'Brussels' - tagged features

Well renewable energy is of course one of the main goals - and European politicians are turning to the desert in their search for cheap, clean and secure energy. As oil and gas prices hover at record levels, the Prince of Jordan and international scientists have been invited to Brussels to state their case for a potential energy goldmine: the sun. They say using a highly-concentrated form of solar energy holds the key to solving not only Europe's energy needs – but it would help bring stability to the Middle East region. Radio Netherlands Worldwide Brussels Correspondent Vanessa Mock reports for Network Europe. 

From the many ways of dignifying death around Europe we now turn to one of the least dignified ways to die – state execution, or the death penalty. This week the European Union was abuzz with fresh plans to persuade the United Nations General Assembly to adopt a resolution condemning the use of the death penalty in its member states around the world. Many key states still use it, including the US, Japan, and China. But, it’s banned across the whole of the EU. Portugal holds the EU’s rotating presidency at the moment and it’s been spearheading the drive to get the UN resolution passed, as you’d imagine with no small degree of opposition. Vanessa Mock is Brussels correspondent for Radio Netherlands Worldwide and explains in this week’s Brussels Briefing that as a first step the Portuguese are calling for a suspension to executions in all UN member states. 

The old Flemish master Pieter Paul Rubens is getting a fresh new gloss in a major exhibition in Brussels. The 'Art of Genius' exhibition treats visitors to a discovery tour of Rubens' most creative period when he was working in his Antwerp studio in the 1620s and 30s. There's plenty to feast the eyes on, with Rubenesque beauties shimmering alongside intimate sketches of his children, many of them newly-restored. But even if you're not a big fan of Baroque art, this lavish show proves there's lot more to Rubens than meets the eye. Radio Netherlands reporter Vanessa Mock strolled along some of the paintings with exhibition curator Sabine van Sprang 

Greece has been struggling to contain devastating forest fires this week that have killed dozens of people. The Greek president declared a state of emergency, and individual European countries have sent aid. Our Brussels correspondent, Quentin Dickenson, points out that there is a program in the works to organize European-wide assistance for situations exactly like this: aid for countries who can’t deal with disasters on their own. The former EU commissioner Michel Barnier recommended such a program 18 months. It’s been welcomed widely. But since then, nothing much has happened. 

European leaders this week converged on Brussels for talks on the controversial EU treaty at a two-day summit in Brussels, which began on Thursday. Governments around the EU went into the summit assuring voters that they would stand firm on their own position. Some of them - notably the UK and Poland have long threatened to veto the new treaty if it doesn't serve their national interest. It all seems a far cry from the days when the majority of European leaders talked happily about forging an ever closer union. Or does it? Network Europe's Brussels correspondent, Stephen Castle in Brussels 

Bureaucrats and Romance… wait, wait, don’t turn off your radio! It’s not as dull as it sounds: it seems there’s a dating service for European bureaucrats in Brussels, home to the European Parliament. And it also seems there’s trouble. Radio Netherlands' Vanessa Mock has this story. 

In business, one seemingly effective way to promote your company's interests is to hire a professional to do your bidding for you. These highly paid campaigners are known as lobbyists and they attempt to curry favour and influence the decision-making process in Europe. But, critics of the profession say it's undemocrtaic and lacks transparancy. Which is why the European Commission is now trying to regulate the industry. Deutsche Weelle's Johannes Bahrke takes us up the corridors of power. 

Perhaps International women's day would be better appreciated by the female MEP's and bureaucrats trying to make a name for themselves in Brussels. But how seriously are women taken in the EU capital? We put it to RN's Brussels correspondant Vanessa Mock that it was surely still a man's world. 

There is undoubtedly a big communication deficit between Brussels and European citizens. For many, the EU remains something distant and quite abstract. Cordula Janowski, from the Center for European Integration Studies in Bonn, agrees that EU leaders and institutions have lost touch with the concerns of its citizens.