In 2021, 47% of all people aged 16-74 years in the EU saw untrue or doubtful information on news websites or social media during the 3 months prior to the survey. However, only around a quarter (23%) of people verified the truthfulness of the information or content. This information comes from data on ICT usage in households and […]
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Who are smarter, rocket scientists or brain surgeons?
We use ‘it’s not rocket science’ and ‘it’s not brain surgery’ almost interchangeably to say that we don’t think something is very difficult to do or to understand. Which phrase is more deserving? And more importantly, should rocket scientists or brain surgeons be crowned the winners of the wits? A research team led by University […]
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Gender Equality Index 2021: Fragile gains, big losses
The EU scores 68 points out of 100 in the Gender Equality Index, released today by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). This is a microscopic increase of just 0.6 points since last year’s edition. “Europe has made fragile gains in gender equality. But big losses are emerging as a result of the […]
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Online sales continue to grow among EU enterprises
In 2020, 22% of EU enterprises had e-commerce sales and 19% reported that their online sales reached at least 1% of their total turnover, a 1 percentage point (pp) increase compared with 2019 and 6 pp up from 13% in 2010. The steady growth in the use of e-commerce sales in many countries was heightened by the coronavirus pandemic and movement […]
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CO2 the culprit in southern hemisphere temperature drop millions of years ago
Research into ancient climates suggests that a drop in atmospheric CO2 caused cooling temperatures in south-east Australia 41 to 33 million years ago. Our planet is warming and its atmosphere is changing, but what impact will these changes have on its different ecosystems? To find answers, some scientists have been investigating climates from millions of […]
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Commission proposes to end the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes within the EU
The European Commission has presented a key initiative to fight against the misuse of shell entities for improper tax purposes. This proposal should ensure that entities in the European Union that have no or minimal economic activity are unable to benefit from any tax advantages and do not place any financial burden on taxpayers. This […]
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Making strides towards an open and dynamic 5G ecosystem
An EU project is developing a novel emulator to support SMEs in their efforts to exploit 5G infrastructure capabilities. As the 5G race heats up around the world, Europe is taking action to lead global developments. Ultra-high bandwidths, massive machine-to-machine communications and networks that can process high volumes of data with minimal delay – with […]
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Commission launches infringement procedure against Poland for violations of EU law by its Constitutional Tribunal
The European Commission has decided to launch an infringement procedure against Poland because of serious concerns with respect to the Polish Constitutional Tribunal and its recent case law. The Constitutional Tribunal, in its rulings of 14 July 2021 and 7 October 2021, considered the provisions of the EU Treaties incompatible with the Polish Constitution, expressly challenging the […]
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EU and US officials discuss efforts to donate and deliver 1.7 billion vaccine doses around the world
Senior European Commission officials met last week with senior White House and other U.S. government officials on progress and next steps towards achieving the US-EU Agenda for Beating the Global Pandemic Vaccinating the World, Saving Lives Now, and Building Back Better Health Security. Led by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s Head of Cabinet […]
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