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 Court of Justice reprimands Commission for failing to give sufficiently wide public access to Covid-19 vaccine purchases
That infringement concerns, inter alia, those agreements’ provisions on indemnification, and concerns the declarations that there was no conflict of interest on the part of the members of the team who negotiated the purchase of the vaccines In 2020 and 2021, purchase agreements for Covid-19 vaccines were concluded between the Commission and some pharmaceutical […]
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EU to invest record €7 billion into sustainable, safe and smart transport infrastructure
The Commission has selected 134 transport projects to receive over €7 billion in EU grants from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU’s instrument for strategic investment in infrastructure. This represents the largest call under the current CEF Transport programme. Around 83% of the funding will support projects that deliver on the EU’s climate objectives, […]
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Newly elected Parliament reaffirms its strong support for Ukraine
With Russia’s war against Ukraine raging on, Parliament reconfirmed on Wednesday its view that the EU must continue to support Kyiv for as long as it takes until victory. The resolution, which sets out the newly-elected European Parliament’s first official position on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, restates the continued support of MEPs for […]
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Environmental tax revenue shows slight decline in 2022
In 2022, environmental tax revenue in the EU amounted to €317.2 billion (2.0% of the EU’s gross domestic product; GDP) compared with €330.2 billion recorded in 2021, indicating a 4% decrease (-€13 billion). The long-term upward trend resumed after the exceptional years of 2020 and 2021 (COVID-19). However, 2022 remains notable due to the situation […]
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Day of International Criminal Justice: Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union
17 July marks the anniversary of the adoption in 1998 of the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the only permanent international criminal jurisdiction with a universal vocation. The goal of the Rome Statute is to bring justice to the victims of the most serious crimes of concern to 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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Two Spaniards elected as Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament Fourteen Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament elected
On Tuesday MEPs elected the 14 vice-presidents for the first half of the 10th parliamentary term. Eleven vice-presidents, including the Spanish Esteban González Pons (EPP) and Javi López (S&D), were appointed by secret ballot in a first round, and the remaining three in a second round. The new Vice-Presidents are: Sabine Verheyen (EPP, Germany) Ewa […]
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New sanctions against extremist settlers and violent activists from Israel
The Council has approved additional restrictive measures against five persons and three entities under the European Union’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. The listed individuals and entities are responsible for serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank, including abuse of the right of everyone to enjoy the highest attainable standard […]
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