EU Commission stays out of US contraceptive destruction row
The supplies, which are still usable, were part of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), much of which has been dismantled since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.
According to Commission sources, it is now up to Belgium, where the stock was stored, and France, where it is to be destroyed, to find a solution. They added that there are 'no signs' of any upcoming EU action.
'The Commission cannot do anything; it is up to the member states to act,' said one source to Euractiv. When asked last week, the Commission told Euractiv that it was 'closely monitoring' developments.
Several MEPs, including French Green lawmaker Mélissa Camara, have been pressing the Commission since media revealed on 23 July that the stock was facing destruction, but have received no reply.
Acting on the stock would place the Commission in a delicate position, as it faces pressure from civil society and MEPs while seeking to avoid antagonising Donald Trump amid threats of a trade war and the war in Ukraine. Discussions still ongoing
According to diplomatic and NGO sources, including the French Family Planning Association, at least some of the stock has been shipped to France for incineration, although the location has not been confirmed. Major waste firms Veolia and ENGIE have denied involvement.
On 11 August, Belgium's foreign ministry told Euractiv that it was exploring 'all possible avenues to avoid the destruction of these products, including temporary relocation solutions.'
'To avoid jeopardising the outcome of the discussions, we are not in a position to provide further information,' a ministry spokesperson said, suggesting not all stocks have been destroyed.
'Our message now is, 'prove to us that the stocks still exist,'' said Sarah Durocher, president of the French Family Planning association.
On 1 August, France's health ministry said it had no authority over the case, noting that requisition is only possible in the event of a shortage, which is not the case in France.
The International Planned Parenthood Federation says the destruction could deprive 1.4 million women and girls in Africa of contraception. The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition estimates it could lead to 174,000 unintended pregnancies and 56,000 unsafe abortions.
(de)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euractiv
3 hours ago
- Euractiv
European leaders to hold call with Trump, Zelenskyy ahead of Alaska talks
European leaders are urging Washington to reject any land-swap deal with Russia and ensure the EU is included in the talks Euractiv is part of the Trust Project Magnus Lund Nielsen Euractiv Aug 11, 2025 18:29 2 min. read News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will lead an online call with European leaders, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, two days before Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the United States. The leaders of France, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Finland, as well as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, will take part in Wednesday's call, reported German news agency DPA . A European Commission spokesperson has confirmed that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also participate. Putin is due to meet Trump in the US state of Alaska on Friday. When announcing the meeting, Trump said: "There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both" sides. But European leaders are urging Washington to reject any territorial deal favouring Moscow, and are warning against sidelining the EU in the talks. Over the weekend, some of them met US Vice President JD Vance in the UK and were joined by a high-level Commission official. On Sunday, the leaders of France, Italy, Germany, Poland, the UK, Finland, and the European Commission issued a joint statement insisting that "the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine'. Zelenskyy has rejected the idea of territorial concessions as a path to lasting peace, writing on social media that "concessions do not persuade a killer" "Trump is right that Russia has to end its war against Ukraine. The US has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously," the EU's chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said in a statement on Sunday. "Any deal between the US and Russia must have Ukraine and the EU included, for it is a matter of Ukraine's and the whole of Europe's security." Kallas convened an online meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday afternoon ahead of Friday's talks in Alaska. The ministers "expressed support for US steps that will lead to a just peace," Kallas wrote on social media late on Monday. (de)
Euractiv
5 hours ago
- Euractiv
EU Commission stays out of US contraceptive destruction row
The European Commission will not step in to stop the destruction of €10 million in USAID-funded contraceptives, despite pressure from NGOs and MEPs, several internal sources said. The supplies, which are still usable, were part of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), much of which has been dismantled since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. According to Commission sources, it is now up to Belgium, where the stock was stored, and France, where it is to be destroyed, to find a solution. They added that there are 'no signs' of any upcoming EU action. 'The Commission cannot do anything; it is up to the member states to act,' said one source to Euractiv. When asked last week, the Commission told Euractiv that it was 'closely monitoring' developments. Several MEPs, including French Green lawmaker Mélissa Camara, have been pressing the Commission since media revealed on 23 July that the stock was facing destruction, but have received no reply. Acting on the stock would place the Commission in a delicate position, as it faces pressure from civil society and MEPs while seeking to avoid antagonising Donald Trump amid threats of a trade war and the war in Ukraine. Discussions still ongoing According to diplomatic and NGO sources, including the French Family Planning Association, at least some of the stock has been shipped to France for incineration, although the location has not been confirmed. Major waste firms Veolia and ENGIE have denied involvement. On 11 August, Belgium's foreign ministry told Euractiv that it was exploring 'all possible avenues to avoid the destruction of these products, including temporary relocation solutions.' 'To avoid jeopardising the outcome of the discussions, we are not in a position to provide further information,' a ministry spokesperson said, suggesting not all stocks have been destroyed. 'Our message now is, 'prove to us that the stocks still exist,'' said Sarah Durocher, president of the French Family Planning association. On 1 August, France's health ministry said it had no authority over the case, noting that requisition is only possible in the event of a shortage, which is not the case in France. The International Planned Parenthood Federation says the destruction could deprive 1.4 million women and girls in Africa of contraception. The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition estimates it could lead to 174,000 unintended pregnancies and 56,000 unsafe abortions. (de)
Euractiv
16 hours ago
- Euractiv
Europe's wind farm army
Twelve nautical miles out to sea from the town of Łeba on Poland's coastline, the first of 76 new wind turbines are beginning to pierce the fog. The Baltic Power project will be one of the country's biggest offshore wind farms, generating enough electricity for 1.5 million homes. But its contribution to Europe's security goes beyond supplying power. The 120-metre towers are set to become sentinels, tirelessly scanning the brackish waters and leaden skies for hostile activity. In this new Cold War, where spying and sabotage threaten Europe's energy and communications infrastructure, and possibly even its territorial integrity, the potential of wind farms for military surveillance is lost on no one. As the Polish state secretary for EU affairs, Ignacy Niemczycki, told Euractiv on a windy boat ride out to the site: "We are looking at infrastructure differently than we were one year ago." Wake-up call When Finland and Sweden joined in 2023 and 2024, defence analysts dubbed the Baltic Sea 'Lake NATO', with members of the military alliance effectively encircling it. But after three years in which the strategically important waters have been plagued by drones, spy ships, aerial stand-offs and blatant sabotage of power and communication cables, the moniker is starting to ring hollow. There are only two strips of coastline on the Baltic that don't belong to NATO; both are Russian, and the area is becoming a geopolitical flashpoint. Now, more than three years after Russian tanks rolled across the border into Ukraine, the military alliance is looking to rally the serried ranks of offshore wind turbines, like the Baltic Power project, to Europe's defence. When the Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were blown up in 2022, it came as a harsh 'wake-up call' to the European Union, says Julian Pawlak, a research associate at Hamburg military university (HSU). Western nations learned the hard way that they 'do not have a complete awareness of the Baltic Sea maritime domain'. The destruction last Christmas of the Estlink 2 undersea cable linking the Nordic electricity market to the Baltic power grid just before the latter cut ties with Russia was another rude awakening, and prompted NATO to set up a military operation in response. Making more off wind NATO has discussed dotting offshore energy infrastructure with surveillance tools for years. In the past, turning oil rigs into military bases has proven unfeasible for cost, security, and engineering reasons, Pawlak says. That's where wind turbines come in: They are tall, decentralised, and there are hundreds of them off the EU's Baltic coast. Already, wind turbines are equipped with bird sensors and transponders signalling their whereabouts to submarines, says Pawlak. Baltic Power – situated less than 200 kilometres from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad – is equipping its new turbine towers with radars and sensors, following a security checklist drafted by Poland's defence ministry, Marcin Godek, the wind farm's operations and maintenance manager, explained in June. "There is a perfect symbiosis between offshore wind turbines and coastal protection," says Kristof Verlinden, a reserve Belgian coast guard who runs offshore wind farms at the firm, Parkwind. For Verlinden, they are also "sentinels or forward bases looking at the situation 50 kilometres or more from the coast". More eyes Wind farms' growing importance also brings greater risk of attack. 'The threats to offshore energy infrastructure are very real,' says Giles Dickson, CEO of lobby group Wind Europe. 'Assets are being attacked physically, not just cyberattacks," he added, pointing to several cable attacks in the Baltic Sea. The Swedish government recently halted 13 offshore wind farm projects in the Baltic Sea citing 'unacceptable consequences for Sweden's military defence' and interfering with the military. And turbines themselves have previously become the target of surveillance by the Kremlin. Baltic Power mapped potential threats in the region before beginning construction. They quickly fell victim to spoofing, where boats pretend to be someone or somewhere that they are not, and incidents of signals jamming meant plans needed to be overhauled, Godek said. Faced with this new reality, WindEurope has hired ex-military personnel to liaise with NATO. 'You cannot build an offshore wind farm in Belgium now if you do not commit to high levels of data sharing with the military and also commit to host their hardware if they ask you to do so,' said Dickson. Verlinden said Parkwind has the foundations for the coastguard to install multi-use sensors and detection systems. Employees go to the offshore turbines almost daily and report back any irregularities. In Belgium, Parkwind holds joint exercises "to train, verify and demonstrate our readiness towards security threats" with the coast guard, Verlinden said. "And we are ready to share our data such as AIS data, cable DAS, give access to our seaward looking cameras." But the prospect of a web of wind turbines sharing data among themselves, their operators and governments, also raises questions. Pawlak pointed to the need for lawmakers to clarify whether operators should have access to any information they collect. Close collaboration with the military would raise legal questions that are 'not completely clear', he said. Birdwatching Edward Zakrajsek, who handles the European market at radar firm DeTect, said wind turbines have a long history of watching the surrounding area. 'Birds were the first thing, but of course 10 or so years ago private drones hit the market and everyone can fly one now,' he says. Radars are already 'monitoring even individual birds with a 10-kilometre range 24 hours a day', Zakrajsek said, adding that "drones are about the size of a bird'. The more offshore wind farms that can be networked together, the better the surveillance data will be, and Zakrajsek said, 'the further out they are the better'. (rh, vc, jp)
