The Council gave its final green light to changes to the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. This revision of the regulation is aimed at reinforcing the transparency of European political parties and strengthening the framework for their funding, in particular to counter the risks of manipulation and interference by […]
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Modernising EU driving rules to improve road safety
MEPs back a review of EU rules on driving licences with new rules on novice drivers, digital licensing and driving disqualifications. On Tuesday, the European Parliament confirmed an update of the rules governing driving licences in the EU. The aim: to contribute to road safety and reduce the number of accidents that claim almost 20,000 […]
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Commission acts to enforce timely EU directive transposition
The European Commission is taking action against several EU Member States that have failed to notify the Commission of measures they have adopted to transpose EU Directives into their national laws. The deadline to transpose these Directives has expired recently. The Commission is sending a letter of formal notice to these Member States, giving them […]
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European Commission revises high-risk countries list to boost global efforts against financial crime
The European Commission has updated its list of high-risk jurisdictions presenting strategic deficiencies in their national anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes. EU entities covered by the AML framework are required to apply enhanced vigilance in transactions involving these countries. This is important to protect the EU financial system. A number […]
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Commission welcomes deal on compulsory licensing to boost EU crisis readiness.
The European Commission welcomes the political agreement between the European Parliament and the EU Member States on new rules for compulsory licensing, an important intellectual property tool to the existing EU crisis response toolkit. The new Regulation establishes an EU-level framework to efficiently grant a compulsory licence in clearly defined cross-border crisis or emergency situations. […]
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Booking must now comply with the Digital Markets Act
As of today, Booking Holdings Inc. (BHI), designated as gatekeeper on 13 May 2024, must ensure that its online intermediation service, Booking.com, complies with all relevant obligations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Concretely, this means hotels, car rental companies, and other providers of travel services that depend on Booking.com to reach their customers can begin to […]
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EU adopts rules to better measure the environment’s contribution to the economy
On 5 November, the Council formally adopted the amended regulation on European environmental economic accounts, the EU’s common statistical system which brings together economic and environmental information. The new rules extend the scope of the European environmental economic accounts, introducing forest accounts, ecosystem accounts, and environmental subsidies accounts. The amended regulation aims to provide better information for the […]
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Council adopts law for clean and smart construction products
The Council has adopted the construction products regulation (CPR), which harmonises the EU rules for marketing of those products, facilitates their free movement in the single market, reduces administrative burdens and promotes the circular economy and technological development in that sector. This is the last step in the decision-making procedure. The CPR updates the existing […]
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Why are the caps attached to the bottles?
The changes we are seeing to plastic bottle caps are part of a wide-ranging effort to combat the increasing plastic pollution affecting our seas and oceans and their wildlife. Have you noticed any changes in plastic bottle caps lately? It takes some time to get used to the fact that plastic caps are now attached […]
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