More than three years after the first transaction of our NextGenerationEU (NGEU) Green Bonds, the EU has issued more than €65 billion of NGEU Green Bonds, setting the EU on track to becoming the largest issuer of Green Bonds in the world. In line with the announcement of President von der Leyen in her State of the […]
Read More
European Commission issues €7 billion in its 10th syndicated transaction of 2024
The European Commission raised last november 19 €7 billion of EU Bonds in its 10th syndicated transaction for 2024, €3 billion of which in the form of NextGenerationEU (NGEU) Green Bonds. The dual-tranche transaction concerned a €4 billion tap of the EU Bond maturing on 4 December 2031, and a €3 billion tap of the NextGenerationEU […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More
Maritime safety: Council adopts new laws to support safe, clean and modern shipping in the EU
To support clean, safer, and modern shipping in the EU, today the Council adopted four new pieces of legislation of the so-called ‘maritime safety’ legislative package, namely those amending the relevant directives on: the investigation of accidents in the maritime transport sector, ship-source pollution, compliance with flag state requirements, and port state control. The revised ‘package’ […]
Read More
Commission and national authorities call on Apple to stop geo-blocking practices on Apple Media Services
Today, following a coordinated investigation at European level, the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer authorities and the European Commission notified Apple of several potentially prohibited geo-blocking practices that the CPC Network has identified on certain Apple Media Services, namely App Store, Apple Arcade, Music, iTunes Store, Books and Podcasts. The network requested Apple […]
Read More
Commission and national authorities urge Temu to respect EU consumer protection laws
Following a coordinated investigation at European level, the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national consumer authorities and the European Commission notified the online marketplace Temu of a number of practices on its platform that infringe EU consumer law. The CPC Network directed Temu to bring those practices in line with consumer laws of the European […]
Read More
European Investment Bank mobilised €900 to back recovery and reconstruction after floods in Spain
On 6th November, the European Investment Bank (EIB) activated financial instruments to back recovery and reconstruction in areas affected by the recent devastating floods in Spain. The EIB is putting together an initial €900 million response package to speed up the rollout of existing initiatives and thereby support the rebuilding of critical infrastructure by regional authorities […]
Read More
What are goods and services used for in the EU?
In 2022, the EU produced €31 674 billion worth of goods and services, while imports from outside the EU (excluding intra-EU trade) were valued at €3 106 billion Nearly half (48.7%) of these goods and services were used for intermediate consumption, meaning they were used to make other products. Another considerable share, 31.2%, was used for final consumption, typically by householdsor the government […]
Read More
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 […]
Read More