It’s all change for Europe this month with the new President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Junker starting his 5-year term with his chosen Commissioners.
On November 1st the new Commissioners and Vice-presidents took to their new roles with some recognisable faces amongst the new line -up, as both Günther Oettinger, and Johannes Hahn continue as Commissioners, but with new responsibilities.
In this winter edition of AG we give you a rundown of the new Commissioners and Vice presidents, including their nationalities. We wish all the new Commissioners good luck in their role, and look forward to working with them on future articles. We kick start this edition with a foreword from a former Vice-president of the European Commission and MEP Vivienne Reding. Ms Reding discusses the changes afoot, as well as the importance of Europe being digitally successful in the future, in order for businesses to achieve growth. In line with Ms Reding’s foreword we have a number of articles that look at the digital agenda. On a local level, Sunderland City Council describes how the city is embracing and becoming more flexible in regards to digitalisation. We also feature an article from Tom Saunders at Nesta, who highlights the impact digital technologies can have on our cities.
A major focus this month is given to the agriculture sector. Agriculture is a key part of the economy and environment. Reflecting this, we examine the important role soil plays within our lives in articles from Moujahed Achouri, FAO Land and Water Division of the Global Soil Partnership, and the Scottish Environmental Protection Association (SEPA).
The health and social care section of the publication delves into the world of non-communicable diseases. With the Ebola epidemic hitting West Africa, AG asks the World Health Organization (WHO) to detail prevention methods that could be carried out throughout Europe to help prevent the further spread of the disease that has already killed around 5,000 and affected people in the USA and Spain.
As always we hope you find this edition thought provoking ,and useful, and welcome any feedback and feature ideas you may have.