Supporting youth and children at risk of poverty According to the deal, EU countries where the number of children at a high risk of poverty is above the EU average will have to spend a minimum of 5% of the ESF+ resources on actions that contribute to children’s equal access to free healthcare, free education, […]
New EU-UK agreement is welcome but thorough scrutiny remains, insist lead MEPs
Foreign Affairs and Trade MEPs welcome the new EU-UK agreement as a good deal but demand proper parliamentary scrutiny powers and thorough access to information. On Thursday morning, members on the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committees held a first joint meeting on the new EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, intensifying the parliamentary scrutiny process of […]
Council agrees its position on the next EU common agricultural policy
Today, the Council agreed its negotiating position (general approach) on the post-2020 common agricultural policy (CAP) reform package. This agreed position puts forward some strong commitments from member states for higher environmental ambition with instruments like mandatory eco-schemes (a novelty compared to the current policy) and enhanced conditionality. At the same time, the agreed position […]
Statement by the European Commission following the extraordinary meeting of the EU-UK Joint Committee
Recently, a meeting took place in London between Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Following the publication by the UK government of the draft “United Kingdom Internal Market Bill” on 9 September 2020, Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič called for an extraordinary meeting of the EU-UK Joint Committee to request the UK government to elaborate […]
EU-China: Council authorises signature of agreement on geographical indications
The Council adopted Decisions on the signing of the Agreement between the European Union and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on geographical indications. This is the first major bilateral trade agreement signed between the EU and China. It will ensure that 100 EU agri-food geographical indications, such as Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, […]
First year of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement shows growth in EU exports
1 February 2020 marks the first anniversary of the entry into force of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). In the first ten months following the implementation of the agreement, EU exports to Japan went up by 6.6% compared to the same period the year before. This outperforms the growth in the past three years, which averaged […]
EU budget for 2020: Council endorses deal with Parliament
The Council has approved the deal reached with the European Parliament last week on the 2020 EU budget. If the agreement is also confirmed by the Parliament on Wednesday, the EU budget for 2020 is adopted. Support growth and the competitiveness Next year’s budget will continue to support growth and the competitiveness of the European […]