Yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of the signing by President Putin of the law on “foreign agents”, a decade shaped by the Russian authorities’ growing fear of critical voices from within Russian society. This law was the first of several legislative measures, including the law on “undesirable organisations” in 2015 and the 2022 “fake news […]
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Spain’s assessment of the European Commission’s ‘Save gas for a safe winter’ package
Teresa Ribera, Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, has called for a debate on the ‘Save gas for a Safe winter’ package presented yesterday by the European Commission aimed to reduce the impact of a possible total cut-off of Russian gas supplies to the EU: “we understand that […]
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Commission takes action to ensure complete and timely transposition of EU directives
Today the Commission is adopting a package of infringement decisions due to the absence of communication by Member States of measures taken to transpose EU directives into national law (referred to as ‘non-communication infringements’). The Commission is sending a letter of formal notice to those Member States who have failed to notify national measures transposing […]
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Defence Industry: EU takes steps to invest almost €1.2 bn
The Commission announced plans to grant a total EU funding of almost €1.2 billion supporting 61 collaborative defence research and development projects selected following the first ever calls for proposals under the European Defence Fund (EDF). With the proposals selected for funding, the EDF will support high-end defence capability projects such as the next generation of fighter aircrafts, tanks […]
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EUAM Iraq: New head of mission appointed
The Council today appointed Anders Wiberg as new head of mission for the European Union Advisory Mission in Iraq (EUAM Iraq). He will take up his duties on 16 August 2022 until 30 April 2024. Anders Wiberg is a Chief Superintendent of the Swedish National Police, a service he joined in 1991. He has also served in different international […]
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Commission proposes gas demand reduction plan to prepare EU for supply cuts
The European Union faces the risk of further gas supply cuts from Russia, due to the Kremlin’s weaponisation of gas exports, with almost half of our Member States already affected by reduced deliveries. Taking action now can reduce both the risk and the costs for Europe in case of further or full disruption, strengthening European […]
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Spain: 285 million euros to contribute to rail freight development
The European Commission has approved, under EU state aid rules, a EUR 285 million program submitted by Spain to promote the transition from road to rail freight transport. The program will be financed through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM), following the Commission’s positive assessment of Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and its adoption […]
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EU to reinforce the European defence industry through common procurement with a €500 million instrument
The Commission has adopted a proposal for a Regulation by the European Parliament and the Council establishing the European Defence Industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act (EDIRPA) for 2022-2024. As announced in the Joint communication on the Defence Investment Gaps in May, the Commission is delivering on its commitment to set up a Short-Term EU Instrument reinforcing […]
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Eurojust helps return to Italy a painting by Artemisia Gentileschi worth more than 2 million euros
A historic 17th century painting by the Italian baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi has been returned to Italy, with the active support of Eurojust. Two suspects are being investigated for fraud and attempts to illegally sell the painting of the legend of Roman Charity in Austria. They obtained an export license for the painting while disguising […]
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