European Commission Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs José Manuel Albares and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, together with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo, met in Brussels on Friday 12 April. This was the first meeting in this format. Discussions took place in a constructive atmosphere, with significant progress achieved. […]
Parliament backs women’s right to decide on their sexual and reproductive health
MEPs urge the Council to incorporate sexual and reproductive healthcare and the right to safe and legal abortion into the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In a resolution adopted on Thursday by 336 votes in favour, 163 against and 39 abstentions, the House calls for enshrining abortion rights in the EU Charter of Fundamental […]
Interoperable Europe Act enters into force for better connected public services for people and businesses
The Interoperable Europe Act, which enters into force today, will facilitate cross-border data exchange and accelerate the digital transformation of the public sector. The Act is essential to reaching the objectives of the EU’s Digital Decade, such as having 100% of key public services available online by 2030. Interoperability is a core feature of a […]
Monetary policy decisions: ECB keeps interest rates unchanged at 4.5%.
The Governing Council of the European Central Bank decided to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. The incoming information has broadly confirmed the Governing Council’s previous assessment of the medium-term inflation outlook. Inflation has continued to fall, led by lower food and goods price inflation. Most measures of underlying inflation are easing, wage […]
The Monastery of San Jerónimo de Yuste receives the European Heritage Label
The Commission has awarded the European Heritage Label 2023 to seven sites across the continent, recognising their key role in Europe’s history and culture. They are: “Cisterscapes – Cistercian Landscapes Connecting Europe” (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Slovenia); the Monastery of San Jerónimo de Yuste (Spain); “Our Lord in the Attic” Museum (The Netherlands); […]
European Parliament extends exemption to EU privacy rules that makes it easier to detect child sexual abuse content on the internet until 2026
On Wednesday Parliament backed prolonging an exemption to EU privacy rules facilitating the detection of child sexual abuse material online until 3 April 2026. With 469 in favour, 112 against and 37 abstentions, MEPs endorsed a temporary extension of the current e-Privacy derogation that allows the voluntary detection, by internet platforms, of […]
New rules on labelling of honey, juice, jam and marmalade adopted
The revision of the “breakfast directives” aims to help consumers make informed and healthier decisions on products such as honey, fruit juice, jam and marmalades. Parliament on Wednesday approved the provisional political agreement with Council on updated rules on the composition, name, labelling and presentation of certain ‘breakfast’ foodstuffs, the so-called “breakfast directives”, with 603 […]
EU agri-food trade achieved a record surplus in 2023
EU agri-food trade balance reached its record level in 2023, according to the latest report published by the European Commission. After a good performance of the EU agri-food trade in 2022, the most recent report released by the European Commission indicates that the EU agri-food trade balance reached its record level in 2023. EU exports reached […]
NextGenerationEU recovery plan – to be paid back by the next generation?
In 2021, the EU set up the NextGenerationEU (NGEU) fund – worth around €800 billion – to prop up the economies of its member states during and following the COVID–19 pandemic. While the money has been flowing to member states, the flow is slow and set to end in 2026. There is also a catch – it is […]