FACTSMATTER

In figures and visually interpreted what is the current situation

#AGRI

• In 2019, agriculture accounted for €60 bln of the EU. • Farming accounted for 8.72% of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU in 2017. • Organic area made up 8.5 % of total EU agricultural land in 2019. • Μanagers of farms with only or some organic area are generally younger than managers of nonorganic farms. Μore than one in five managers (22.8 %)is between 45 and 54, one in four (25.1 %) is between 55 and 64 and one in three (33.3 %) is over 65 years of age. • EU farms used 173 million hectares of land for agricultural production in 2016, 39 % of the total land area of the EU.

• Agricultural activities in the European Union produced 435 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2018.

#CULT

• Only 39% of teachers in the EU felt well or very well prepared to use digital technologies for teaching (“TALIS 2018 Results (Volume I): Teachers and School Leaders as Lifelong Learners”,

OECD 2019) • 42% of EU citizens have an insufficient level of digital skills (“Human Capital and Digital Skills”,

European Commission 2020) • Digital divides related to gender, socio-economic backgroundand urban/rural areas persist (“Bridging the Digital Divide”, OECD 2018) • More than one in five young people fail to reach a basic level of digital skills across the EU (“Do young people in the EU have digital skills”, Eurostat 2020) • The amount of time children devoted to school activities during the COVID-19 crisis fell from 7.4 hours to 3.6 hours daily (“COVID-19 and Educational Inequality: How School Closures Affect Lowand High-Achieving Students”, IZA Discussion Papers 2020) • Innovative instructional approaches, which stimulate learner autonomy, motivation and engagement were lacking (“Digital Education Action PLan 2021-2027”, European Commission)

• Access to the internet varies significantly across the EU, ranging from 74% of households in the lowest-income quartile to 97% in the highest-income quartile (“ICT usage in households and by individuals”, Eurostat 2019) • Almost 60% of respondents to the open public consultation on the Digital Education Action Plan had not used distance and online learning before the crisis.

#ENVI

• It is predicted there will be more plastic than fish in the Ocean by weight in 2050. • Only 41.9% of plastic waste was recycled in 2017 in the EU. • Countries such as Bangladesh, Rwanda and Kenya are banning or have banned disposable bags and other single use plastic products such as plastic straws and water bottles. • It is expected that 75% of the single use masks and other waste related to the pandemic will end up in landfills or our oceans.

#FEMM

• Within the EU workforce, women comprise 82% of shop cashiers, 86% of personal care workers, 93% of childcare workers and 95% of domestic cleaners.

• 40% of jobs lost by women during the crisis were in retail, accommodation, residential care, domestic work and clothing manufacturing. • Despite rising employment in the summer, women only gained half as many jobs as men. • The pandemic has seen support services such as shelters and counselling hotlines for intimate partner violence overwhelmed. Respect, the UK’s national domestic violence charity, has seen a 97% increase in calls, 185% increase in emails and 581% increase in website visits.

• There is 3x the risk of blood clots for women who take the contraceptive pill than getting the

AstraZeneca vaccine.

• Most of our medical understanding comes from the perspective of men: studies of men carried out by men. Less than 2.5% of research is dedicated solely to reproductive health, despite the fact that 1 in 3 women will suffer from a reproductive or gynaecological health problem in their lifetime.

• The majority of cases in Europe of the AstraZeneca vaccine’s rare blood clot side-effects are found in women.

#ITRE

• The EU has launched one of the most ambitious agendas with its European Green Deal, that is linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). • The National Energy and Climate Plans lack many socio-economical aspects as not all the stakeholders were consulted in the process, especially the younger generations. • The citizens play a key role in the energy transition. Their education is essential to encourage responsible energy consumption, decrease the EU energy dependency and achieve the Energy

Union.

#LIBE

• While mis-and disinformation in media dates back to the 1860s, it has only reached its peak with the internet and social media platforms. • Mis-and disinformation is a dangerous and serious threat to global health. • 40% of health-related links posted on social media contained “fake news”. • Countries like Russia and China use state media to engage in disinformation campaigns to gain a geopolitical advantage. • An easy access to personal health data from computer systems to fight the spread of disinformation could easily be taken advantage of by developers or third parties and would constitute a violence of the patients´ or citizens´ right to privacy.

UNDER THE AUSPICES OF