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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Which EU regions are receiving the most foreign tourists?
In 2023, the number of people travelling abroad for tourism had fully recovered from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, with restrictions lifted for all destinations. The 3 EU regions at level 2 of the nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS 2) with the highest number of nights spent by foreign tourists were the Spanish island regions of […]
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The Commission does not designate X as a core platform service.
The Commission has today found that X’s online social networking service should not be designated as a core platform service under the Digital Markets Regulation. Today’s decision follows an in-depth market investigation initiated on 13 May 2024 following notification by X of its potential gatekeeper status. Along with the notification, X also submitted counter-arguments, explaining […]
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Trade Committee approves financial aid to Ukraine backed by Russian assets
MEPs in the Trade Committee voted on Monday to support a loan of up to €35 billion to Ukraine as the EU’s contribution to the G7’s support initiative. The Trade Committee voted by 31 in favour, 4 against and no abstentions on the Commission proposal to support Ukraine with an exceptional Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) loan […]
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