In the European Union, 9 million women aged 15 or over have been raped. But how do European countries define rape? The EU just agreed on its first-ever law on violence against women, yet Member States couldn't agree on a common definition of rape. In the first draft of the directive, lawmakers were putting forth a definition based on affirmative consent, the « only yes means yes » approach that gained grounds across many EU countries. Yet affirmative consent didn't make it to the final draft of the directive, vetoed by France and Germany. We break down the reasons for this and what this directive brings with Irene Rosales, from the European Women's Lobby.

Biometric tech, mass surveillance, social scoring or even generative AI like ChatGPT or deepfakes are technologies that the general public can still struggle to fully understand. Faced with the challenge, the European Parliament recently adopted the Artificial Intelligence Act, the world's first comprehensive AI law. This framework classifies AI systems according to the risk they pose for users... but what's behind the regulation? Between political compromises and strategic moves, in today's episode we break down what the AI Act means for consumers.

To support Ukraine in fighting Russia’s aggression, the EU moved fast and displayed unprecedented unity. A big challenge, considering that all foreign policy decisions must be made unanimously by Member States. But what if the EU is on the road to change? Europe's answer to Russia's attack was historical: thirteen rounds of sanctions against Russia and hundreds of billions of euros in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine were unprecedented measures. But will this momentum translate into something more? We asked Susi Dennison, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign relations, and Peter Stano, the EU foreign policy spokesperson, who join us for this week's episode of « Getting there ».

The EU’s Green Deal aims to make the bloc carbon-neutral by 2050. But is this realistic? And how do we make sure that its cost doesn’t fall back on workers and citizens? Neil Makaroff, director of Strategic Perspectives, comes on the podcast to argue for the strategic advantages of the shift to net zero.

Europe’s younger generation is among the worst-hit of the housing emergency, taking on the brunt of the ongoing cost of living crisis. Buying a house is a remote dream for most of us, and will realistically take decades to achieve. Why are we in this situation? And how can we get out of it? Aitor Hernandez Morales, senior reporter for cities at Politico Europe, came on the pod to talk about it.

The former system didn’t work, but is the one that’s just been approved going to make a real difference? In May 2024, the Council adopted the New Pact on Asylum and Migration, which had been in the making for four years with the promise of finally solving the EU’s longstanding division on the migratory issue. On today’s episode of the podcast, our hosts speak to EuroMed Right’s Eva Baluganti to learn what this pact could bring — and what it could break.

The last Parliament we elected had a most eventful mandate: the Coronavirus pandemic, Russia's war on Ukraine, the escalation of Israel's war on Gaza and an ever-worsening cost of living crisis. We're watching closely the coming election, considering that the far right could become a leading force in Parliament for the very first time. From how to vote to the inner workings of the Parliament, here's all you need to know on the 2024 EU elections.