nine stories to facilitate cross-border solutions. As DG REGIOs Director General Themis Christophidou mentions in her introduction to the publication,

These stories are not just anecdotes; they contribute to overcoming border blindness by spotlighting various cross-border experiences in the European Union. As such, they serve as unique sources of data and knowledge for better policies and for EU integration, working seamlessly across the borders.

Do you represent a public body facing a border obstacle? Is the lack of coordination between legislative systems hampering interactions with your neighbours? You can apply to the open call for b-solutions: https://www.b-solutionsproject.com/call-for-proposals

See original here:
Inforegio - b-solutions: new materials and ideas to solve border obstacles! - European Commission