Claire Stam

For Europe.Table, Claire Stam writes a weekly column called "What's cooking in Brussels." The column is published every Friday morning and provides an overview of the political events on the European stage in the coming week. Before joining Europe.Table as a columnist, Claire Stam was editor-in-chief of the Paris and Berlin bureaus for the online media Euractiv, which is headquartered in Brussels. She has also worked in Paris, Frankfurt and Berlin. Claire is a journalist specializing in EU affairs, climate (she has covered all international climate negotiations since COP21 in Paris in 2015), energy and environment.

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Next week, the Parliament and the Council will meet to negotiate the proposal to reduce methane emissions in the energy sector. It marks a race against time. continue reading →

The members of the Environment Committee in the EU Parliament (ENVI) have agreed by a large majority on a weakened polluter-pays principle in the revision of the directive on the treatment of urban wastewater. According to the compromise, industry – in particular manufacturers of pharmaceutical products and cosmetics – is to share 80 percent of […] continue reading →

The European Commission is proposing to allow the use of glyphosate in the European Union for a further period of ten years. However, it is attaching restrictions to this decision. continue reading →

After Ukraine filed a complaint against Poland, Slovakia and Hungary at the World Trade Organization (WTO), Poland threatens consequences. continue reading →

The vote in the Environment Committee (ENVI) next Wednesday will decide who will be asked to pay for the reuse of wastewater: only industry, as the Commission envisages – or industry and consumers. continue reading →

The upcoming European elections in France will be European in name only. continue reading →

New Genomic Techniques (NGT) were high on the agenda at the meeting of the 27 EU agriculture ministers. Spanish Minister Luis Planas said this following the two-day informal meeting in Córdoba. Planas stressed that the Spanish presidency intends to reach an agreement in the Council by the end of the year – the end of […] continue reading →

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will deliver the annual State of the Union address in Strasbourg on Sept. 13. This speech traditionally marks the political pulse in the EU bubble. This is all the more true before the next elections. continue reading →

With less than a year to go before the European elections, the Green Deal dossiers on biodiversity and agriculture have yet to be finalized. For the Brussels establishment, which returned from its summer recess this week, this marks the beginning of a race against time. continue reading →

In France, the left-wing parties are divided over the question of forming a joint list for the upcoming European elections. continue reading →

A few weeks after the start of Spain's EU Council presidency, Spaniards are being called to the polls on Sunday. Currently, the conservative Partido Popular (PP) is ahead in the polls; it would need the right-wing Vox to achieve an absolute majority. If the coalition wins the election, this will have an impact on the Green Deal. continue reading →

Yesterday, the trilogue on the controversial text on the Nature Restoration Law (NRL) started. The trilogue on Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) also started. The actual negotiations will start after the parliamentary summer break. However, the schedule for the technical trilogues of the two texts has not yet been set.Both trilogues are about meeting the goals […] continue reading →

Less than five months before COP28 in Dubai, the designated president of the World Climate Conference, Sultan al Jaber, presented his plans. During a ministerial meeting on climate protection in Brussels, jointly organized by the EU, China and Canada, al Jaber delivered a speech on Thursday. In his speech, he called for:He also called on […] continue reading →

The entire EU bubble is still digesting the vote on the text for nature restoration that took place last Wednesday. For many, the debate surrounding the Nature Restoration Law represents a turning point. continue reading →

The motion of the Environment Committee to reject the renaturation law as a whole did not get a majority in the plenum on Wednesday. However, the adopted text is not a clear victory for the supporters of the law either. continue reading →

The European Parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of revising a law regulating industrial emissions (IED). In it, MEPs opposed extending the scope of the directive, as proposed by the EU Commission. The directive sets rules for the prevention and control of emissions from large agro-industrial facilities to air, water and soil. With the positioning […] continue reading →

Rarely has a legislative proposal provoked such sharp conflict in Brussels as the one to restore nature. Shortly before the vote in the plenum, the signs continue to point to confrontation. But the Renew Group believes it has found a way to save the law. continue reading →

Shortly before the vote on the Nature Restoration Law in the European Parliament, there is little to suggest that the EPP is prepared to compromise. The Commission's proposal to deregulate the law on genetic engineering is unlikely to change this. continue reading →