The Operational Board of the European Fund for Sustainable Development plus (EFSD+) has endorsed a further package of 24 guarantee programmes to support investments in the EU’s neighbourhood and enlargement countries. Together with the three guarantees for the Western Balkans to support SMEs approved in December, the new guarantees, worth €2.4 billion, are expected to […]
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European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans arrives in Colombia to prepare for the upcoming climate negotiations
The European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for the Green Pact, Frans Timmermans, continues his Latin American climate diplomacy mission to Colombia from 25-27 January. He will meet with President Gustavo Petro, several ministers, government representatives and representatives of civil society, with whom he will discuss the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) and the steps […]
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Extremadura boosts the building materials of the future with European support
Life ReNatural, the project with European funding, whose main objective is the rehabilitation of buildings with sustainable materials. 75 % of the European Union’s building stock is energy inefficient. That is, every day, the buildings in which we live, work and spend most of the time, waste a lot of energy. Given the current context, […]
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EU trade with Russia declined strongly
EU trade with Russia has been strongly affected following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the EU imposing import and export restrictions on several products. The effects of these measures have been particularly visible in the latest months. Considering seasonally adjusted values, both exports and imports dropped considerably below the levels prior to Russia’s invasion. Russia’s share in extra-EU imports fell from 6.4% […]
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MEPs adopt legislation to boost EU chips industry
On Tuesday, MEPs backed plans to secure the EU supply of chips by boosting production and innovation, and setting up emergency measures against shortages. The Industry and Energy Committee adopted two draft bills: one on the “Chips Act” that aims to bolster technological capacity and innovation in the EU Chips ecosystem and a second one […]
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Commission boosts action on pollinators
The Commission is presenting ‘A New Deal for Pollinators’ to tackle the alarming decline in wild pollinating insects in Europe, revising the 2018 EU Pollinators Initiative. Citizens have been increasingly calling for decisive action against pollinator loss, also through the recent successful European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Save Bees and Farmers‘. The renewed initiative sets out actions to be […]
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Virtual companions that look and behave like humans
An EU-funded project unveiled AI-powered digital beings that offer the best of visual quality and emotional conversation: they show true sentience, perception and feelings. People increasingly rely on software agents in their lives, from searching for information to chatting with a bot. These goal-oriented computer programmes are spreading wide across many fields to assist, take […]
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Parliament’s Petitions Committee looks at complaints in Spain: Madrid, Catalonia and Elche
This week’s meeting of the European Parliament’s Petitions Committee will vote on whether to keep open a complaint about insecurity in neighbourhoods in Catalonia and debate a petition calling for compensation for those affected by the works on line 7 of the Madrid metro and another on the employment situation of shoe workers in Elche. […]
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EU establishes a civilian mission to contribute to stability in border areas in Armenia
The Council agreed to establish a civilian European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The objective of the Mission is to contribute to stability in the border areas of Armenia, build confidence on the ground, and ensure an environment conducive to normalisation efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan supported […]
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