Uploaded October 2023 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
The SME sector, including micro-enterprises, constitutes over 99 % of all businesses in the EU and was severely affected by the pandemic. Since SMEs represent the bedrock of the economy, it was essential to support them, and Member States have put forward extensive measures in their NRRPs targeting the SME sector both directly and indirectly. SME-related measures range from learning opportunities for SME employees to advance their digital skills to business decarbonisation, the setting up of new financing instruments aimed at developing new technologies in SMEs, and the removal of administrative and regulatory obstacles to boost the productivity of smaller businesses.
🔎 Learn more on epthinktank.eu https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2023)745679
📲 Find all our publications on our EPRS app:
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The SME sector, including micro-enterprises, constitutes over 99 % of all businesses in the EU and was severely affected by the pandemic. Since SMEs represent the bedrock of the economy, it was essential to support them, and Member States have put forward extensive measures in their NRRPs targeting the SME sector both directly and indirectly. SME-related measures range from learning opportunities for SME employees to advance their digital skills to business decarbonisation, the setting up of new financing instruments aimed at developing new technologies in SMEs, and the removal of administrative and regulatory obstacles to boost the productivity of smaller businesses.
🔎 Learn more on epthinktank.eu https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2023)745679
📲 Find all our publications on our EPRS app:
• iOS: http://epyoutube.eu/q57W
• Android: http://epyoutube.eu/q57X
![Choosing Europe’s Future: The ESPAS global trends report 2024 [Policy podcast]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7udHyMuzwec/mqdefault.jpg "Choosing Europe’s Future: The ESPAS global trends report 2024 [Policy podcast]
In a year when the European Union enters a new institutional cycle, it is timely to look ahead to the strategic choices our political leaders may be asked to make in the next five years. These choices will undoubtedly be taken against a backdrop of heightened global uncertainty with geopolitics shifting quickly in new and unexpected ways. This ESPAS Global Trends Report 2024 is a contribution to the ongoing debate about the future of Europe, its role in the world and its ability to adapt and change to meet fresh challenges and harness new opportunities. This report attempts to identify the key global trends, analyse their significance for Europe, assess the agency the European Union has to influence global thinking, and sets out some of the main strategic choices policymakers may be required to make — choices that will have a strong bearing on the kind of Europe we will live in by 2040.
See the publications behind this podcast:
Choosing Europe’s Future: The ESPAS global trends report 2024
https://espas.eu/files/espas_files/about/ESPAS-Global-Trends-to-2040-Choosing-Europes-Future.pdf
Choosing Europes future: The 2024 ESPAS report
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2024/757825/EPRS_ATA(2024)757825_EN.pdf
🎧Listen to our podcasts reporting on the latest EU policy developments, looking into the impact they will have on our lives and capturing their policy implications:
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/european-parliament-eprs-policy-podcasts/id1086996218?mt=2
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6gy0Q2GWrcpPsAE71iSiEn
YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPPfzoqPUImUlrgj7CsP5N2x7DNpzp7NL&si=uxxbZBn0Lj96nUov")
![The EUs digital trade policy [Policy Podcast]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8-nqWQ-hAps/mqdefault.jpg "The EUs digital trade policy [Policy Podcast]
Digital trade has become a key element in the EUs trade policy. The EU is the worlds largest exporter and importer of digitally deliverable services and has a strong market position. Therefore, the development towards more digital trade provides opportunities for European consumers, for the economy and for the EU’s green and digital transition.
The key difference between digital trade and traditional trade is the prominence of cross-border data flows. However, certain data are considered sensitive and require protection and/or specific processing conditions.
See the publication behind this podcast: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2024)757615
🎧Listen to our podcasts reporting on the latest EU policy developments, looking into the impact they will have on our lives and capturing their policy implications:
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/european-parliament-eprs-policy-podcasts/id1086996218?mt=2
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6gy0Q2GWrcpPsAE71iSiEn
Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZXVyb3BhcmwuZXVyb3BhLmV1L3Jzcy9wb2RjYXN0L2VwcnMtcG9saWN5LXBvZGNhc3Qvb3IueG1s
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/show/2556622
TuneIn Radio: http://tunein.com/radio/EPRS-Plenary-Podcast-p762190/
Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/european-parliament-eprs-policy-podcasts
#DigitalTrade")
![How is the European Parliaments President elected? [Policy Podcast]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9uMTDZHXGzM/mqdefault.jpg "How is the European Parliaments President elected? [Policy Podcast]
On Its first and constituent plenary sitting of the new parliamentary term (16-19 July 2024), the European Parliament will elect its 32nd President, to hold office for the first half of the 10th parliamentary term, until January 2026. The President has an important and increasingly visible function in the EU institutional and international setting, mirroring Parliaments influential role as shaper of EU policies and as co-legislator.
See the publication behind this podcast:
Electing the European Parliaments President
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_ATA(2024)762340
🎧Listen to our podcasts reporting on the latest EU policy developments, looking into the impact they will have on our lives and capturing their policy implications:
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/european-parliament-eprs-policy-podcasts/id1086996218?mt=2
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6gy0Q2GWrcpPsAE71iSiEn
YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPPfzoqPUImUlrgj7CsP5N2x7DNpzp7NL&si=uxxbZBn0Lj96nUov
#EuropeanParliament")
![Future shocks 2023: Biodiversity loss or collapse [Policy podcast]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/A1lLoy9mYwI/mqdefault.jpg "Future shocks 2023: Biodiversity loss or collapse [Policy podcast]
More than any other continent, Europes biodiversity has been shaped by human activities and is under constant pressure from human production and consumption. Changes in ecosystem services that are essential to human life affect livelihoods, incomes and local migration, and can even cause or exacerbate political conflict. Despite significant efforts, the latest European Environment Agency assessment shows that the vast majority of EU habitats (81 %) and species (63 %) have poor or bad conservation status.
Subscribe to EPRS Policy Podcasts: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/audio-podcasts.html
See the paper publication behind this podcast:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_STU(2023)751428")
![CO₂ emission standards and reporting obligations for new heavy-duty vehicles [Policy podcast]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AbmqUZACR90/mqdefault.jpg "CO₂ emission standards and reporting obligations for new heavy-duty vehicles [Policy podcast]
Road transport is a major contributor to climate change, accounting for over a quarter of road transport CO2 emissions. The European Commission proposes to revise the legislation setting CO2 emission standards for new heavy-duty vehicles in the EU. The proposed revision would expand the scope of the existing regulation to include urban buses, coaches, trailers and other types of lorries. It will also require that the average CO2 emissions of heavy-duty vehicles, would have to fall by 45 % from 2030, by 65 % from 2035, and by 90 % from 2040 onwards, compared with 2019 levels.
See the paper publications behind this podcast:
https://epthinktank.eu/2023/05/04/co%e2%82%82-emission-performance-standards-and-reporting-obligations-for-new-heavy-duty-vehicles-eu-legislation-in-progress/
🎧Listen to our podcasts reporting on the latest EU policy developments, looking into the impact they will have on our lives and capturing their policy implications:
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/european-parliament-eprs-policy-podcasts/id1086996218?mt=2
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6gy0Q2GWrcpPsAE71iSiEn
Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZXVyb3BhcmwuZXVyb3BhLmV1L3Jzcy9wb2RjYXN0L2VwcnMtcG9saWN5LXBvZGNhc3Qvb3IueG1s
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/show/2556622
TuneIn Radio: http://tunein.com/radio/EPRS-Plenary-Podcast-p762190/
Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/european-parliament-eprs-policy-podcasts")
