To enhance EU’s cyber resilience by enabling the future adoption of European certification schemes for ‘managed security services’, member states’ representatives (Coreper) reached a common position on the proposed targeted amendment of the EU’s cybersecurity act (CSA) of 2019. ‘Managed security services’, provided to customers by specialised companies, are crucial for the prevention, detection, response, and recovery from cybersecurity […]
Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE)
The Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) provides the general quality framework for European and international cooperation activities a higher education institution (HEI) may carry out within the Erasmus+ Programme. The award of an Erasmus Charter for Higher Education is a pre-requisite for all higher education institutions (HEIs) located in one of the countries listed below […]
European Commission proposes new measures on skills and talent to tackle labour shortages
The Commission presented a series of new initiatives in a Skills and Talent Mobility package to make the EU more attractive to talent from outside EU, and to facilitate mobility within. Skills shortages persist across the EU, in a range of sectors, and at various skills’ levels. The EU’s drive to fill labour shortages in […]
Autumn 2023 Economic Forecast for Spain
Following strong real GDP growth this year of 2.4%, economic activity is expected to slow down in 2024 to 1.7%. Headline inflation is projected to keep moderating over the forecast horizon, although upside risks persist. Based on unchanged policies, the general government deficit is set to remain slightly above 3% of GDP in 2024 despite […]
Commission opens access to EU supercomputers to speed up artificial intelligence development
The Commission and the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) committed to open and widen access to the EU’s world-class supercomputing resources for European artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups, SMEs and the broader AI community as part of the EU AI Start-Up Initiative. To support the further development and scalability of AI models, access to […]
Member States fail to reach qualified majority to renew or refuse glyphosate approval
Following an earlier vote in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed on 13 October, in which member states also failed to reach the majority needed to renew or reject the proposal, the European Commission has now decided to propose that the proposal should be rejected. Member States did not reach the required […]
Commission refers Spain to the Court of Justice of the EU for failure to fully transpose the directive on reconciliation of work and family life
The European Commission has decided to refer Belgium, Ireland and Spain to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to notify national measures fully transposing EU rights on Work-Life Balance for parents and carers (Directive (EU) 2019/158). The Work-Life Balance Directive, adopted in 2019, is an important legislation which aims to enable working parents to better […]
New European Union rules on short-term accommodation rentals
As part of the ongoing efforts to promote a balanced tourism ecosystem within the EU, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on a draft regulation on data collection and sharing for short-term accommodation rental services. Simpler, harmonised system of data collection The proposal for a regulation aims at enhancing transparency in […]
Postdoctoral fellow Water & Climate in Brussels
Are you going to be our new colleague? You’ll be offered a full-time postdoctoral scholarship, for 12 months (extendable up to max. 36 months, on condition of the positive evaluation of the research activities), with planned starting date 01/01/2024. You’ll receive a grant linked to one of the scales set by the government. At the VUB, you’re guaranteed an open, involved and […]