The Commission presented the mid-term evaluation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the EU’s recovery instrument at the heart of the €800 billion NextGenerationEU (NGEU) plan. Unprecedented in its scale and ambition, the RRF was established in February 2021 and has the two-fold objective of helping Member States to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well […]
Air quality: Council and Parliament reach agreement to strengthen EU rules
The Council presidency and the European Parliament’s representatives reached a provisional political agreement on a proposal to set EU air quality standards to be attained with the aim of achieving a zero-pollution objective, thus contributing to a toxic-free environment in the EU by 2050. It also seeks to bring EU air quality standards in line with the World Health Organization […]
EU wins WTO compliance action against US in ripe olives dispute
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has today confirmed that the EU was right to challenge the US for not complying with a ruling relating to ripe olives from Spain. Today’s WTO panel report presents again a clear and full win for the EU. It confirms that the US failed to implement the recommendations of the original panel, […]
The Digital Services Act now applies to all online platforms in the European Union
On 17 February, the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU’s landmark rulebook that aims to make the online environment safer, fairer and more transparent, starts applying to all online intermediaries in the EU. Under the DSA, EU users are better protected against illegal goods and content and have their rights upheld on online platforms where […]
Spain is ageing: among the EU countries with the highest increase in the median age of the population
On 1 January 2023, the median age of the EU’s population reached 44.5 years. This means that half of the EU’s population was older than 44.5 years, while the other half was younger. The median age of the EU’s population has increased by 2.3 years since 2013, when it was 42.2 years. This information comes from data on population […]
Commission monitors strengths and challenges of EU’s competitiveness
The Commission has published the new Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report. The report details the competitive strengths and challenges of Europe’s Single Market, tracking yearly developments according to the nine competitiveness drivers identified in the EU’s 2023 Long-term competitiveness Communication. Those are the functioning of the Single Market, access to private capital, public investment and […]
41% of people employed as scientists and engineers in the European Union are women
In 2022, there were almost 7.3 million female scientists and engineers in the EU, 310 500 more than in 2021, accounting for 41% of total employment in science and engineering. Women working as scientists and engineers were primarily employed in the service sector, comprising 46% of scientists and engineers in this sector, whereas in manufacturing, only 22% of those […]
EU and Canada boost strategic digital partnership to meet new challenges
Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton and Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne met on 1 February to begin work on implementing the EU-Canada Digital Partnership, which was concluded at the 23-24 November summit held in Canada. They issued the following joint press release following their virtual meeting: The new Digital Partnership will help the EU and Canada […]
Council and Parliament strike provisional deal on the right to repair directive
The Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional deal on the directive that promotes the repair of broken or defective goods, also known as the right-to-repair (or R2R) directive. The legislation agreed today will make it easier for consumers to seek repair instead of replacement by making the access to repair services easier, faster, […]