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The European Union (EU) will present an initiative to address the metaverse and all the activities and interactions happening in it sometime in 2023. The proposal, which was qualified as key in the State of the Union letter of intent authored by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, will present several initiatives to clarify Europes rules and expectations for the metaverse.

Many countries of the world are in the process of integrating and adapting their regulatory frameworks and infrastructure to support the activities that are already happening in the metaverse. The European Union bloc is in this process, and has recently announced a union-wide initiative to allow Europe to thrive in the metaverse.

The initiative, which was qualified as key by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is part of what the latest State of the Union letter of intent calls a Europe fit for the digital age. Von der Leyen stated that as part of their digital regulation strategy, they will continue looking at new digital opportunities and trends, such as the metaverse.

The Commission aims to deliver this initiative in 2023, taking different activities that are already happening in the metaverse into account.

Thierry Breton, commissioner for the internal market of the European Union, explained the way in which the commission will focus to prepare this encompassing initiative. The organization will propose several structures to address perceived issues and will create a specific institution to develop standards and increase interoperability among the different metaverse worlds.

Breton remarked on the need for communication between these different metaverses, stating:

Private metaverses should develop based on interoperable standards and no single private player should hold the key to the public square. We will not witness a new Wild West or new private monopolies.

To structure the system for group providers of technologies on which the metaverse is based including software, middleware, other platforms, and 5G the Virtual and Augmented Reality Industrial Coalition was already launched, an institution that aims to group key stakeholders in these technologies in the area.

Also, on the connectivity side, Breton explained the institution will have to pinpoint the needs regarding infrastructure to make the metaverse thrive. On this, he declared:

We will launch a comprehensive reflection and consultation on the vision and business model of the infrastructure that we need to carry the volumes of data and the instant and continuous interactions which will happen in the metaverses.

The European Union also recently presented a project to fight counterfeiting by using blockchain technologies and NFTs.

What do you think about the upcoming metaverse-focused regulation initiative to be launched by the European Union next year? Tell us in the comment section below.

Sergio is a cryptocurrency journalist based in Venezuela. He describes himself as late to the game, entering the cryptosphere when the price rise happened during December 2017. Having a computer engineering background, living in Venezuela, and being impacted by the cryptocurrency boom at a social level, he offers a different point of view about crypto success and how it helps the unbanked and underserved.

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The possible, even likely, collapse of the European economy would inflict some heavy costs to present European institutions. In this entry, Dr. Peter Nyberg and I detail why we believe we are likely to see some rupturing of the European Union (EU) as originally conceived.

This may occur in two ways: Either the European Union disintegrates completely, or it mutates into something unrecognizable to its original purpose. This comment concentrates on some of the factors causing disintegration.

The functioning of the EU has, until recently, been built on two political pillars that now appear to be crumbling. Primarily, German growth has made possible the joint financing (through low-cost debt, the EU budget ,and the central banks clearing system) of unsuccessful economies without the EU forcing them to commit to politically unacceptable reforms. Beneficent global developments have made possible the concentration on economic integration while going slow on the much more contentious integration of cultural, social, and foreign policies.

The deterioration of the global economy, together with EU policies, now threaten industry and living standards in EU member states, reduce the scope of joint economic support, and force member states to rapidly evaluate their readiness for possibly radical reductions in their political self-determination. This is most evident in Italy.

The yields of Italian sovereign debt have reached levels that can be considered unsustainable, given the countrys high indebtedness and low rate of economic growth. For example, the yield of the Italian 10-year bond breached the 4 percent line late this past week. The maturity structure of Italian debt is also rather unfavorable. At the end of June, for example, Italy had issued only 52 percent of its needs for external financing in 2022. In addition, 35 percent of her outstanding debt will come due already in 2024. Half of her total debt will come due within five years.

Without active country-specific support from the European Central Bank (ECB), which the newly introduced Transmission Protection Instrument is designed to facilitate, Italian debt is unsustainable at current yields. Disagreements among member states on the wisdom of filling the ECB with Italian bonds is bound to weaken the glue keeping the EU together as before.

The energy crisis is also sowing seeds of serious inner conflict. The politics in the EU are becoming less forgiving as difficulties mount.

Both Hungary and the Czech Republic have objected to the plans for a price cap of Russian gas, which now looks unlikely to be enforced. The European Commission is also planning to cut funding for the Hungarian government of Victor Orban due to rule-of-law concerns. This is unlikely to increase the incentives of Hungary to stay in the union. More generally, as funding is made conditional on countries meeting the test of adhering to European values, one can expect the list of such essentially political requirements to grow as economic conditions worsen and demands for uniform policies grow.

For example, Poland is fed up with constant extra demands from the EU, like the demand to walk back from the changes Polish government was planning to the juridicial system, considering the distribution of funds from the Recovery Fund to its government. Krzysztof Sobolewski, the governing partys secretary-general, has warned that without a clear change in the actions of Brussels, We will have no choice but to pull out all the cannons in our arsenal and open fire. Since a number of contentious decisions still require unanimity, such a threat might be unwise to take lightly.

Fault lines are also emerging regarding the Russia sanctions.

Moderation in this respect, as ultimately needed by Germany and especially Italy, is not readily accepted (and may even attract internal sanctions). Russia naturally uses existing differences to reduce the cohesion of the EU. Reports state that Russia is preparing a first shipment from its new liquefied natural gas plant, to Greece. Hungary, as an outlier, is buying additional gas from Russia in accordance with their new agreement. It will be interesting to see what Germany may choose to do if the impact of energy scarcity on its economy and population is as large as some reports suggest.

Besides financially, Italy is also between a rock and a hard place on gas issues. While she has been able to cut Russian gas imports from around 40 percent to 1520 percent, its becoming practically impossible to cut them much further. There are serious bottlenecks dictating how much gas can be transferred from south to north Italy. Essentially, only a sufficient Russian gas supply can keep the lights on in the north of Italy, which is also the industrial hub of the country.

Practically, this means that President Vladimir Putin has the ability to push Italy into a deep recession and create yet another economic basket case in the EU. This time Germany may not be able to guarantee the financing needed for saving Italian companies and the nations banks. If so, yet another debt crisis may well come ablaze in the eurozone. The question is, will the new government of Italy just sit and wait for this, or will it perhaps insist that the EU or itself negotiate a deal with Russia?

So, how will the EU respond to these threats?

We are assuming that European Commission is at some point encouraged to propose a Recovery Fund 2.0, which would need to be considerably larger than the previous one (of around 800 billion). The fund would provide financing for countries to cope with rising energy prices as well as to help the bond markets of Italy, and others, retain market confidence. The ECB may even be forced to restart quantitative easing while it raises rates. Indeed, this may already be happening, as the balance sheet of the ECB has grown by some 13 billion since mid-August.

The commission is likely to try to gather more power for itself through essentially un-constitutional demands, like the preposterous mandatory demand cut for electricity consumption. The commission has no right, legally or otherwise, to prescribe such an action from member states, though reducing demand by itself is a sensible policy at this point and could be the subject of a commission suggestion.

The question remains, will all the member states play ball in this and coming issues? We are not so sure.

Dr. Peter Nyberg retired from a position of director general of the Financial Markets Department at the Finnish Ministry of Finance.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

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The European Union Is About to Rupture - The Epoch Times

Members of the EU Commission gathered in Strasbourg on Wednesday for the State of the European Union conference. Following a rousing speech by President Ursula von der Leyen, the debate began in pursuit of sustainable and digital progress for the continent. But what kind of future was being promised, and where will packaging fall within it? What impact will the EUs green transition have on the push towards sustainability and how far can we expect it to go? Emma Liggins consults the key talking points in search of an answer.

High on the Commissions agenda was the fallout of Russias invasion of Ukraine and the continent-wide energy crisis and dependence on fossil fuels, among pressing social and financial issues. These concerns are understandable, and their implications are vital.

Leading up to the conference, EUROPEN managing director Francesca Stevens warned that the lack of availability of sufficient and appropriate packaging can put at risk the security of essential systems such as the food and pharmaceutical sectors, disrupting products distribution and availability across the entire EU.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine reminded us that the packaging value chain is vulnerable to price fluctuations, energy rationing and unavailability of raw materials, as well as to trade barriers resulting from uncoordinated crisis responses and management mechanisms. It is necessary to recognise packaging and its raw materials as an essential value chain and to ensure that measures to anticipate, better communicate on, coordinate and manage emergencies are foreseen for the packaging supply chain in times of crises.

In her opening speech, von der Leyen identified access to raw materials as a key point of discussion. The question is inherently political; she asserted that 90% of raw earth and 60% of lithium is currently controlled by China. Later in the debate, Jordan Bardella suggested that Europes dependence on fossil fuels and nuclear energy is pushing governments towards foreign suppliers including Azerbaijan, which is still in conflict with Armenia.

Sen Kelly claimed that adequate gas resources off the Irish coast were being ignored in favour of a pipeline in the UK, which would need to ration its supply if Russia cut them off. Indeed, von der Leyen explicitly and repeatedly blamed Vladimir Putin for the continent-wide energy crisis.

Yet her projected solution was clear. The European Critical Raw Materials Act is an upcoming legislative proposal to ensure the supply of raw minerals within Europe, investing useful strategies throughout the supply chain and encouraging reservation when supplies run low. Access to these materials is therefore expected to increase five times over by 2030 although the accessibility of oil and gas remained largely undiscussed.

February 2022 saw the launch of Global Gateway, a vast financial initiative that has included the building of vaccine factories for local production in Africa and Latin America. In mentioning this, van der Leyen seemed to set the precedent for talking points surrounding manufacture within Europe and beyond.

New partnerships and trade policies were initially championed as solutions to improving environmental practices, preventing Europes over-reliance on Russia alone; yet Manon Aubry reminded the Commission that trade agreements with distant countries such as New Zealand will necessitate imports, which will then generate packaging waste and carbon emissions.

Whether or not there was a middle ground to be reached, the conversation surrounding local agriculture raised by Daniel Caspary, amongst others appeared to encourage the sourcing of food grown in ones own country. Both crops and medical products are starting to experience shortening supply chains. Only time will tell how much further such initiatives will go.

Understandably, discussions around energy savings dominated the debate. Ska Keller and Siegfried Murean were united in their call for investment in renewable energy sources, and while David Cormand spoke more generally about the green transition, he warned that hydrogen is not an automatic fix that, in his view, sustainables are the way forward.

REPowerEU was implemented inMay to phase out Europes dependence on Russian fossil fuels, aiming to cover the energy consumption of a quarter of all households across the EU, and the European Green Deal aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Harnessing these steps into sustainability will open up countless new jobs, Malik Azmani told the Commission.

Not everyone was so receptive to change. Renewable energy is unreliable, said Robert Roos, and green solutions come at the expense of the people; he blamed Eurofederalism and the EUs attacks on sovereignty for national energy crises. Jaak Madison took a similar stance: solar and wind power are not stable, and Russias war on Ukraine is not to blame for the crisis, but a lack of forethought from the EU in pushing for eco-friendly alternatives.

Perhaps less extreme was Franois-Xavier Bellamys reminder that the closure of unsustainable energy generators such as nuclear plants may still necessitate and increase imports thus reminding the Commission of the situations complexity. Nor should concerns about international shipping go ignored.

According to Angelika Winzig, one in five German companies is considering transferring its production abroad. Knee-jerk reactions to the climate crisis might only have been hypothetical within this conference, but could European businesses be forced to choose between sustainable practice and affording their own upkeep?

With prices still soaring, Christel Schaldemose and Dimitrios Papadimoulis sought clarity regarding the uncoupling of gas and electricity prices; van der Leyen promised that it would be enacted by the end of this year. The reception to this was not unanimously positive. Tams Deutsch argued that the EU hasnt been doing enough to keep companies out of bankruptcy, while Aubry resisted van der Leyens call to send inflated energy bills to Russia, maintaining that the Commission is responsible for regulating prices.

Conversations have been happening in the packaging industry surrounding energy consumption how to regulate it and whether it has received the appropriate attention in sustainability efforts and steep costs will undoubtedly play a role going forward, potentially leaving companies restricted as to how much progress they can make.

By reducing Europes reliance on fossil fuels, said van der Leyen, imports would go down and countries could rely on their own, renewable sources. However, Papadimoulis called the Commissions involvement in the energy crisis delayed and argued that the subsequent funding a figure he places at 1% of EU GDP is insufficient. The Achievements and Timeline document (AaT) published by the Commission fixates on Russian oil and import/export prohibitions, and mentions high oil prices in passing, but says little of its industrial use.

It does claim that the Save Gas for a Safe Winter plan was implemented in August to gradually increase the EUs gas consumption by 15% until next spring, and that Member States are being held to minimum gas storage obligations, which must ensure an 80% filling level by 1st November. The success of these schemes was not mentioned during the conference.

Amongst international politics, clashing ideologies, and time-limited speeches, there were very few specific gestures towards the packaging industry. Europes industrial sector as a whole was encouraged to aim for a sustainable and digital future, and one must consult the AaT to find the statement that, for Europes green transition to be a success, we need the support and active engagement of citizens and businesses across the European Union. This refers to the climate pact forming part of the European Green Deal.

It seems, then, that while the EU will attempt to manage costs and maintain continent-wide environmental efforts within increasing political turmoil, the packaging industry must continue to do what it has been doing: keep searching for sustainable innovations for as long as it can afford to.

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What did the Debate on the State of the European Union tell us about the future of sustainable packaging? - Packaging Europe

Kosovos foreign minister announced during a televised interview on Wednesday that the small Eastern European nation would seek candidate status within the European Union by the end of the yeara step that potentially lays the groundwork for its eventual integration into the body, but one that is unlikely to result in acceptance until a resolution of its ongoing issues with its northern neighbor Serbia.

We said we would apply this year, and we will apply this year, Kosovar foreign minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz told the nations KlanKosova television network, reiterating an earlier vow by the countrys government. We also notified our international partners that our goal is to apply this year, because we want to enjoy EU candidate status.

In justifying the Kosovar governments decision, Gervalla-Schwarz observed that more than ninety percent of the countrys population supported membership in the EU and NATO as soon as possible, according to recent polling.

Kosovos potential accession to the European Union will inevitably be complicated by its diplomatic conflict with Serbia, which ruled Kosovo as a province throughout most of the twentieth century. Formerly a majority-Albanian region within the overwhelmingly-Serb Serbia, a group of Kosovar rebels declared Kosovos independence in 1998, prompting a year-long guerrilla war against the Serbian government of Slobodan Milosevic. After a seventy-eight-day NATO air campaign on the side of the Kosovars, Serbian forces withdrew from Kosovo; the province formally declared its independence in 2008 but remains unrecognized by five EU member states and roughly half of the United Nations, including the organization itself.

Serbia has never acknowledged the countrys independence, regarding it as a rebellious province, and has offered support to ethnic Serbs living within Kosovoactions that Pristina deems as violations of its sovereignty. The dispute has also complicated Serbias bid to enter the EU; Belgrade has enjoyed candidate status for the organization since 2012, but EU officials have emphasized that its normalization of relations with Kosovo would be a priority and a requirement for its accession.

In her interview, Gervalla-Schwarz emphasized Kosovos democratic credentials, noting that it had been a leader of democracy in our region.

There is no reason for Kosovo to be treated differently from other regional countries, which are nowhere near as democratic, she observed.

Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic told the Serbian parliament on Tuesday that the EU had urged Serbia to recognize Kosovo as a precondition for entry into the bloc but vowed that he would not do so while in office.

Trevor Filseth is a current and foreign affairs writer for the National Interest.

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Kosovo Makes a Push for European Union Membership - The National Interest Online

Europes liberals welcome the European Commission's work over the past year when tackling COVID-19, supporting Ukraine or pushing for the green and digital transitions, but the rule of law and democracy cannot be taken for granted.

European Commission PresidentUrsula von der Leyen deliveredher speech on the State of the European Union (SOTEU) focusing on the Unions action to support Ukraine, tackle the energy crisis and the inflation, lead on the digital and green transitions while upholding democracy within and outside the Union, and become a true global leader.

Europes liberals welcome the European Commissions work over the last year, especially regarding the path towards COVID-19 recovery and the support to Ukraine, and the several proposals presented to strengthen democracy, our economy and our fight against climate change.

We strongly support tying Ukraine with the European Union further, as proposed by President von der Leyen, by granting itseamless access to the Single Market. We applaud the idea of connecting Ukraine to the European free roaming area.

We agree that we mustcontinue investing in all types of energies and technologies such as hydrogen to decarbonise our system and we welcome the measures presented to reduce the hiking energy prices and continue our efforts to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we must ensure that democracy and rule of law arerespected within the Union. The principle of conditionality needs to be applied without exceptions.

We welcome the European Commissions willingness to follow up on the Conference on the Future of Europe and establish a Convention to discuss reforms.

Liberalleaders react to the State of the Union

ALDE Party co-PresidentIlhan Kyuchyuk MEP declared:

"Putin will fail, Europe will prevail". Glad to hear from von der Leyen that the EU's solidarity with Ukraine would be "unshakeable." Todays fight is simple, it is a battle of autocracy vs democracy. Of authoritarianism vs freedom,

ALDE Party Vice President Dita Charanzov MEP warned:

I welcome the proposal of von der Leyen to solve the energy crisis in Europe. A cap on the price of electricity and the use of extraordinary profits is OK, but not won. The devil will be in the detail. Capping the price of gas is still in play, but the reform of the market with emission allowances has unfortunately not been announced. Only the ministers will decide.

ALDE Party Vice President Svenja Hahn MEP commented:

Von der Leyen wants seamless access to the EUs Single Market for Ukraine. The common market has made the EU strong. Would be great opportunity for Ukraine to rebuild its economy. I am looking forward to hearing the specific proposal from the Commission.

Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration Olha Stefanishyna stated:

Welcome the decision of the European Commission to work with Ukraine to ensure seamless access to the Single Market,' as President von der Leyen announced. Ukraine will do its part. With a full-scale war on our soil, we continue the reforms which bring Ukraine closer to EU membership.

Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas added:

True, our sanctions work and "are here to stay." Why else would the Russian army take chips from dishwashers? Why else would Aeroflot planes be grounded? And I add: why else would the Kremlin use every terror tactic to get us to lift sanctions? So, we must go even further.

Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager expressed:

New European Hydrogen Bank, 2023 year of skills, Critical Raw Materials Act, delivery of NextGenEU We invest in new energy, in our people. This is our leap into the future. Powerful #SOTEU2022 in unprecedented times. Now lets work together to deliver this!

Vice-President of the European Commission Vra Jourov stated:

We must continue to fight for democracy in Europe every day. Von der Leyen will continue to insist on judicial independence and on protecting EU budget through the conditionality mechanism. We have to protect the Rule Of Law andwill propose a stronger anti-corruption framework.

European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton commented:

RawMaterials have become the new oil & gas at the heart of our EU economy. President von der Leyen announced today in her SOTEU address the launch of a "Critical Raw Materials Act". My views on how to ensure a secure andsustainable access

European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenari declared:

I strongly welcome von der Leyen's SOTEU announcement to double our rescEU firefighting air fleet. No country can fight the increasingly devastating climate crisis alone, most dramatically visible during forest fires season affecting ever larger parts of Europe.

The President of the European investment Bank Werner Hoyer expressed:

I welcome von der Leyens proposals in her SOTEU speech toaccelerate the Green Hydrogeneconomy. This is crucial for climate action andfor EUenergy security. The EIB Group will continue to work with the European Commission and our partners to support the green hydrogen sector.

President for the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament Stphane Sjourn declared:

A week ago, I asked President von der Leyen to tax energy companies. Today, she announced more than 140 billion to help families face the rise of prices and accelerate green investment.

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Liberals on the State of the European Union - ALDE Party