The Commission today launched a new online portal for the EU’s Strategic Technologies Platform for Europe (STEP) initiative. This one-stop shop allows investors, project promoters and national managing authorities to access key information and identify EU funding opportunities in STEP’s three strategic sectors : digital technologies and innovation in frontier technologies, clean and resource-efficient technologies […]
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EU boosts European AI developers with the AI Factories call for proposals
Today, the Commission has launched a call for setting up AI Factories to boost European leadership in trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI). AI Factories will be created around the EU’s world-class network of European High-Performance Computing (HPC) supercomputers and will be available to a range of European users, such as startups, industry and researchers. President of the Commission, […]
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EU competitiveness: Looking ahead
Introduction Today, Europe stands united in its pursuit of inclusive economic growth, focusing on sustainable competitiveness economic security open strategic autonomy fair competition They all serve as pillars of prosperity. The vision that drives Europe forward is to create conditions where businesses thrive, the environment is protected, and everyone has an equal chance at success. […]
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Commission publishes findings of evaluation of EU antitrust enforcement framework
The European Commission yesterday published a Commission Staff Working Document summarising the findings of the evaluation of the EU Regulations laying down the procedures for the application of the EU competition rules(Regulation 1/2003 and Regulation 773/2004, together the “Regulations”). The Regulations establish the procedural framework for the application of the EU competition rules laid down […]
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New EU rules to encourage the repair of defective products
A new EU directive to promote the repair of goods entered into force yesterday. The new rules promote more sustainable consumption by making it easier to repair faulty products and encouraging consumers to repair defective products instead of replacing them. The Directive will benefit consumers by avoiding the costs of buying new products and reducing […]
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The EU most popular region for short-term rental accommodation booked via online platforms was Andalucía
During the first quarter of 2024, guests spent 123.7 million nights in short-term rental accommodation in the EU, booked via Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group or TripAdvisor. This corresponds to an increase of 28.3% compared with the same period in 2023. Platform tourism continued to set new monthly record values: in January 2024, 33.3 million nights […]
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EU annual budget for 2025: Council agrees its position on the draft budget
The Council’s reached an agreement on its position on the 2025 EU draft budget. In total, the Council’s position for next year’s budget amounts to €191.53 billion in commitments and €146.21 billion in payments, not including appropriations foreseen for special instruments outside the MFF. Overall, the Council takes a prudent approach. The Council stresses the […]
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European Semester 2024: Council agrees on country- specific recommendations
Today, the Council agreed its country-specific recommendations on the economic, social, employment, structural and budgetary policies of each member state. This step is part of the 2024 European Semester process, which enables member states to coordinate their economic, employment and fiscal policies. This year the European Semester cycle will be aligned with the provisions of […]
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Eurostat: House sales drop in 2023
In 2023, the number of housing transactions decreased in 13 out of the 16 EU countries for which data are available, compared with 2022. This marks the second consecutive year that the majority of reporting countries have registered drops in sales. The largest decreases in the number of transactions in 2023 were recorded in Luxembourg […]
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