Valladolid to have Spain’s largest biomass-fed heating network
The promise is that it will save between 30% and 50% on users’ energy bills
The legislation will give extraordinary powers to the government to manage the coronavirus crisis in a more hard-handed way
The Swedish parliament’s Christmas recess has been a short one, as legislators have been called back to deliberate on the government’s coronavirus crisis bill, local media report. Parliament is expected to vote on the fast-tracked legislation as early as 4 January. Health Minister Lena Hallengren told a news conference on Monday that the emergency powers law, if approved, would be in force from 10 January until September.
The government has complained that its hands are tied by the Constitution and wants greater powers to control the rapid spread of the coronavirus. Sweden, which has been sticking to a controversial ‘soft’ approach of managing the pandemic through health recommendations instead of mandatory restrictions, has significantly outstripped its Scandinavian neighbours with more than 6500 daily cases, 8279 deaths registered since the pandemic onset and hospital intensive care units near capacity.
The new law will allow the government to make tougher and quicker decisions, informing parliament just two weeks in advance, or delegate such decisions to local authorities when necessary. Such decisions will involve, among other things, limiting attendance at or closing down (as a last resort) shopping centres, restaurants, bars, and gyms; fining rule breakers who hold private parties or gather in crowded places, and limiting public transport.
Limits on the number of people visiting a park or a public square may also be introduced, but a curfew is out of the question as it would go against the right to free movement enshrined in Sweden's constitution.
The proposed pandemic law was sent for review in December to 129 government agencies, municipalities and organisations, including the ombudsman. The opposition has called on the government to clarify how it will compensate businesses and persons affected by the emergency measures the law would put into force. Lena Hallengren said that a good part of this feedback has been taken into account.
For Christmas, the government toughened coronavirus guidelines by introducing a limit of four persons sitting at the same table in restaurants and masks in public transport.
As the EU Commission is about to vote on REPowerEU, a bill to fund alternative natural gas suppliers, Breakthrough Energy claims that the bloc needs more battery storage capacity
The promise is that it will save between 30% and 50% on users’ energy bills
An ambitious draft bill was championed by the Greens in the City’s Senate, but authorities shut it down for being too drastic. What happens now?
Innovating Pilsen will take place during the first week of June
The project is the first of its kind in Lithuania
It offers the chance to experience the city as it was in 1867
In this way, it will reduce the levels of noise and pollution
As the EU Commission is about to vote on REPowerEU, a bill to fund alternative natural gas suppliers, Breakthrough Energy claims that the bloc needs more battery storage capacity
The promise is that it will save between 30% and 50% on users’ energy bills
In this way, it will reduce the levels of noise and pollution
It is searching for people who want to take part in the experiment
For the first time there, financial backing is forthcoming
These will be spread across 11 EU countries and will serve to support the EU Missions
The European Commission has accepted to develop the idea
An interview about AYR, one of the 2021 New European Bauhaus Prize winners
An interview with the President of the City of Athens Reception & Solidarity Centre
A talk with the Mayor of Malmö on the occasion of the city’s UN Resilience Hub status
A conversation with the Mayor of Blagoevgrad on the benefits of decentralisation in the context of a seemingly endless string of problems