The transition towards a sustainable energy system in Europe: What role can North Africa's solar resources play?

Securing energy supply and speeding up the transition towards a reliable, sustainable, low-carbon energy system are among the major current and future challenges facing Europe. Importing dispatchable solar electricity from North Africa is considered as a potential and attractive option. Nevertheless, as things currently stand, the European Commission focuses mainly on the exploitation of the existing wind power potential in the North Sea, largely ignoring the solar power potential in the Sahara region of North Africa. After discussing the major challenges and issues facing Europe to achieve the assigned ambitious objectives, the paper emphasises the importance of North Africa's solar resources in helping Europe to successfully address the challenge of decarbonising its electricity system, in particular with regards to the security of supply and sustainability. Within these two major challenges, the paper explores the issues of access, barriers and opportunities. The paper highlights why the EU’s energy and climate goals will not be achievable without adequate grid expansion and grid-scale energy storage facilities, as well as other innovative measures to manage demand and ensure a secure energy supply. In this respect, the paper shows how the import of dispatchable electricity from North Africa via specific HVDC links could play a key role in helping the EU achieve its energy targets in a cost effective way without recourse to significant investments in transmission infrastructure and storage facilities. The paper then attempts to identify and analyze the main barriers that continue to inhibit the export of solar electricity from North Africa to Europe. Finally, to make the project more attractive and achievable in the near future, the paper proposes a systematic approach for setting up energy import scenarios. A promising import scenario is presented where energy import via Italy is shown to be a more viable and effective solution than via Spain.Peer reviewe

Land Law, Property Ideologies and the British-Irish relationship

English and Irish land law are deeply influenced by the historical context of the British-Irish relationship, yet property scholarship comparing the two jurisdictions is surprisingly rare. The current Brexit negotiations provide a timely reminder of the strategic importance of property and trade relations between the two countries; and of their related-but-different legal cultures. In this article we examine how the property cultures of England and Ireland were shaped by the politics and practices of land tenure, by competing economic and property ideologies, and by the influence of both on national identity and statehood in both jurisdictions. The article reveals the role of local contexts and events in shaping land reform, and demonstrates the fertile potential of the comparative frame to contextualise each jurisdiction’s doctrines and practices. As domestic land law systems are drawn together in the context of emerging EU jurisdiction over areas like mortgage credit, each jurisdiction’s underpinning ideological commitments have important implications for the ease – or not – of attempts to harmonize member state practices. We explain the alignments and divergences between domestic underpinnings of Irish and English law, and reflect on the implications of our findings for contemporary property problems in the context of evolving economic and political relationships between the UK and Ireland

Precarious employment in Europe.Part 2, Country case studies

This study contains the results of eight country cases studies carried out in the framework of the European Parliament study on Precarious employment: patterns, trends and policy strategies in Europe. The featured countries are Denmark, France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and United Kingdom

Wildlife crime in Spain In-depth analysis

This paper provides an in-depth analysis of wildlife crime and efforts to combat it in Spain. It identifies best practices by law enforcement agencies: the Spanish Administrative Authority of CITES, the special police for the protection of nature (SEPRONA) and the Special Prosecutor’s Office

The Commission 2021 rule of law report and the EU monitoring and enforcement of Article 2 TEU values

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the LIBE and AFCO Committees, offers a comprehensive and critical assessment of the European Commission’s Annual Rule of Law Report. It does so in a broad and holistic manner by assessing this new monitoring tool in light of the EU’s Article 2 TEU monitoring and enforcement architecture. Multiple recommendations are offered in order to remedy the serious gaps and weaknesses identified in this study

Gender equality policies in Spain. Update - Study

While gender equality policies have been institutionalized and consolidated in Spain until 2008, the 2009-2016 period shows backlash provoked by austerity policies adopted in response to the economic crisis. Institutional dismantlement, budget cuts, legislative standstill, policy reforms with negative gender impacts, and problems of implementation indicate an uncertain future for gender equality policies in Spain. This study maps developments in Spanish gender equality institutions, laws, and policies, including employment, care, political and economic decision-making, gender-based violence, and sexual and reproductive rights

River basins and water management in Spain. Tagus and Ebro river basin districts : an account of their current situation and main problems - Study

This Study was commissioned and overseen by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the PETI committee. It aims to analyse issues related to the petitions from Spanish citizens on the Spanish side of the Tagus and Ebro River Basin Districts. Two main solutions have been brought forward in order to solve the water shortage in Spain: water transfer or desalination. The most widely used approach so far has been the transfer, which has been proposed for both the Tagus and Ebro rivers. As indicated in the Study, in Spain the water-related issues have frequently no political or social dimension but the territorial significance. This Study tries to illuminate problems and issues related to the river basins management in Spain while considering the applicable EU legislation