This is how Europe has changed the lives of its citizens during all crises | European elections 2024 | News

The life of Europe, the continent, of each of the 450 million citizens of the 27 Member States, would be totally different without the project that makes up the European Union today. And more than that, the legislature of all crises, which is going to be sentenced this Sunday with the most important elections in the history of the European Parliament. In 2020, the EU facilitated the joint purchase of millions of vaccine doses…

Europe, the continent, the life of each of the 450 million citizens of the 27 Member States would be completely different without the project that makes up the European Union today. And more than that, the legislature of all crises, which is going to be sentenced this Sunday with the most important elections in the history of the European Parliament. In 2020, the EU facilitated the joint purchase of millions of vaccine doses to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, which killed thousands of people; helped pay for the ERTE that safeguarded almost 42 million jobs in the EU; it has protected those fleeing the war in Ukraine and helped the country invaded by Russia with arms funds and an unprecedented financial lifeline, and it has facilitated the joint acquisition of gas to resist the energy crisis and the Kremlin’s blackmail.

The Union has also promoted less significant measures and regulations but that have a direct impact on daily life. Such as the right to repair, which establishes that manufacturers will no longer be able to refuse to repair washing machines, dishwashers or mobile phones and that the price of this work must be affordable. Or a single charger for your mobile phone. In Spain (which joined the Community Club in 1986), 53% of the laws approved in the Cortes in these five years of the European legislature have come from Brussels or Strasbourg.

In the case of some community partners, with a light welfare state umbrella, EU rules have established a minimum wage or a specific crime of gender violence that already exists in Spain. The EU also has failed projects, or environmental regulations that started out too ambitious and that have been weakened due to pressure from the right and industry and fear of losing competitiveness.

The EU is also rights, progress, projects, obligations that are often taken for granted. Or they are ignored: the euro, the possibility to travel freely throughout Europe, a single market, the protective umbrella of the European Court, the Erasmus study programme, through which many millions of people have passed and who now look out to new horizons in the community clubs. But in a period when reality has dynamited the maritime taboos of the common project born almost 70 years ago, these last five years have been crucial. This is how Europe has transformed the lives of its citizens.

Vaccines. When the coronavirus pandemic shook the world in 2020, fear, selfishness and nationalism on the part of some almost overcame European solidarity. Access to vaccines was expected to be difficult and reserved for the richest countries in the community club, with fierce competition for masks, every gram of paracetamol and respirators. The European Commission then proposed a common strategy for the collective purchase of millions of doses (authorised by the European Medicines Agency) of vaccines against Covid-19 from several laboratories for its 450 million inhabitants. There were some controversies in some contracts (and there are still questions about whether some laboratories were given preferential treatment over others), but the truth is that the formula was successful.

Reserve for sale of combustion vehicles. A European regulation will ban the sale in the EU of new cars and vans with combustion engines from 2035. The measure is designed to drive rapid decarbonisation of the new car fleet in Europe and aims to ensure that the EU reduces its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 levels by 2030, as many within the European People’s Party (EPP) want the ban reviewed in this period.

Cheap money to pay ERTE. When Europe had to limit itself to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, many EU countries resorted to the temporary employment protection mechanism, known in Spain as ERTE: a measure that allows companies to keep their employees without laying them off and, above all, a good part of your income. This tool required a lot of money and the EU launched the Support to Protect Employment in an Emergency (SURE) program with a cheap loan of 100 billion euros so that partners could finance the ERTE. Brussels’ calculations speak of 42 million jobs saved and 9,000 million saved for the States. Spain received almost 22,000 million euros; it was second on the list after Italy.

Weapons for Ukraine. Following Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU broke one of the biggest taboos, which banned the purchase of weapons. The Union, its 27 member states, has financed weapons for Kiev through a European intergovernmental fund, which combines a huge financial lifeline to support Ukraine, money for reconstruction and measures to protect refugees fleeing the war and which today protects more than four million people.

No more small shampoo bottles in hotels. A new environmental regulation seeks to eliminate the thousands of small single-use plastic containers of gel, shampoo or conditioner that hotels distribute to their guests. The objective is to gradually remove this system (15% less in 2024), which is also used for sauces in restaurants and which generates tons of waste, to opt for larger, refillable and reusable containers.

Repair instead of throwing away. EU citizens will be able to demand repairs of washing machines, coffee machines or mobile phones. A new regulation that seeks to promote the circular economy and savings will force producers to offer to fix a broken or defective product (even if the warranty has expired) instead of encouraging the purchase of another; and repairs must be at a “reasonable” price and time. In the EU alone, 35 million tons of appliances that could be repaired are thrown away.

Transparency among media stakeholders. Another regulation coming from the European Union establishes safeguards for the use of spyware, forces the media to be transparent about their shareholders and the appointment of directors of public media and their financing. It also guarantees journalists the protection of their sources. The Media Law, which came into force in Spain a few weeks ago, and which seeks to protect pluralism and independence, establishes the creation of a European Council that will be in charge of monitoring the state of press freedom on the continent.

artificial intelligence. The European Union has become the first region in the world to create a comprehensive law to regulate artificial intelligence (AI). The regulation, which focuses specifically on so-called “general purpose AI”, for example the popular ChatGPT, calls for transparency and common requirements. In addition, it establishes rules that allow AI to be controlled, allows developers to share important information with suppliers (many European SMEs) and seeks to avoid “excessive burdens” for companies.

Pajares tunnels for higher speeds. A few weeks ago, on May 21, the first high-speed trains with passengers ran between Madrid and Gijón. The AVE has taken 20 years and 4,000 million euros to cross the Cantabrian mountain range for 50 kilometers, including 12 tunnels and 10 viaducts, the so-called Pajares edifice. More than 16% of this money came from the European budget, 518 million from regional and solidarity funds, 121 million from the recovery plan and 3.2 million from the European Transport Network. After all this investment, the journey between Madrid and Oviedo can be done in three hours and eight minutes if the trains are punctual and 30 minutes longer if you reach Gijón for around 80 euros with the cheapest fare.

Reducing the burden of bureaucracy on farmers. Amid protests and opposition from farmers, the EU in March approved easing environmental conditions to ease the sector’s bureaucratic burden and allow it to receive direct aid from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), whose restrictions and controls will exempt small farmers.

Protection against complaints of lies Of the powerful. The union passed a law in this legislature to prohibit strategic demands by the powerful (companies, politicians or) against public participation (known as SLAPP). Lobby) trying to stifle, intimidate and silence human rights activists and defenders through litigation. The new regulation, which seeks to protect them from these lawsuits, gives judges the ability to dismiss this type of case at an early stage if they consider it unfounded, indicating that justice may require the plaintiff to provide financial guarantees for the costs of the trial (including the victim’s costs), or decide that the party who initiated the case may be subject to sanction.

Against gender violence. The EU has issued the first major European law against gender violence, which criminalizes practices such as female genital mutilation or forced marriage and establishes that Member States must guarantee assistance and protection for survivors of this scourge. In addition, the regulation strengthens the fight against cyberbullying – a particularly serious problem against women – as it now considers “cyber exhibitionism as the disclosure of private information on the Internet without consent”. In April, the European Parliament also gave the green light to a reform of the European Directive against human trafficking, which will now include the exploitation of women for the practice of surrogacy and illegal adoption as new criminal offenses.

European Disability Card. The EU is moving towards a European Disability Card and a Parking Card for these citizens that will be valid across the EU. These certificates will facilitate mobility and guarantee rights on equal terms across the different member states. Also, according to the regulation, access will be granted on preferential terms for using public transport, attending cultural events and visiting museums, leisure and sports centres across all Union countries.

I limit the big digital platforms. A new regulation (the Digital Services Act or DSA) forces giants like Google, Meta or Amazon to promptly remove illegal content (from child sexual abuse material to cyberbullying) and tackle misinformation. If they do not do so, the companies face huge fines.