Europe Calling European Commission, Directorate-General for Communication

What is the progress in the EU’s flagship Green Deal, its vast environmental and climate program designed to make the future liveable in the face of seismic change to our planet? It was introduced in 2019 with the ambitious target of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced the EU to re-prioritise its actions, but the pace has picked up again, served, in part, by a speedier transition to renewables and alternative energy sources. Tune in to this edition of “Europe Calling”, where we’re by joined the EU Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius, and by Slovakian MEP Martin Hojsík. We’ll also meet a French farmer who walks us through one of the key planks of environmental protection and recovery: the widespread degradation of our soil and how to help it back to health.

As a result of the EU’s Digital Services Act, online platforms have to introduce new measures to reduce harms and counter risks online, introduce strong protections for users' rights online, all without restricting freedom of expression. Striking this balance has been tricky, but highly necessary, as explained by the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, in this new episode of the podcast “Europe Calling”. Find out how the EU is aiming to better protect citizens online by countering illegal goods, services and content, banning certain targeted adverts and imposing new rules for online platforms.

As Russia’s aggression in Ukraine continues and Moscow’s cuts in European gas deliveries start to bite, how can European consumers and industries get through the coming winter months?

The European Union is putting in place measures to help member states soften the blow for citizens facing soaring energy prices, to help industries worried about energy supplies, and to help Ukraine.

European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, walks us through key issues of supply diversification, EU support for consumers and the impact of sanctions on Russia. We’re also joined by the Energy Community to explain how Europe is helping Ukraine manage in winter and we’ll hear from the European Consumers Organisation too.

Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, which began on 24 February, has caused the greatest security and humanitarian crisis in Europe for almost a century. In response, the European Union has demonstrated its solidarity with and support for Ukraine, and its determination to isolate Russia internationally and weaken its capacity to wage war.

In the sixth edition of European Commission’s podcast series “Europe Calling”, we look at the war waged by Russia against Ukraine, and how the EU is responding with unprecedented decisions. Our guests from the EU institutions are Matti Maasikas, EU ambassador to Ukraine, and Maciej Popowski, Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations in the Commission. They present to us the EU’s work consisting in supporting Ukraine and managing the consequences of the war.

In early 2022, Europeans woke to three potentially dire security threats to them and their way of life: more conflict in insecurity in Ukraine, increasing hybrid warfare and cyber attacks, and the possibility of new arrivals of refugees and migrants following the military withdrawal in Afghanistan and the resumption of power by the Taliban. The fifth episode the European Commission’s podcast Europe Calling series tackles these security challenges and the pressing Reform of Schengen rules, with Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, responsible for Promoting the European Way of Life.

Changing perceptions of people with disabilities, helping to integrate them into employment that matches their ambitions and enabling them to exercise their full rights in a diverse, inclusive society are the cornerstones of the EU’s approach – and a personal commitment by Commissioner for Equalities, Helena Dalli. In this fourth episode of the European Commission’s podcast Europe Calling, Commissioner Dalli uses the occasion of the International Day of People with Disabilities (3 December) to reaffirm the Commission’s resolute determination to build a union of equality for all individuals, regardless of how ‘different’ others might consider them to be. The podcast also features interviews with two people with disabilities, who explain the challenges they have observed in the workplace and outline their suggestions for practical and political measures to enhance their lives.