In 2022, the life expectancy at birth in the EU was 80.6 years, up by 0.5 years from 2021. Over two decades, since 2002, the highest value was recorded in 2019 when life expectancy at birth reached 81.3 years (up 3.7 years compared with 2002). However, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, this indicator declined to 80.4 in […]
Read MoreCommission initiates formal proceedings against AliExpress under the Digital Services Act
The Commission has opened formal proceedings to assess whether AliExpress may have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to the management and mitigation of risks, to content moderation and the internal complaint handling mechanism, to the transparency of advertising and recommender systems, to the traceability of traders and to data access for researchers. On the basis […]
Read MoreEuropean Parliament Passes Landmark Artificial Intelligence Act
In a significant legislative stride, the European Parliament has approved the Artificial Intelligence Act, marking a pivotal moment in regulating AI technologies across the continent. Endorsed with a resounding 523 votes in favor, 46 against, and 49 abstentions, this regulation, forged through negotiations with member states in December 2023, sets forth a comprehensive framework aimed […]
Read MoreEurostat: Spain had the second lowest fertility rate in the European Union in 2022
In 2022, 3.88 million babies were born in the EU, a slight decrease from 4.09 million in 2021. The number of children born in the EU has been declining since 2008, when 4.68 million children were born. The total fertility rate in 2022 was 1.46 live births per woman in the EU, which is another decline, after the small increase […]
Read MoreLa Comisión Europea invita a los agricultores a participar en una encuesta en línea sobre la simplificación
As announced in its proposals to reduce the burden weighing on farmers’ shoulders, the Commission is launching today an online survey to gather directly the views of EU farmers. The survey is open from 7 March to 8 April, and will ask short questions, available in all EU languages, such as: How much time is spent each year […]
Read MoreEurostat: EU fruit and vegetable production in 2022
The EU produces a wide range of fresh vegetables and fruit. Fresh vegetables were cultivated on 2.0 million hectares of land across the EU in 2022, on which 59.8 million tonnes of crops were harvested. The three most commonly grown fresh vegetables – in quantity terms – were tomatoes (15.4 million tonnes of harvested production), onions (6.2 […]
Read MoreEuropean Commission presents new initiatives for tomorrow’s digital infrastructures
The Commission presented a set of possible actions to foster the innovation, security and resilience of digital infrastructures. The future competitiveness of Europe’s economy depends on these advanced digital network infrastructures and services, since fast, secure, and widespread connectivity is essential for the deployment of the technologies that will bring us into tomorrow’s world: telemedicine, […]
Read MoreThe European Commission clears the creation of a joint venture between Orange and MásMóvil in Spain.
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed creation of a joint venture by Orange and MásMóvil. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with a commitments package offered by Orange and MásMóvil. Today’s decision follows an in-depth investigation of the proposed transaction. Orange is a full mobile network operator while MásMóvil is a hybrid mobile network operator. MásMóvil relies on its own mobile […]
Read MoreEuropean Commission initiates formal proceedings against TikTok under the Digital Services Act
The European Commission has opened formal proceedings to assess whether TikTok may have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to the protection of minors, advertising transparency, data access for researchers, as well as the risk management of addictive design and harmful content. On the basis of the preliminary investigation conducted so far, including on the basis […]
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