Early childhood education and care (ECEC) – the phase before primary education – is increasingly acknowledged as providing the foundations for lifelong learning and development. This second edition of Key Data on Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe charts the progress made in the key quality areas identified in the Council Recommendation on High Quality ECEC Systems. The Commission´s Intention […]
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European Commission Joint Research Centre opens world-class laboratories to researchers
Researchers from across Europe will now have even more opportunities to use the Joint Research Centre’s state-of-the-art facilities: after a first round of the open access initiative, in which nearly 100 eligible proposals were received from 92 research institutions, further laboratories of the Commission’s in-house science and knowledge service are now available to external scientists. […]
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Financial services: Commission sets out its equivalence policy with non-EU countries
The European Commission is today taking stock of its overall approach to equivalence in the area of financial services. EU equivalence has become a significant tool in recent years, fostering integration of global financial markets and cooperation with third-country authorities. The EU assesses the overall policy context and to what extent the regulatory regimes of […]
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Drought in Europe: the Commission offers further support to European farmers
The European Commission is offering support to farmers faced with the waves of drought afflicting Europe. Firstly, farmers will be able to receive a higher percentage of their direct and rural development payments in advance. Secondly, to be able to feed their animals, they will be granted greater flexibility to use land that would normally […]
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As market matures, Central Banks conclude that a formal gold agreement is no longer necessary
The European Central Bank (ECB) and 21 other central banks that are signatories of the Central Bank Gold Agreement (CBGA) have decided not to renew the Agreement upon its expiry in September 2019. Signatories of the fourth Central Bank Gold Agreement no longer see need for formal agreement as market has developed and matured. Signatory […]
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EU-U.S. trade talks: One year on, the Commission presents progress report
This week marks the first anniversary of the Joint Statement by President Juncker and President Trump, which launched the new phase in the relationship between the United States and the European Union. One year on, a series of concrete actions have been achieved, taking the trillion-dollar transatlantic trade relationship to the next level.A report on […]
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EU asylum rules: Dublin regulation reform
The arrival of migrants and asylum seekers in the EU in recent years has shown that a more fair and effective policy is needed. However, Europe, due to its geographical position and stability, can continue to be a recurring destination for asylum seekers and migrants who experience international and internal conflicts or face climate change […]
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Timely testing saves lives: on the World Hepatitis Day
Each year on this day, there is an opportunity to reflect how far we have come on the path to eliminating hepatitis globally, but also, to think how much more needs to be done to achieve this goal by 2030. Figures There is a large number of people still living in the EU/EEA with Hepatitis […]
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Data protection: Commission decides to refer Greece and Spain to the Court for not transposing EU law
The European Commission decided to refer Greece and Spain to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to transpose the EU rules on personal data protection (the Data Protection Law Enforcement Directive, Directive (EU) 2016/680). In April 2016, the Council and the European Parliament agreed the Directive had to be transposed into national law by 6 May 2018. In the case […]
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