While Slovakia’s preoccupied with its presidential election, the rest of the EU has already woken up to the European election campaign.
Slovakia has an unwelcome first place in European elections – recording the lowest voter turnout of just 13%. European institutions’ campaign to boost voter interest has been joined by billboards promoting Slovak political parties and candidates.
This handy blog summarises interesting European issues across four sectors. Selected by Seesame’s Public Affairs team:
HEALTHCARE
Data will be a key healthcare issue. Data collection and evaluation, and the new value based care founded on measurements and results, will dominate the debate. Read about how governments approach this concept on theWorld Economic Forum blog. Data evaluation unification should also be assisted by the data single market. How European health data sharing might look is summarized by CEN, the European Committee for Standardisation. Medical economist Jane Sarasohn-Kahn writes in her interesting blog about what could inspire the United States.
The European Union is investing EUR 8 billion into healthcare through Structural Funds. Falling vaccination rates and the low numbers having preventive check-ups are leading to discussions on how to invest Structural Funds more effectively, aimed at making primary health care more regionally accessible Euractiv summarises this issue in its article.
There’s also news about medical devices.. Companies will have to register their products in a European database, and the frequency of product safety monitoring will increase. Politico addresses the challenges posed by the new European rules.
FMCG
Business trends in fast-moving consumer goods for 2019 show that consumers are following brands with values. Younger consumers prefer local brands and products.Forbes website describes how new trends, including AI, will impact retail. A new type of conscientious customer is also interested in nature. The European Union has responded by adopting aDirective Banning Plastics. The topic also resonated in the March WWF Report.
The dual quality of food and the introduction of new rules remain a hot topic, further exacerbated by the Polish beef scandal. Member States plan to carry out separate food testing; the European Union will do likewise at the central level. The correct labeling of products whose quality and composition varies across Member States will also be discussed. The dual quality of food was also discussed at the recent Global Food Safety Initiative conference. You can read about how it will affect Brexit food standards in The Guardian’s commentary.
DIGITAL
Wider consultation on the GDPR law contributed to the reopening of this issue before the elections. The dissatisfaction of Europeans and the problem of implementing this regulation will also have to be faced by the new European Parliament. Both EurActiv and Forbes address the topic from different angles.
The leak of sensitive information from Facebook has helped to change the rules for social networks. The fight against fake news and misinformation, as well as various intolerance on social networks, will continue to be discussed. Read more from the Politico and AdExchanger workshops.
Another hot issue is blockchain. What it is and how we use blockchain in Europe, and a map of energy projects can be found at the Clean Technica portal. On its website, the MIT Technology Review discusses whether blockchain is really secure.
ENERGY AND CLIMATE
Support for the circular economy should remain one of Europe’s priorities, even after the elections.EurActiv analyses how to use this trend and its potential. European Environmental Bureau civic initiative also offered a response to the European Commission’s report on the circular economy.
Recycling and improving the sorting of waste is a hot topic these days. Find out what’s taking place soon in this EurActiv article.
According to the latest European Economic Area research, CEE is threatened by air pollution and excessive temperature fluctuations. The current situation in V4 countries is described in the latest European Environment Agency report.
Germany has pledged to close its coal and nuclear power plants by 2038. But this move will also affect countries that work closely with Germany, including Slovakia. What new opportunities are opening up for companies? Writes The Guardian.
How to increase green energy is being discussed in all EU member states. What shift has the Union made in tax policy in this area, and how will it affect the use of green energy? Read more at EurActiv..
And of course, there are two other key topics in the pre-election debate: BREXIT and migration and security. Want to follow the latest developments on the British scene and potential business impacts? Check out the comments by Politico editor Jack Blanchard.