The Parliament Magazine

As Europe rearms, integrating women is becoming a strategic necessity. With aging populations, relying on men alone won’t cut it. Women make up 13.9% of NATO forces. But progress is uneven, and retention is still shaped by culture, stereotypes and limited career paths. Are Europe’s militaries ready to adapt? Read the full story here: buff.ly/MP9ep4B

A free trade agreement between the EU and Australia is underway. For the EU, it's a step toward a pragmatic trade policy, writes Sorin Moisa, prioritizing stable trade relationships and reaffirming the importance of a rules-based approach to international trade. Most importantly, a trusted partner like Australia wouldn’t weaponize access to its natural resources, such as rare earths and critical minerals, argues Moisa, ex-rapporteur for the EU-Australia FTA negotiations. Read the full op-ed: buff.ly/py0tH9y

The ambitious 28th Regime plan to create pan-European company law came a step closer to becoming reality today, after the Commission unveiled its legislative proposal. While business groups were happy with the direction of the proposal, they had concerns that with no EU-level court for business disputes the implementation would remain a 27-state patchwork. “Not the full ambition we had asked for, it needs improvements,” said Simon Schaefer, the president of Allied For Startups, an organization advocating for Europe’s start-up community. “But definitely wins for Europe’s business community." Read the full story by @pederdschaefer: buff.ly/1Qlo9t7

Home prices across the European Union have increased by a staggering 60% over the past decade. Sorcha Edwards, the secretary general of Housing Europe, helps explain why, pointing to the failure of many member states to support public and social housing programs. Read the full story by @pedersschaefer: buff.ly/ASmky8F

European governments have rebuffed requests to join a U.S.-led military operation to open the Strait of Hormuz, signalling a more assertive European Union ready to pursue its own interests in the Middle East. Read the full story by @pedersschaefer: buff.ly/RUVuuBs

War-driven energy prices are intensifying the fight over the EU’s carbon market. Oil has surged roughly 40% since the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran. EU leaders will debate the ETS this week as some governments push for changes to the bloc’s flagship climate policy, while more than 100 companies have signed a letter urging Brussels to defend it. buff.ly/iGV1ET6

“Europe’s housing crisis is a social emergency,” MEP Iratxe García Pérez writes in a new op-ed. The S&D president has called for more investment, a dedicated EU housing fund and stricter rules on short-term rentals and property speculation to address Europe's housing crisis. Read her full argument here: buff.ly/XTm0pkZ

The European Union “must anticipate” significant Russian involvement in Armenia’s parliamentary elections this summer and be prepared to do more to help Yerevan counter hybrid interference, the European Commission’s enlargement commissioner Marta Kos said on Friday.  “We have experienced in Moldova that Russia was willing to spend hundreds of millions [of euros] to stop the European path of Moldovans,” she said. “This time I'm even more in favor of the European Union helping countries that are under such pressure.”   Read the full interview here: theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/e…

In 2009, Barack Obama argued moral leadership was stronger than any weapon. Today that optimism feels distant. As France expands its nuclear role and more countries weigh the bomb — from China to Sweden — the number of nuclear actors may grow, along with the risk of catastrophe. Read the full analysis in this week’s newsletter and find out what else we’re reading and writing: buff.ly/yeDVNCf And be sure to subscribe.

The Parliament’s March print edition is out now. This month's issue explores how Ukraine’s battlefield-forged defense industry offers cutting-edge capabilities for the EU; what rising energy prices due to war in the Middle East mean for the bloc's reindustrialization efforts; how Europe risks falling behind in the rocket race — and much more. Read a preview of the issue here, and subscribe to receive a hard copy: buff.ly/TxLc7gL

France is signaling a major shift in nuclear strategy. President Emmanuel Macron said France would play its “full part” in what he described as a new nuclear age — and suggested the country’s nuclear shadow could be projected to European partners. The move raises new questions about Europe’s nuclear future. Read more on our website: buff.ly/QP0hBx4

“The housing crisis doesn’t wait; we have to act fast,” Commissioner for energy and housing Dan Jørgensen told The Parliament in a Q&A. Jørgensen outlined his plan to tackle the emergency, including the forthcoming Affordable Housing Act and more efficient rules for short-term rental platforms. The EU must deliver concrete solutions fast to contain the politicization of the issue. But, he warned, “Brussels won’t be able to solve this crisis alone, and our plan is just the beginning of a collective effort to make that change happen.” Read the full interview: buff.ly/mbx1rsE

D66 roared to victory in last year’s elections on a platform that sought to address a Dutch housing shortage of 400,000 homes. But the Netherlands is not alone. With a housing crisis ballooning across the EU, parties from other member states are following suit and making it a political priority. Read the full story by @pedersschaefer: buff.ly/q6PtoN4

A decade ago, the EU made the mistake to not develop reusable rockets to access space — the very technology that has since catapulted Elon Musk’s SpaceX to the forefront of the industry. Europe is now pouring considerable resources into rectifying its blunder and catching up in the space race. Funding for the European Space Agency has doubled since 2014, and it's now mimicking NASA’s strategy of outsourcing launch services to private companies. Read the full story by @pedersschaefer: buff.ly/rtwZ0bz

Over the last decade, the EU has faced a deepening housing crisis. From 2015 to 2025, prices rose by 60%, turning housing into one of Europe’s most divisive political issues. This policy report explores the crisis’ causes and consequences — and the solutions on the table — through the perspectives of policymakers and experts, including Energy and Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen, S&D President Iratxe García Pérez and the rapporteur for the Parliament’s Special Committee on the Housing Crisis, Borja Giménez Larraz. Read the full policy report here: buff.ly/aigu6ux

As the U.S. and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran, both Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu called on Iranians to overthrow their government once the bombing stops. However, that “sales pitch seemed to downplay a reality facing the Iranian population: no nationwide organization exists to take on such a task,” Daniel Williams writes in an essay. Williams contends that the Trump administration could learn key lessons from the first Gulf War, when George H.W. Bush urged Iraqis to topple Saddam Hussein. Read the full essay here: buff.ly/Gzk4Pou

The EU risks falling further behind in the global space race. Despite leading in satellite technology, the bloc has struggled to launch its own rockets — even losing independent access to space between 2023 and 2024. Now lawmakers are betting on private companies to help Europe catch up. Read the full story by Peder Schaefer: buff.ly/u5g6UCp

While the U.S. government has demanded the dismantling of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies, the EU has resisted, argues @Darya Majidi, President of @UN Women Italy. Now, Majidi writes in a new op-ed, Brussels should focus on three priorities: providing accurate data on the gender pay gap, strengthening childcare and eldercare systems and integrating gender equality into digital governance. Read her full argument here: buff.ly/WR11nfO

It’s a crucial moment for negotiations on the EU’s next long-term budget. EU institutions aim to finalize the definitive Multiannual Financial Framework by the end of the year, but hurdles remain. The European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets has drafted an interim report outlining amendments to the European Commission’s proposal for the new MFF. The report will go to a plenary vote in May, ahead of negotiations with the Commission and the Council. But major points of contention remain. How much power should national governments have in managing funds? What should the actual size of the next budget be, net of loan repayments? And where can the EU realistically find the money to finance it? Our policy report brings together the voices of prominent European political figures and leading experts, assessing the key trade-offs ahead — and whether the next MFF will truly live up to Ursula von der Leyen’s description as “the most ambitious” ever. Read the full report here: buff.ly/I39QRX3

As American and Israeli bombs pound Iranian targets and its proxies across the Middle East, Europe’s response has been a muddle of caution, platitudes and half-baked support. No one should mourn the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader. But if Europe accepts a world where major powers need no mandates, it helps build a world where it's bound to grow more powerless. Get the full analysis in this week’s newsletter and find out what else we’re writing and reading here: buff.ly/QORE70v