The Council and the Parliament have reached a provisional political agreement on the directive to empower consumers for the green transition. The proposal aims at enhancing consumers’ rights by amending the unfair commercial practices directive (UCPD) and the consumer rights directive (CRD) and adapting them for the green transition. Today’s agreement maintains the main objectives […]
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Sakharov Prize 2023: the nominees
The nominees for the 2023 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought – the European Parliament’s human rights prize – have been announced. Each year Parliament awards the Sakharov Prize to honour exceptional individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. In 2022, the winners were the brave people of Ukraine, represented by their president, […]
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NextGenerationEU: Implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism is definitely underway
The Commission has adopted its second annual report on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM), the €800 billion reform and investment instrument that is the core element of NextGenerationEU. The report shows the progress made in the implementation of the RRM: the Commission has disbursed EUR 153.4 billion for the implementation of […]
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EU releases €140 million to support the Afghan people, in particular women and girls
The European Union has agreed to release €140 million of basic needs and livelihoods assistance in the fields of education, health, agriculture and women’s economic empowerment in Afghanistan. The decision to release funds, previously frozen since December 2022 in response to the Taliban’s decision to ban women from working in NGOs, comes after six months […]
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EU releases €5.2 million and channels more civil protection aid for Libya floods
As needs in Libya are dramatically rising, the EU is strengthening its support to the country by releasing €5.2 million in humanitarian funding. The funding will be channelled through EU humanitarian partners active in the country, enabling them to strengthen assistance with a focus on shelter, health, food, water, sanitation and hygiene, and protection. From […]
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Azerbaijan: Statement by the High Representative on the military escalation
The European Union condemns the military escalation along the Line of Contact and in other locations in Karabakh. The EU deplores the loss of lives brought by the escalation. We call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and for Azerbaijan to stop the current military activities. There is an urgent need to return to dialogue […]
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Spain’s co-official languages discussed at the European Council’s annual Rule of Law Dialogue
Main results Catalan, Basque and Galician The Council discussed a request by Spain to include Catalan, Basque and Galician in Regulation No 1/1958, which governs the EU’s language regime. The request was notified to the Council presidency on 17 August 2023, in a letter by Spain’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation. Currently, the […]
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Commission and China hold second High-level Digital Dialogue
The Commission held its second High-level Digital Dialogue with China. Co-chaired by Vera Jourova, Vice-President for Values and Transparency, and Vice-Premier of China, Zhang Guoqing, this dialogue hosted in Beijing covered key issues such as platforms and data regulation, Artificial Intelligence, research and innovation, cross-border flow of industrial data, or the safety of products sold […]
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EU participates in the UN General Assembly
The high-level week of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly starts on 18 September 2023. The first day of the general debate was on Tuesday, 19 September. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, will address the General Assembly on behalf of the EU and will participate in a series of side events. EU priorities […]
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