College of Europe

Abstract The historical and geopolitical development of Belgium’s foreign policy is considered through four major areas: security; economic integration; value-based diplomacy; and institutional developments. We explore how Belgium’s obligation to remain neutral in the post-independence era was challenged by WWI, WWII, and the shift to multilateral alliances in the post-war era with the UN and EU. We further consider how Belgian foreign policy became increasingly shaped by the transition from a unitary to a federal state, where multilateral activism contributed to a foreign policy emphasizing peace and partnership, while simultaneously seeking to balance commitments to Atlantic and European alliances. This chapter suggests that defining Belgian foreign policy in its entirety remains challenging. Belgium’s complex evolution as a federal state, along with its various international commitments, ensures that questions about the nature of diplomacy pose challenges: is a coherent vision for Belgian foreign policy tenable, or is it undergoing further evolution?

European Commission, Standard Eurobarometer

This paper argues that a shift in the EU's solidarity arrangement is emerging. Although solidarity is a fundamental value of the EU project, as stated in Article 2 TEU, and in the preamble of the EU Charter where it is placed alongside human dignity, freedom and equality as the four universal values on which the Union is founded, and although the Court has held that it ‘underpins the entire legal system of the European Union’ constituting ‘its very root’, it is underdeveloped in concrete legal and political terms. This has manifested in a range of crises that the Union has become enmeshed in, and its suboptimal responses thereto. This paper flags four recent developments of change: the European Pillar of Social Rights, the NextGenEU recovery fund, the EU's response to the war in Ukraine and the CJEU's recent case law on solidarity. Indeed, there is a growing scholarship that considers that despite solidarity's somewhat ethereal nature, it is not only a theoretically important tool to understand European Union but that it is an EU legal concept gaining in importance – a general principle in the making. This paper identifies the EU Charter's preamble as the anchor for the interpretation of solidarity as a general principle of EU law.

ABSTRACT The editors identify and analyse the rich subfield that has developed in studies of personnel and professionals in various disciplines before passing in review the various contributions to this special issue.

Plastics used in agriculture, commonly known as agriplastics (AP), offer numerous advantages in terrestrial agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, but the diffusion of AP-intensive practices has led to extensive pollution. This review aims to synthesise scientific and policy discussions surrounding AP, examining evidence of their benefits and detrimental environmental and agricultural impacts. Following the proposal of a preliminary general taxonomy of AP, this paper presents the findings from a survey conducted among international experts from the plastic industry, farmer organisations, NGOs and environmental research institutes. This analysis highlights knowledge gaps, demands and perspectives for the sustainable future use of AP. Stakeholder positions vary on the options of ‘rejection’ or ‘reduction’ of AP, as well as the role of alternative materials such as (bio)degradable and compostable plastics. However, there is consensus on critical issues such as redesign, labelling, traceability, environmental safety standards, deployment and retrieval standards, as well as innovative waste management approaches. All stakeholders express concern for the environment. A ‘best practice’-based circular model was elaborated capturing these perspectives. In the context of global food systems increasingly reliant on AP, scientists emphasise the need to simultaneously preserve nature-based and traditional knowledge-based sustainable agricultural practices to enhance food system resilience.

Detailed method descriptions are essential for reproducibility, research evaluation, and effective data reuse. We summarize the key recommendations for life sciences researchers and research institutions described in the European Commission PRO-MaP report.

Plastics used in agriculture, commonly known as agriplastics (AP), offer numerous advantages in terrestrial agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, but the diffusion of AP-intensive practices has led to extensive pollution. This review aims to synthesise scientific and policy discussions surrounding AP, examining evidence of their benefits and detrimental environmental and agricultural impacts. Following the proposal of a preliminary general taxonomy of AP, this paper presents the findings from a survey conducted among international experts from the plastic industry, farmer organisations, NGOs and environmental research institutes. This analysis highlights knowledge gaps, demands and perspectives for the sustainable future use of AP. Stakeholder positions vary on the options of ‘rejection’ or ‘reduction’ of AP, as well as the role of alternative materials such as (bio)degradable and compostable plastics. However, there is consensus on critical issues such as redesign, labelling, traceability, environmental safety standards, deployment and retrieval standards, as well as innovative waste management approaches. All stakeholders express concern for the environment. A ‘best practice’-based circular model was elaborated capturing these perspectives. In the context of global food systems increasingly reliant on AP, scientists emphasise the need to simultaneously preserve nature-based and traditional knowledge-based sustainable agricultural practices to enhance food system resilience.