Last Thursday, the Commission disbursed €1.4 billion to Spain in pre-financing grants related to the REPowerEU funds under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM). This second and final REPowerEU pre-financing tranche complements the €340 million of loans previously disbursed to Spain on 25 January 2024. This pre-financing will help accelerate the implementation of the key […]
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EU leaders greenlight €64.6 billion in additional funding
EU leaders greenlit additional funding for the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027 and discussed support for Ukraine. They also discussed the situation in the Middle East and agriculture, and paid tribute to former European Commission President Jacques Delors, who passed away on 27 December 2023. Mid-term revision of EU long-term budget 2021-2027 As a follow-up to their meeting in December, EU leaders discussed […]
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EU reaffirms trade support for Ukraine and Moldova
The Commission has proposed to renew the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, while reinforcing protection for sensitive EU agricultural products. This is done in line with EU commitments to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. These Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs) have been in place […]
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EU and Japan update partnership agreement to include cross-border data flows
On behalf of the EU, the Belgian Presidency of the Council has signed the protocol to include provisions on cross-border data flows in the agreement between the EU and Japan for an Economic Partnership. The protocol will provide greater legal certainty, ensuring that data flows between the EU and Japan will not be hampered by […]
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EU and US take stock of trade and technology cooperation
The European Union and the United States held the fifth meeting of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Washington, D.C. The meeting allowed ministers to take stock of the progress of the TTC’s work and to provide political steer on key priorities for the next TTC Ministerial meeting, which will take place in […]
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Practical arrangements for the participation of Commissioners in European and national elections
The European Commission has issued, based on guidelines adopted in 2019, a reinforced guidance on ethical standards for Members of the Commission who take part in electoral campaigns for the European Parliament. In addition, dedicated guidelines have also been developed regarding participation in election campaigns at Member State level. Both guidelines build on opinions of the Commission’s Independent Ethical Committee and […]
Read MoreCommission decides to register two new European Citizens’ Initiatives
The European Commission decided to register two European Citizens’ Initiatives, entitled ‘Ban on conversion practices in the European Union’ and ‘European Citizens’ Initiative in Defence of Agriculture and Rural Economy in Europe’. The organisers of the ‘Ban on conversion practices in the European Union’ initiative call for a ban on interventions aimed at changing, repressing or suppressing […]
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Hungary: European Parliament warns of threat to EU values, institutions and funds
Parliament condemns the deliberate, continuous and systematic efforts of the Hungarian government to undermine the EU’s founding values. In a resolution adopted on Thursday with 345 votes for, 104 against and 29 abstentions, MEPs express strong concern about the further erosion of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary, in particular through the recently […]
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Deal on new stricter anti money laundering rules
The Council and Parliament found a provisional agreement on parts of the anti-money laundering package that aims to protect EU citizens and the EU’s financial system against money laundering and terrorist financing. With the new package, all rules applying to the private sector will be transferred to a new regulation, while the directive will deal […]
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