On Tuesday, MEPs adopted plans, already agreed upon with Council, to help reduce energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions from the buildings sector. The proposed revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive aims to progressively reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption in the EU building sector, and make it climate neutral by 2050. […]
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Parliament approves measures to reduce industrial and farm pollution
The new rules will reduce harmful emissions from industrial installations and large pig and poultry farms to protect human health and the environment. Parliament adopted the deal with member states on the revision of the industrial emission directive (IED) with 393 votes in favour, 173 against and 49 abstentions, and the new regulation on the Industrial Emissions Portal with […]
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Europe unprepared to cope with rapidly increasing climate risks, EEA says
The extreme heat, drought, forest fires and floods experienced in recent years will worsen in Europe, even under optimistic global warming scenarios, and will affect living conditions across the continent. The EEA is publishing for the first time the European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA), which will help identify policy priorities for climate change adaptation and […]
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United and prepared against energy supply disruptions
Ministers held an exchange of views on the state of play of security of supply and preparations for winter 2024-2025. Among other things, they addressed ways to avoid, both individually and collectively, new price shocks and to strengthen energy security, while achieving the established targets on decarbonisation and on phasing out Russian fossil fuels. Different […]
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2023 figures show stagnating progress in reducing road fatalities in too many countries
The Commission is publishing preliminary figures on road fatalities for 2023. Around 20,400 people were killed in road crashes in the EU last year, a small 1% decrease on 2022. Despite some progress since the baseline year of 2019[1], few Member States are on track to meet the EU and UN target of halving […]
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Spain: EIB and Otua sign €40 million loan to back the construction of a waste recycling plant in the Basque Country
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Basque Country-based Otua Group have signed a €40 million loan to finance the construction of a new plant for recycling plastics from automotive waste and to upgrade existing facilities for processing metal waste. The EIB loan promotes the transition to circular economy – in which industrial materials get reused rather […]
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MEPs back updates to EU rules on driving licences to improve road safety
Mobile driving licences, self-assessment of fitness to drive and better awareness of pedestrians are some of the changes to EU driving licence rules by MEPs on Wednesday. With more than 20 000 lives lost on EU roads every year, Parliament backs reforming the EU’s driving licence rules to make sure they contribute to road safety and to […]
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The European Commission recommends that Member States continue to save gas in order to secure supply and stabilise markets
Gas savings by businesses and citizens across the EU have made an important contribution to tackling the energy crisis, spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago. Collectively, the EU reduced gas demand by 18% between August 2022 and December 2023, saving around 101 billion cubic metres of gas. These efforts go above and beyond the 15% savings target which […]
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Maritime safety: Council and Parliament strike deals to support clean and modern shipping in the EU
To support clean and modern shipping in the EU, the Council presidency and European Parliament’s negotiators reached provisional agreements on two pieces of legislation of the ‘maritime safety’ legislative package, namely those amending the 2009 directives on compliance with flag state requirements and on port state control. The revised directives achieve a careful balance between, […]
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