WAGING WAR - PREPARING PEACE!
Defying the odds!
Early this month, the head of NATO warned that the fierce battle over the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut could end with a Russian victory within days. Three weeks later, his prediction has yet to come true. Ukraine and Russia are still fighting for control of the city.
This Thursday, Ukraine said Russian forces had made some gains inside the city, but at a heavy price in lives lost that has blunted Moscow's offensive as Ukraine prepares a counterstrike of its own.
Also, concerns are rising about what an escalation in fighting could mean for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Gross said yesterday.
>More here with REUTERS / here with EURACTIV / here with POLITICO.
Laura Boushnak for The New York Times
EU-CHINA
In a speech ahead of her visit to China next week, Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday warned Beijing not to side with Moscow in bringing compromised peace to Ukraine, saying: “How China continues to interact with Putin’s war will be a determining factor for EU-China relations going forward.”
She implied, for the first time, that the EU could terminate pursuing a landmark trade deal with China, which was clinched in 2020 but subsequently stalled by the European Parliament after some of its members were sanctioned by Beijing.
>More here, with POLITICO or here, with Financial Times. Not a FT subscriber yet? Contact us at documentationCdR@cor.europa.eu
FROM THE WORLD
OPEN LETTERS
FIGHT AGAINST DISINFORMATION
Amid growing worries about the insidious effects of disinformation from Russia, the prime ministers of eight European countries — including Ukraine, Estonia, Poland, Lithuania, Moldova and Czech Republic — have signed an Open Letter to big Social media tech asking the chief executives of major social media companies to take more aggressive steps to halt the spread of false news on their platforms.
Dear CEOs of Big Tech,
We are writing to you with a sense of urgency and a call to action. Democracies across the world are fighting against disinformation that undermines our peace and stability, and we need your support to emerge victorious.
Open letter available here.
&
PAUSE Giant AI Experiments
More than 1,000 technology leaders and researchers, including Elon Musk, have urged artificial intelligence labs to pause development of the most advanced systems, warning in an open letter that A.I. tools present “profound risks to society and humanity.” The pause would provide time to introduce “shared safety protocols” for A.I. systems, the letter said. “If such a pause cannot be enacted quickly, governments should step in and institute a moratorium,” it added.
"AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity, as shown by extensive research[1] and acknowledged by top AI labs. As stated in the widely-endorsed Asilomar AI Principles, Advanced AI could represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth, and should be planned for and managed with commensurate care and resources. "
Open letter available here / listen to a BBC report here / FT article here (contact us if you are not a CoR FT subscriber).
You can add your signature here, if you wish so.
The Belgian Government agreed on Wednesday to cut public spending by €1.8 billion in its amended 2023 budget, as first proposed by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
>More here with The Brussels Times.
Social unrest spreads from Delhaize to Aldi: Social unrest in the Belgian supermarket sector is spreading. Workers of German low-cost supermarket giant Aldi in Belgium are becoming increasingly concerned after its management stated its intention to terminate a collective labour agreement (CCT) which gives guarantees for the provision of additional staff.
>More here with The Brussels Times.
EU REGIONS
On Monday, 27 March, the European Commission has published the Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI), a fully revised version of a now long-established tool that measures different competitiveness dimensions for all EU regions.
Since 2010, the EU Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI) has been measuring the major factors of competitiveness for all the NUTS-2 level regions across the European Union. The Index measures, with a rich set of indicators, the ability of a region to offer an attractive environment for firms and residents to live and work.
The 2022 edition of the index builds on an updated methodology and therefore it is referred to as RCI 2.0.
Click on the map below to access the interactive tools!
DG Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission.
GREEN
FINANCE
TECH & DIGITAL
PARADIPLOMACY AND EU'S TRADE NEGOTIATIONS: THE CASE OF WALLONIA AND BRUSSELS
Because of their integration in the elaboration of national positions in the European decision-making process, Belgian subnational entities have since the 1990s favoured collaborative paradiplomacy. This has been particularly the case for Wallonia and the Brussels Region since they have a stronger stake in keeping Belgium together. Cooperative paradiplomacy has therefore been their default option, only interrupted by the crisis over the signature of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which was refused by these two regions in 2016.
The disagreement matters because in Belgium, regions are responsible for external trade, and Wallonia's assent is therefore as crucial as that of a Member State to getting any deal done across the EU bloc.
THE GLASS-CEILING INDEX: MEASURING WOMEN'S ROLE AND INFLUENCE
The Economist's glass-ceiling index is an annual measure of the role and influence of women in the workforce across the OECD club of mostly rich countries.
Sweden, Iceland, Finland and Norway top the index as the best places for working women. Japan and South Korea, where women must still choose between a family or a career, fill the bottom two places.
From 2016, the average OECD rank has significantly decreased.
The Economist
YOUTH & GENDER IDENTITY
Many Gen Zers are increasingly breaking out of the idea that gender means only 'man' or 'woman' – and these attitudes are having an impact.
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