🧀 CHEESE WAR UPDATE:
EU court says Denmark is breaking the law by allowing its cheesemakers to sell products called 'feta'. Feta is a protected foodstuff that can only be made in certain areas of Greece Denmark had claimed that its 'feta' was only for sale in non-EU countries, so no rules were broken. The court confirms that this is bogus and protected food norms still apply

💶 Auditors say the EU Commission overstated its climate spending by *€72BN* between 2014-2020. The watchdog fears that this discrepancy could be repeated for the current period [...] The Commission said €216bn - 20% of the budget - had gone toward climate action. But spending was often overstated according to a new report. The main sector where the figure is overblown? Agriculture, by some *€60BN* [...]

🇫🇮 Finland aims to be carbon-neutral by 2035. But nurturing nature (~75% of the country is forest) and exploiting it at the same time is proving to be a difficult or even impossible ask

Latest @BrusselsTimes Behind the Scenes brusselstimes.com/brussels-behin… 🌲 New data suggests Finland’s forests emitted more CO2 than they absorbed last year. Logging and slow tree growth probable causes. You can’t build climate targets on carbon sinks if your sinks aren’t doing their job

#EUCO but it’s Lord of the Rings

🌱 THREAD on the cartoon/comic world’s climate change progress.

1. Tintin. Massive carbon footprint. Constantly travelling via inefficient means, just look at that plane tech. Also is potentially in the pocket of petrostate officials 2. Asterix. All-boar diet isn’t great and the Gauls are always chopping down trees to make palisades. The village arguably delays the Roman industrialisation of agriculture though. More progress needed

Who wouldn’t want to party with these lads These guys love ‘family’ even more than the dudes from Fast & Furious

#EUCO but it’s Star Wars

From a summit far, far away...

🌱 EU court dismisses an appeal that sought to annul the current 2030 emissions target, on the grounds that it was not ambitious enough. Families from the EU, Kenya and Fiji said that the efforts would not be enough to protect them from the impacts of climate change But the court dismissed the appeal, saying there was no grounds to uphold it. Essentially, the general application nature of an EU target rules out the legal grounds needed to say there is a breach of fundamental rights

💉 BREAKING - EU medicines agency is assessing the J&J single-dose COVID vax, after pharma firm applied for approval. Decision due mid-March under "accelerated timetable" Commission has 200m doses on order, with option for 200m more. Latest data from US trials shows 72% efficacy vs moderate/severe infection, 85% vs hospitalisation/death

EU border force @Frontex have new uniforms. I decided they need a theme tune too. Voila, #Thundertex H/t @BeaRios_
This is your fault

🇮🇪 News for language nerds (the best kind of people)

Big case this week at European Court of Justice. 🧵: The court will on Thursday hear its first case ever filed in the Irish language. It’s to do with labelling of veterinary medicines, but could signal a bigger shift in proceedings than that suggests /.

#EUCO but it’s Harry Potter

Feat. the entire EU wizarding world

Absolute slap in the face to @Eurostar as Boris Johnson heads to Brussels by plane *and the climate, obvz

Reminder that Eurostar is in trouble. Massively scaled back services because of travel restrictions and pure lack of demand. It's on the ropes. Doubt Boris cares

🌱 Latest raft of #EUCO conclusions include the 55% emissions target. LOADS of language on member states being at different starting points, having the exclusive right to decide on energy mixes and preserving competitiveness If there's a budget compromise, there will be a climate deal. (neck on block time). There was just about enough for a deal in October and enough massaging has been done now for it to get over the line if the MFF/RoL are sorted

#EUCO preparation list:

- Look up 'fudge' in the Hungarian and Polish dictionaries;
- Decide whether this is a red wine or hard spirits occasion;
- Download plenty of pictures of leaders for no particular reason, mind your own business 👀 *it's 'koholmány' and 'banialuki' apparently

🚂 Big night-train news. New services linking Vienna, Zurich, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Barcelona and more due to start launching in late 2021. More details on @EURACTIV euractiv.com/section/railwa… FAO of downcast Brits: "The UK will be linked to the network at Brussels and Paris by the cross-Channel Eurostar - should it survive a period of immense uncertainty triggered by the pandemic and Brexit - as trains need to be specially designed to run through the undersea tunnel."

#EUCO but it’s The Simpsons Excellent

So with China aiming for carbon-neutrality by 2060, there’s a number of things to unpack here 1./ euractiv.com/section/energy… It vindicates EU policy decisions on its own 2050 net-zero pledge. Back in 2018, the Commission was torn between 80%-90% emission cuts and going all in on net-zero euractiv.com/section/climat…

💰 Five Horizon Europe missions for the next decade were handed to the EU Commission. Here's a summary:

🌊 Restore Europe's seas and oceans by 2030. Set up a hydrosphere agency, virtually map bodies of water, ban single-use plastics, green fishing & ferries; 🧪 Beat cancer. Focus on diagnostics, prevention, treatment and patient quality of life. Will closely mirror the Commission's own health plan;

✈️ MORE on @Airbus hydrogen news:

Ground demonstrator to launch in 2021;
Flight demo in 2025;
Entry-into-service 2035

Storage tank design and integration cited as huge challenge. Hydrogen cryogenics, handling the fuel also a big issue Hydrogen takes up 4x the space as kerosene. On the turbofan concept, that entire part in the red is reserved for fuel tank

🚨 Airbus reveals plan to build zero-emission airliners, based on using hydrogen tech. Plans unveiled today show three different options on the table, with 2035 suggested as the entry-into-service: Option 1: turbofan, 200 passengers, using liquid hydrogen stored in tanks