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The new American James Webb satellite explores the outer boundaries of the universe. Private US starts ups Space X and Blue Origin are pioneering commercial space exploration and the launch of inexpensive low orbit satellites. In contrast, the European Space Agency (ESA) seems grounded.

Radical change is required. Europe must consolidate its public space agencies and encourage its private space companies to grow. This requires a harmonized and united European front on space exploration.

Established in 1975, Europes Space Agency (ESA) lacks power over the EUs national agencies. It acts as an intergovernmental mechanism allowing members to cooperate and exchange information on international and national space law. Translated from Eurospeak, this means the ESA acts as a technical and legal consultant to national space agencies, not as a coherent, centralized, strong leader. In addition, only 22 of the EUs members participate, with small states such as Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Slovakia, staying away.

The ESA is not part of the European Union structure, though it receives much of its funding from the European Commission. The EU has its space program, called the European Space Program, adding to the confusion.

Part of the reason behind this decentralized structure is that much space research concerns defense. Under EU law, national security remains a national responsibility, out of the EU scope.

Unnecessary duplication and slow decision-making results. Even the most ambitious ESA projects such as the Rosalind Franklin rover (headed for Mars) or Electra (a telecommunications satellite) focus on providing unmanned services and exploration research, rather than pursuing ambitious manned or defense missions.

The funding represents another challenge. The ESA budget totals a mere EUR14 billion over five years compared to the US, which spent 54 billion dollars in 2021, or China, which spent a little over $10 billion last year.

Europe needs to pool its resources to pursue ambitious projects such as the colonization of Mars, and the Moon, or defense-oriented measures such as missile defense or advanced satellite networks.

This goal could be achieved by remodeling the ESA in the spirit of NASA. In a public presentation, ESA manager Martin Born says his organization must increase flexibility and reduce bureaucracy. For example, he points out that while NASA holds weekly risk meetings, ESA requires lengthy paper risk reports. NASA conducts a streamlined three-part progress review. ESA has a five-step drawn-out review system. NASA takes direction from a single government administration, allowing it to develop and implement a coherent, and often ambitious, set of priorities. In contrast, the ESA must balance the interest of its member states.

Challenges arise concerning the role of private companies: in the US, NASA cooperates with and compliments space startups producing cheap rockets and satellites. In Europe, the ESA imposes onerous regulations on companies through stringent supply chain reporting, creating a barrier for private companies, and leaving Europes space startups struggling for finance.

Brexit presents another obstacle. When the UK pulled out of the EU, it was frozen out of the ESAs Galileo project, which is building a rival to the US GPS. Britain boasts a potentially dynamic satellite company called OneWeb, which is building hundreds of low-flying satellites. The UK has big ambitions for mass-produced small satellites.

OneWeb and Frances Eutelsat recently announced a merger to create a strong competitor to Elon Musks SpaceX. Both EU and UK antitrust regulators need to approve the deal. Investors are wary: Eutelsats shares fell by more than one-third in the two days after news of its planned deal with OneWeb emerged. Some UK politicians have expressed concerns about the deal.

Comprehensive reform of Europes public space sector remains required. When European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen took office in 2019, she called for cross-fertilization between civil, defense and space industries and focus on improving the crucial link between space and defense and security, In 2020, the Commission published an Action Plan calling for better coordination between civil, defense and space projects.

The most straightforward solution would be to give the European Commission a leadership role. Work has already been done to consolidate the two agencies, although bureaucratic infighting has hampered its progress. In 2021, the ESA and EU took new steps to guarantee that they would work in closer collaboration. The European Space Forum, scheduled for the end of October, represents an appropriate venue to launch an ambitious overhaul. Lets hope Europe doesnt miss the opportunity to blast off.

Jonathan Garraffo is an intern in CEPAs Business Development Program. Alexander Wirth is a Program Officer in CEPAs Digital Innovation Initiative.

Read more:
How Europe's Space Industry Could Blast Off - Center for European Policy Analysis

In mid-July 2022 the European Union imposed new restrictions on South African citrus imports. The new phytosanitary requirements were meant to address False Codling Moth, a citrus pest that is native to South Africa and for which there is zero tolerance in the EU.

The new regulations are a major blow to South Africas citrus industry as they will severely disrupt exports. The country is the worlds second largest exporter of citrus after Spain. The EU accounted for 41% of Southern African citrus exports by value in 2021. Locally, in 2021 citrus accounted for 25% of South Africas total agriculture exports up from 19% in 2011.

In our view, which is based on decades of engaging with EU regulations, and food exports more generally, the regulations are unfair and punitive.

Firstly, the EU gave South Africa less than a month to adapt to the new regulations. The EU measures were published on 21 June 2022, entered into force on 24 June 2022, and required that consignments arriving in Europe from 14 July 2022 onwards had to comply with the new requirements.

The South African government managed to negotiate a settlement with the EU to clear floating containers of citrus blocked at EU Ports on 11 August 2022 (3 weeks later). Nevertheless the whole process imposed additional costs on growers. At a minimum, transition measures are required. This is done to give countries time to adapt.

Secondly, since the EU first declared the False Codling Moth a quarantine pest in 2018, South Africa put in place extensive measures in line to meet the phytosanitary regulations. Its integrated pest management (systems approach) has meant significant investments in research and learning by doing to get the system right. There is evidence of success.

In our view, the new rules are de facto non-tariff barriers to trade. Non-tariff measures are imposed _de jure to protect consumers from unhealthy or low-quality products, but de facto they represent an increase in trade costs. _

We also believe that additional requirements will only mean diverting scarce resources and imposing new costs on growers, threatening the long-term sustainability of the industry.

Product and process standards are the main factors shaping the international trade regime. The ability to meet these standards is both a threat for producers (excluding them from profitable markets) and an opportunity (providing the potential to enter high-margin markets).

Phytosanitary standards are particularly important. The challenge is that they are determined solely by the buying party or country, with the producer having little capacity to challenge decisions on conformance. An added problem is that strong lobbies can push for standards to be protectionist barriers. This harms both consumers who pay higher prices as well as producers who are forced to apply new ways of processing.

The ever changing landscape in phytosanitary standards is characteristic of global trade in fresh fruit. Responding to it requires constant investments in research and technology development to keep up and to comply. However, the political nature of these issues, which require government-to-government negotiations, makes it difficult to prove compliance and the basis for such standards.

As of 12 August, the current hurdle has cost local citrus growers over R200 million in losses. In addition, growers are more than likely to receive half their expected returns on any fruit that is released, due to the fact that most containers have been standing for a few weeks, and have therefore missed their programmes due to late arrival.

Applicable from the 1 January 2018, the EU Directive listed False Codling Moth (FCM) as an EU quarantine pest and prescribed specific import requirements. This meant that South African citrus exporters who shipped to the EU market would be subject to new requirements. Non-EU countries could use cold treatment or another effective treatment to ensure the products are free from the pest.

From the 1 September 2019, exporting countries were required prior to export, to provide documentary evidence of the effectiveness of the treatment used for trade to continue.

In response to the EUs 2018 False Codling Moth phytosanitary regulations, South Africas citrus industry developed the FCM Management System as an alternative to post-harvest disinfestation (cold treatment).

South Africa is currently using integrated pest management (systems approach) - the sterile insect technique and mating disruption - in conjunction with complementary controls to ensure citrus fruits are free of the moth from the field to the packing house and shipment to the EU. A systems approach is a pest risk management option that integrates different measures, at least two of which act independently, with cumulative effect.

The False Codling Moth Management System was implemented for the first time in 2018 for citrus exports to the EU with continuos improvements over the years (p.32). Interceptions of FCM have been consistently low over the past three years.

The new regulations require orange imports to undergo further mandatory cold treatment processes and pre-cooling steps for specific periods. These have to be done at loading before shipping and subsequent importation.

Some cold stores have modern technology to cool down the fruit to stipulated temperatures. But a number of cold stores still have outdated technologies that cant.

South Africas citrus industry recognises that standards are clearly essential. It has invested in research and technology to keep abreast of changes in phytosanitary standards, and to support shared capabilities necessary to supply high-quality, pest-and disease-free fruit.

But the setting of standards can be misused. This means they need to be transparently applied and designed.

Read the original:
South African citrus: new EU rules are unjust and punitive - The Conversation

23 August 2022

The European Central Bank (ECB) has imposed administrative penalties of 4.275 million on Crdit Agricole S.A. (CASA) and 300,000 and 190,000 on its subsidiaries Crdit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CACIB) and Crdit Agricole Consumer Finance (CACF) respectively, after the banks classified shares as Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital without prior permission from the ECB.

For five consecutive quarters during the period 2015-16, CASA classified newly issued shares as CET1 capital without seeking the ECBs permission to do so, despite the ECB reminding the bank of its obligations. This means the bank did not allow the ECB to timely assess whether those instruments were eligible as CET1 capital, which is the highest quality of capital as defined by banking law. This prior control is key to ensure banks can absorb losses. The subsidiaries CACIB and CACF took a similar approach for three consecutive quarters.

The ECB already sanctioned the banks in 2018 for this breach. The banks subsequently challenged the ECBs decisions before the Court of Justice of the European Union, which confirmed the banks liability for the breaches but annulled the pecuniary penalties considering that the ECB hadnt sufficiently explained how it had determined the amounts. The ECB has now addressed that procedural deficiency and reimposed the penalties on the banks.

When deciding on the amount of the penalty to be imposed on a bank, the ECB applies its Guide to the method of setting administrative pecuniary penalties. In this case, the ECB classified the breach as moderately severe for the parent bank CASA and as minor for the two subsidiaries CACIB and CACF. More details on sanctions are available on thesupervisory sanctions web page.

The banks may challenge the ECBs decisions before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

For media queries, please contact Franois Peyratout, tel.: +49 172 8632 119.

See more here:
ECB confirms sanctions on Crdit Agricole for classifying shares as CET1 capital without prior approval - ECB Banking Supervision

Extremely low water levels on the exposed bed of the Rialb reservoir during a drought in La Baronia De Rialb, Spain, on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022.

Angel Garcia | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Europe is experiencing its worst drought in at least 500 years, with hot and dry conditions fueling wildfires, reducing crop yields and reducing electricity generation, according to a preliminary analysis from the European Union's Joint Research Center.

The report from the European Drought Observatory said that 47% of Europe is under warning conditions, with a clear deficit of soil moisture, and 17% of the continent is under a state of alert,in which vegetation is impacted.

Record-breaking temperatures in Europe this summer have disrupted transportation, displaced thousands of people,and resulted in hundreds of heat-related deaths. The heat has also exacerbated wildfires, which have grown more destructive in recent years.

"The combination of a severe drought and heatwaves has created an unprecedented stress on water levels in the entire EU," European Innovation Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said in a statement. "We are currently noticing a wildfires season sensibly above the average and an important impact on crops production."

Wreckage of a World War Two German warship is seen in the Danube in Prahovo, Serbia August 18, 2022.

Fedja Grulovic | Reuters

The Western Europe-Mediterranean regionwill likely see warmer and drier than usual conditions until November, the report said.

Climate change has made high temperatures and droughts more intense and widespread. And lower nighttime temperatures that typically provide critical relief from the hot daysare disappearing as the planet warms.

Water and heat stress have slashed Europe's 2022 crop yields, with forecasts for grain maize, soybean and sunflowers expected to be 16%, 15% and 12% below the average of the previous five years, respectively.

An aerial view shows boats in the dry bed of Brenets Lake (Lac des Brenets), part of the Doubs River, a natural border between eastern France and western Switzerland, in Les Brenets on July 18, 2022.

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images

A lack of rainfall has also affected river discharges widely across Europe. Reduced water volume has hit the energy sector for hydropower generation and cooling systems of other power plants.

Drought hazard has been rising most notably in Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, the Netherlands, northern Serbia, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Ukraine and the U.K, the report said.

This photo taken on August 3, 2022, shows the dried "Lac de l'Entonnoir" known as "Lac du Bouverans" in Bouverans, eastern France.

Sebastien Bozon | AFP | Getty Images

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Europe is experiencing its worst drought in at least 500 years - CNBC

The ripples of war spread fast. Over the course of the past six months, those ripples have travelled from Ukraine and affected politics around the world - but no more so than in Europe.

Some of those impacts are obvious. War, inevitably, led to a flood of people fleeing Ukraine and seeking refuge in other countries.

Poland immediately threw its doors open to refugees and now plays home to one and a quarter million Ukrainians. Just under a million are now living in Germany.

Ukraine war live updates

Six months on from the start of the war, there have been nearly nine million border crossings out of Ukraine. But, notably, there have been more than 4.75 million crossings going the other way.

Some of these are workers, journalists, or fighters. But most are Ukrainians, who have decided to return home.

And that reinforces one of the abiding lessons from this conflict - that Ukrainians have an extraordinary level of resilience. I remember being in the west of the country after the war had started, and watching the huge queues forming at recruitment centres. Around the corner, we met young men who were driving through the night to take supplies to soldiers.

I remember, too, meeting a young mother who had fled with her children and chatted to us about her pride in her country and her husband, who had stayed at home in Kharkiv to fight. She was exhausted, but bristled when we offered to buy her a drink. She could buy her own food, she said, and would be going home just as soon as she could.

The war delivered a sense of unity to the European Union. It rushed through new rules, giving Ukrainian refugees the right to take residency in the EU for three years. It sent weapons and money, flexed diplomatic muscles and seemed to discover a sense of concerted purpose that has long proved elusive.

And, mostly, that sense of united purpose has endured. Europe, by standing with Ukraine, exuded a pride that it hasn't shown for years.

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There have been problems - Germany was slow to supply useful military supplies and has had to accept criticism for its previous reliance on Russian energy. Emmanuel Macron's attempts to negotiate personally with Vladimir Putin looked naive, at times. But the Franco-German axis, around which the EU now spins, has been resolute in its determination to back Ukraine.

But there are cracks and, over the past six months, they may expand. Take Hungary, for example, a member state of the EU, but also a country led by a nationalist prime minister who has long cultivated a close relationship with Russia.

Hungary lobbied for sanctions to be watered down, arguing that curbs on Russian energy imports harm the buyer more than the seller. It's a call that's being taken up by other populist politicians, from Marine Le Pen in France, who described sanctions as "useless", to Matteo Salvini in Italy - a politician who once entered the European Parliament wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with Mr Putin's face.

Next month, Italy holds a general election and it's very likely that Mr Salvini will end up as part of the winning coalition. The Kremlin has been linked with a campaign of misinformation in the country, and it may be working. Polling suggests that, of all Europeans, Italians are the most likely to blame someone other than Russia for the war.

The odds are that the biggest party in the Italian election will turn out to be the Brothers of Italy, led by Giorgia Meloni. So far, she has said she will maintain her nation's support for action in Ukraine and opposition to Mr Putin.

Read more: Rape video shared by Italy PM hopeful Giorgia Meloni removed by Twitter

But if that stance changes, even slightly, in favour of Russia, then alarm bells will ring. There are those advocating, for instance, a ceasefire deal that surrenders Ukrainian land to Russia. Unpalatable to many, not least in Ukraine, but balm to those in Hungary, Italy and beyond who want to be on decent terms with Mr Putin when the dust settles.

The truth is that nobody is advocating some kind of cosy friendship with Russia. But there are those - Viktor Orban, Ms Le Pen, Mr Salvini - who insist that the pain isn't worth it. And these are politicians with hefty support.

Beyond the boundaries of the EU, the war seems to be setting off other problems - Serbia, a close ally of Russia, is inflaming tensions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. Countries in the Western Balkans grumble that they have been patiently pursuing EU membership for more than a decade, but now worry that Ukraine has jumped ahead of them in the queue.

Read more: Gas price spike threatens big trouble for Europe

And, of course, the soaring cost of energy affects economies everywhere. The harder life gets, the more traction there is in the idea that sanctions do more harm than good.

"Every time someone mentions fatigue or weariness over sanctions, Putin does something atrocious and the questions go away," one senior source told me this week. But what if that doesn't happen? What if the question of fatigue is allowed to linger.

Europe has been resolute for six months, but so has Mr Putin. As the weather gets colder, the bills go up and the war goes on, Europe's sense of resolution and camaraderie will come under threat. The question is whether it will hold.

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Europe has stood firmly with Ukraine since the war began - but Italy's election and a tough winter could change things quickly - Sky News