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 […]
Use of the EU’s space assets under scrutiny of Auditors
The European Court of Auditors is examining how effectively the European Commission has promoted the uptake of services provided by two of the EU’s key space programmes, Copernicus and Galileo. Around €260 million were allocated to these activities from the EU budget for the period 2014- 2020. The EU currently has three space programmes: Copernicus, which provides […]
Transport costs EU households over €1.1 trillion
In 2018, households in the European Union (EU) spent 13.2% of their total consumption expenditure on transport. This represents a total expenditure of over €1.1 trillion, equivalent to 7.2% of the EU’s GDP or €2 220 per EU inhabitant. Transport is the EU’s second largest household expenditure item after housing (24.0% of total consumption expenditure). Food and non-alcoholic beverages […]
New electricity rules enters into force
On 1 January 2020, the Electricity Regulation EU/2019/943 entered into force. An important part of the new electricity market design, agreed under the Clean energy for all European’s package, the regulation establishes the fundamental principles for an efficient electricity market. It allows better integration of national markets and increased capacity for cross-border trade, generating lower prices. It […]
EuroLat: serious concern about migration and support to multilateral trade
The worsening migration situation in Latin America and Europe worries parliamentarians in both regions, who also warn against increasing trade protectionism. In a joint declaration on the occasion of the twelfth plenary session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), the two co-presidents of the assembly, Javi López (S&D, Spain) and Jorge Pizarro, insist that inequality […]
Tourism Satellite Accounts 2019
According to the latest Tourism Satellite Accounts, spending on tourism by residents of a country within their own country (‘domestic tourism’ consumption) is nearly twice as high as spending of foreign visitors in that country (‘inbound tourism’ consumption). However, behind this average for the EU as a whole, the share of domestic tourism in the tourism […]
EU measures to stabilise farmers’ income: auditors warn of under-use and over-compensation
EU instruments helping farmers to insure their income against falling prices and production losses have only partially met their objectives, and their uptake remains low and uneven, according to a new report from the European Court of Auditors. In addition, some exceptional measures have not been properly targeted and can lead to disproportionate compensation payments, […]
Slight rise in electricity prices, gas prices stable
In the first half of 2019, average household electricity prices in the European Union (EU) increased slightly compared with the first half of 2018 (€20 per 100 kWh), standing at €21 per 100 kWh. Average gas prices in the EU were stable and stood at €6 per 100 kWh in the first half of 2019. […]
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 […]