From everyday items to cutting-edge technology, critical raw materials (CRM) are an essential part of the EU economy. Yet supply chains are at constant risk of disruption.   One reason, is that extracting and processing CRMs often do not take place in the same place. Extraction in one region does not...

Neurotechnologies are tools for recording and interpreting brain activity. They aim at rehabilitating, restoring or even modifying brain functions. Neuro-enhancement is the field of improving brain capacity.   These methods raise ethical issues. So, does the sector need EU regulation?   A new concept...

Currently, in response to last year’s Council invitation, the Commission is developing a set of key policy tools to assist Member States in navigating the impacts of an ageing population on Europe’s competitiveness and its society. These plans took the stage in a recent plenary debate in the European...

After food, housing and transport, textiles come in fourth place for environmental impact at EU level.   Yet textiles are also essential to our daily lives, from clothing and furniture to protective equipment and even buildings and vehicles.   How can we reduce this impact and make the textile industry...

Sylvia Kritzinger is Professor for Methods in the Social Sciences at the University of Vienna (Austria). Her research focuses on citizens’ political attitudes and voting behaviour, democratic representation, and political participation, voting at 16.   She participated in this year’s Annual Lecture hosted...

This year many elections are set to be held, but generational gaps, social and economic disparities can lead to inequality in the democratic process. How can we make democracy work for everyone?   This was the question that was explored at the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology’s (STOA) Annual...

How might neuroscience help to change producers’ practices and consumers’ choices for more sustainable food? Janina Seubert is an expert in affective neuroscience and human chemosensation at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and a recipient of a European Research Council (ERC) grant. She was one...

The European Parliament’s Forum for Academic Freedom has launched a video series featuring interviews on the protection of intellectual freedom. In the first three interviews, experts share their insights on the importance of safeguarding this essential principle.   Whether they have personally faced...