The Council reached agreement today on new measures to make EU VAT rules compatible with the digital age. This legislative package, with new rules on e-invoices and real-time data reporting and on business activities carried out through digital platforms, will combat tax fraud, support businesses and promote digitisation. Mihály Varga, Hungarian Minister of Finance, said: […]
Read More
Growing EU trade of electric & hybrid cars
Between 2017 and 2023, EU trade of electric and hybrid cars increased substantially. In 2023, almost 43% of the total number of cars imported into the EU were electric or hybrid, indicating a significant increase compared with the share observed in 2017, which was 8%. EU exports jumped from 2% of the total number of cars exported in 2017 to 26% […]
Read More
EU imposes duties on unfairly subsidised electric vehicles from China
Today the European Commission concluded its anti-subsidy investigation by imposing definitive countervailing duties on imports of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from China for a period of five years. As previously disclosed, the investigation found that the BEV value chain in China benefits from unfair subsidization which is causing threat of economic injury to EU producers of BEVs. As […]
Read More
Micro & small businesses make up 99% of enterprises in the EU
In 2022, the EU had 32.3 million enterprises, employing 160 million persons. Of that total, 99% were micro and small enterprises employing up to 49 persons. Micro and small enterprises employed 77.5 million persons, i.e. almost half (48%) of the total number of all persons employed in enterprises. They generated €11.9 trillion in turnover, representing 31% of the total […]
Read More
EU budget for 2025 to focus on research, health, education, and climate action
Parliament demands an EU budget for 2025 that focuses on improving people’s lives, boosting competitiveness, and addressing current challenges. MEPs set the overall level of commitment appropriations for the 2025 draft budget at almost €201 billion, €1.24 billion more than the Commission’s proposal from last June. Parliament wants to boost programmes vital in addressing health challenges, supporting young […]
Read More
EU invests €4.8 billion of emissions trading revenues in innovative net-zero projects
The Commission has today selected 85 innovative net zero emission projects to receive €4.8 billion in grants from the Innovation Fund to help deploy cutting-edge clean technologies across Europe. The 2023 call for proposals awards for the first time projects of various sizes (large, medium and small, as well as pilot projects) focusing on clean […]
Read More
Parliament approves up to €35 billion loan to Ukraine backed by Russian assets
On Tuesday, MEPs gave their green light to an extraordinary loan of up to €35 billion to Ukraine, to be repaid with future revenues from frozen Russian assets. With 518 votes in favour, 56 against and 61 abstentions, Parliament endorsed the new macro-financial assistance (MFA) to help Ukraine against Russia’s brutal war of aggression. This […]
Read More
Commission joins forces with venture capital to support deep tech innovation in Europe
The Commission has launched a Trusted Investors Network bringing together a group of investors ready to co-invest in innovative deep-tech companies in Europe together with the EU. The Union’s investment comes from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, which is part of the EU research and innovation programme Horizon Europe. The first group comprises 71 investors […]
Read More
Cooperation on screening of foreign direct investments strengthens EU security
EU Member States and the Commission are strengthening their cooperation on identifying and addressing investments from third countries that threaten EU security or public order, according to a Commission report published today. The 4th Annual Report on the screening of foreign direct investments (FDI) into the Union observes that the number of notifications to the EU cooperation mechanism increased by 18% since the […]
Read More