The European Commission and the High Representative have adopted the 26th annual report to the European Parliament and the Council on political and economic developments in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This report covers developments in 2023. The electoral overhaul of the District Councils, adopted on 6 July, drastically reduced the number of directly […]
Commission launches consultations on fisheries and maritime activities funding programmes
The European Commission launched two consultations to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of past and current funding programmes for fisheries and maritime activities. The first consultation aims to gather evidence and different perspectives on the management and use of the funds from various actors involved or interested, such as individuals, the fisheries and the maritime sectors, non-governmental and […]
European Commission presents the Common Implementation Plan of the Pact on Migration and Asylum
After a historic agreement was reached on the Pact on Migration and Asylum, work has started to translate the large and complex set of legislative acts into an operational reality over the next two years. This will be a common endeavour, with the Commission supporting Member States every step of the way. The Common Implementation Plan […]
Commission secures access for Member States to 665,000 doses of zoonotic influenza vaccines to prevent avian flu
The Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) as part of its mandate on preparedness, has signed on behalf of participating Member States, a joint procurement framework contract for the supply of up to 665,000 pre-pandemic vaccine doses of the up-to-date Zoonotic Influenza Vaccine Seqirus, as well as an option for a further 40 million doses […]
European Union signs aviation agreement with the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
The European Union and Bangladesh have signed a Horizontal Aviation Agreement . This agreement will allow any EU airline to operate flights between Bangladesh and any of the seven EU Member States whose bilateral air services agreements with Bangladesh does not already allow this. Previously, these bilateral air services agreements only permitted airlines owned and controlled […]
CJEU Judgment: the Court upholds the Commission’s decision authorising the solvency support fund for strategic Spanish undertakings
Ryanair had challenged that decision, relating to an aid scheme amounting to €10 billion. In July 2020, Spain notified the European Commission of an aid scheme to set up a solvency support fund. The beneficiaries were (non-financial) strategic Spanish undertakings experiencing temporary difficulties as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. That aid scheme provided for […]
Is the clock ticking on AI?
Renowned AI experts call on world governments and tech giants to take action now on AI risks. “Probably none of us will have a job,” Elon Musk stated about AI when speaking remotely at a leading tech conference in Paris on 23 May. The billionaire hasn’t been shy about referring to AI as his biggest […]
European Commission distributes 35 511 travel vouchers to young people under DiscoverEU programme
35 511 young people will receive travel vouchers from the Commission to travel around Europe for free, starting already this summer. The Commission announced today the outcome of the latest round of the DiscoverEU programme, which is part of the Erasmus+ programme. DiscoverEU, as part of the Erasmus+ programme, offers 18-year-old residents of EU Member […]
Commission kick-starts work on a new pilot mechanism to boost the hydrogen market
The Commission is taking further steps to support the development of the European hydrogen market by launching work on a pilot mechanism. The new mechanism was created under the recently-adopted decarbonised gases and hydrogen package, and aims to accelerate investments by providing a clearer picture of the market situation of both off-takers and suppliers and facilitating contacts between them. It will be in […]