Niels Fuglsang

One of the aspects that makes a difference within the EEA and Norway Grants is the collaboration across countries. 30 years of the Agreement on the European Economic Area translate into 30 years of collaboration to make Europe a better place for us all - and the Grants have been essential in achieving this. #EEA30years

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I am happy to share the latest monitoring report of Folkekirkens Nødhjælp (DanChurchAid) and partners efforts to address climate related Loss and Damage. There is no formal marker for tracking loss and damage, and we have therefore made our own. Our marker builds on the existing OECD - OCDE Rio Markers for adaptation and mitigation, and it captures activities taking place during and after a climate related event. We have already done this exercise for a few years, and the monitoring helps us to collect experiences from the projects, so that we can improve our work. As an example monitoring has helped us to understand the need to consider the non economic aspects of loss and damage, and the need for a conflict sensitive approach, as the fragile contexts where people experience loss and damage, easily can lead to conflicts. Climate finance is on top of the agenda at the UN climate summit #COP29 in November. I hope parties will agree, to develop a marker for loss and damage. Efforts to address loss and damage differ from adaptation, as they are reactive, while adaptation measures tend to be more proactive. We need the separate category to ensure transparency and more accurate reporting, but as shown by the DanChurchAid monitoring, we also need the marker to harvest experiences and learnings. Thanks Alma García and Sidsel Koordt Vognsen for your big work, with the DanChurchaid Loss and damage monitoring. And thanks to our partners, who are implementing the projects on the ground. Jens Fugl Dr Sinead Walsh Gerard Howe Kevin Adams Jemima Gordon-Duff Justine Coutu Christina Chan Jacob Werksman I hope you find our monitoring report useful. Our monitoring report: https://lnkd.in/gnUM_NH5

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Lessons from Finland 🇫🇮 Citizens' assemblies have proven to be effective in breaking political deadlocks, aiding parties in crafting sustainable policies and enhancing democratic participation. By offering a platform for informed deliberation and increasing citizen engagement, citizens' assemblies contributing to acceptance and cooperation among diverse groups. Check out this article to learn more 👇🏻

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Research says, “contracts performed by small and diverse suppliers exhibit (a) similar cost overruns and delays as contracts performed by other suppliers and (b) lower cost overruns and shorter delays when awarded through set-asides rather than without set-asides.” #SmallBiz #GovCon

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Great to have joined Tom Theuns and others in the European Parliament for the launch of his new book ‘Protecting Democracy in Europe’, in which he argues, if we are to succeed, we need to step up our game. Here are some takeaways from his presentation and discussion with László Andor Caroline De Gruyter Samira Rafaela and Anthony Zacharzewski 🔹The EU must address policies making it complicit in democratic backsliding. 🔹 Need to focus less on technocratic legal solutiins, to avoid autocratic populism 🔹Autocratic influences must br contained early. 🔹 Pluralist democracy must be promoted across EU. 🔹Ways to expel autocratic members must be found and used if needed. Well done, and I look forward to reading the book 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

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Ever wondered how populist governments impact EU decisions? A new open access issue was just published that helps us understand how populists use "unpolitics" to influence EU policymaking. From Greece’s bailout negotiations to the Istanbul Convention, you can explore how these tactics reshape critical EU policies. ⬇

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Upcoming New Book Alert: For colleagues and followers interested in our TraCCC-AITI Hubs of Illicit Trade (HIT) project, I want to bring attention that our latest research will be available, as an e-book (first) published by Routledge (London) - for pre-order on September 9, 2024, and shipped on 29 September 2024 at: https://lnkd.in/ejB7MVip. ISBN 9781032796420 This book, expertly edited by our colleague, Dr. Yulia Krylova, meticulously examines how centers of illicit trade pose myriad interconnected threats to global security, markets, sustainable development, and the public health and safety of communities around. The innovative research also provides a multi-dimensional approach for cross-hub comparisons, measuring the scale of their illicit activities based the assessment of #illicittrade risk levels that combines indicators related to all aspects of illicit trade, including #corruption in the private and public sectors, #moneylaundering, and financial secrecy, among other dimensions. These hubs also serve as safe havens for smugglers and their accomplices, fostering a criminal ecosystem that facilitates the convergence of various criminal activities. The book underscores the detrimental impact of poorly regulated international #freetradezones, which prioritize expediency over security, thereby allowing illicit trade to flourish in regions characterized by opaque governance and lax regulatory oversight. It comprehensively explores the spectrum of illicit trade present in notorious hubs such as the #Argentina #Brazil #Paraguay Tri-Border Area, #Dubai, #Panama, #Belize, #Guatemala, and #Ukraine. Emphasizing the phenomenon of crime convergence associated with these hubs, the book offers actionable recommendations for disrupting their interconnected illicit #supplychains, infrastructures, and networks. By addressing the illicit economies, the book fills a critical void in understanding how vulnerabilities within the global economy fuel the creation of illicit trade hubs. It will be of great value to researchers in the fields of #trade, economics, #criminology, and international development. It will also be an excellent resource for government agencies, policymakers, and private-sector managers in those industries most affected by the growing problem of illicit trade. Co-Authors: Louise Shelley, Yulia Krylova, Jorge Lasmar, PhD, Dr Rashmi Singh, Alexander Kupatadze, Daniel Rico, and David M. Luna 🦏 🌎 🐘 Threat Convergence ≜ Kine-Dynamics. As the Co-Director of TraCCC-AITI with Dr. Shelley, I am very proud of our project team leaders who worked on the HIT project; and an honor to write Chapter 6 with Dr. Krylova on "Conclusions: Disrupting Hubs of Illicit Trade". Also make sure to follow us at: Terrorism, Transnational Crime, and Corruption Center (TraCCC) Anti-Illicit Trade Institute (AITI), Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) George Mason University at: https://lnkd.in/eAuvGhKt

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🚀 At the beginning of July, the European External Action Service hosted the inaugural EU-UNESCO Senior Officials Meeting. This event fostered constructive discussions on crucial topics such as #HumanRights, the ethics of digital transformation, including #EthicsofAI, the impact of AI on governance, freedom of expression, cultural expression, #OpenScience, and combating online disinformation. The meeting underscored that achieving equality and upholding #HumanRights in the digital realm is one of the greatest challenges of our time. 🌍 #DigitalEthics #AI #Governance #FreedomOfExpression #CulturalExpression #Equality

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How can we equip the next MFF with an appropriate crisis response capacity? The Union responded to Covid-19 with the establishment of various temporary instruments (NGEU, SURE, CRII, CRII+..). It relied again on temporary, ad hoc mechanisms to address the consequences of Russian’s invasion of Ukraine (CARE, CARE+, FAST CARE, REPOWER EU, SAFE..). With climate-related disasters becoming more frequent and severe and geopolitical tensions on the rise, continuing with this ‘ad hoc’ approach does not seem the appropriate solution for the future. There is a need to endow the EU budget with more permanent and robust crisis response capacity. Our latest study for the CONT committee of the European Parliament, co-written with cinzia alcidi, delves into this question. Drawing lessons from responses to the Covid-9 crisis, we investigate alternative approaches to strengthening the EU budget's crisis response capacity on a permanent basis and examine the implications of these approaches for long-term planning, control and accountability. Specifically, the study discusses the role of the EU cohesion policy in response of crises. We outline key principles that should guide the use of cohesion funds in case of emergencies and propose four complementary options to enhance the EU cohesion policy's crisis response capacity. The study also discusses the possibilities to develop a permanent debt-financed EU budget capacity to address the consequences of large-scale crises. Rather than transforming SURE into a permanent instrument, we propose to expand the scope of the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) to include labour market shocks. Finally, we explore how these new crisis instruments could work in complementarity with already existing EU tools and mechanisms (such as the EU solidarity Fund or the Civic Protection Mechanism), so as to develop a coherent 'toolkit' to adress shocks and emergencies. You can find the study here:

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Charles Parton, Chief Adviser to the China Observatory, published an article yesterday entitled: ‘China’s 2024 Third Plenum: Great expectations or hard times?’. This article is the starting point for those interested in the role of a Third Plenum and what this year’s may be looking to achieve. Scheduled for July, the Third Plenum will revisit the CCP’s 2013 reform agenda, focusing on unresolved issues which aim to ‘advance Chinese modernisation’, and correct the PRC's ‘unbalanced, uncoordinated, and unsustainable’ economic model, in line with the CCP’s plan to build a high-level socialist market economy. 'Unless it tackles the five crucial areas of the market/private enterprise, SOEs, fiscal reform, labour mobility, and health, the outcomes of this Third Plenum will follow the way of its 2013 predecessor: much wind, little rain.'

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🖥 This week deepfakes have started to make their mark on the general election campaign. 👮‍♂️ Seeing as they target the politicians who are best placed to do something about them, will it lead to a tougher regulatory approach on generative AI once the polls close? 🤖 But how would this work and what impact would this have on the broader tech sector? We explore this policy issue in our latest substack from Bradshaw Advisory.

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Super interesting insights from Emily O'Reilly, concluding her term as EU Ombudsperson. Her advices for her successor resonate in this highly populist environment: maintain faith in the EU's ideals, stay focused on your mission, and uphold a strong sense of purpose. #EU #PublicService #Accountability

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The summer issue of the Icelandic Review of Politics and Administration (IRPA) is available! This 20th edition features seven peer-reviewed academic articles covering a range of timely topics, including: Policy capacity in the Icelandic Public Administration, The evolving role of Icelandic journalists and media pressures, Innovation and local governance in Reykjavík's neighborhoods, Work culture and gender equality, The impact of policy changes on the matriculation examination system, Developments in Iceland's innovation policy from 2003–2022, Effects of mixed data collection on dropout rates in election surveys. Explore these insights and more to stay informed on the latest research in public policy, media, local governance, and social issues in Iceland. Most of the articles tend to be in Icelandic but each one has an abstract in English. https://lnkd.in/eNbJuUG3

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#CSDDD finally made it across the line!! The UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Guidelines for RBC are codified in EU law - now that’s a reason to celebrate🎉 !! And to keep up the important work 💪🏻 There are no more excuses, responsible business conduct is the only way. And don’t forget about risk-based approaches and identifying the relevant stakeholders, such as children! #bizhumanrights #responsiblebusinessconduct #childrightsandbusiness

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🚨 #EU #Deforestation vote - pure chaos - all votes not registered 🖥 Democracy thwarted by technical failures.??? 🔥 Outcomes - #MEPs narrowly approve creation of "no risk" categories 🤷‍♀️ Next steps - who knows? 🗣 This now goes BACK to trilogue for discussion on the "no risk" categories w/ European Parliament & European Commission ⌛ Will this mean #EUDR coming in by default in January 2025 if no new #EUDR text agreed by then?? #Democracy #EuropeanParliament #corporateaccountability

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Very interesting panel debate this morning on competitiveness of the European heat pump sector with Stefano Soro from DG GROW, Chiara Delmastro, Ph.D. from the International Energy Agency (IEA), Walburga Hemetsberger from SolarPower Europe and Philipp Offenberg from Breakthrough Europe. Thanks also to Karoline Van den Brande, PhD for the Belgian Presidency view on industrial policy and competitiveness. Main take-aways: - Let's prioritise the technologies that are mature and where we have the European expertise - Let's cooperate internationally on those technologies and components where Europe has weaknesses - Many measures have been put in place, but a strong policy signal on heat pumps to provide long term policy clarity is key - An absolute priority to ensure increasing demand and competitiveness of the sector is to improve the electricity to gas price ratio

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