A World Trade Organization (WTO) panel report ruled that US countervailing duties applied on imports of ripe olives from Spain, put in place during the previous administration in 2018, are illegal under WTO rules. The EU now expects that the US will take steps to bring itself in compliance with the panel’s recommendations. Executive Vice-President […]
Agreement on EU Annual Budget 2022
The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, on a proposal from the European Commission, have reached an informal political agreement on the EU budget for 2022, the second under the 2021-2027 EU multiannual financial framework. The agreement is for commitments of €169.5 billion, and payments of €170.6 billion. Once adopted, the budget […]
REACT-EU: Commission approves a further EUR 923 million for Spain’s recovery
The Commission has granted €923 million for Spain’s digital and green recovery and transition under REACT-EU, to be implemented through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) operational programs. Elisa Ferreira, Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, said: “Cohesion policy has been at the forefront of the fight against the economic, social […]
The cybersecurity threat landscape
The cybersecurity threat landscape has grown in terms of sophistication of attacks, complexity and impact. Such a trend is spurred by an ever-growing online presence, the transitioning of traditional infrastructures to online solutions, advanced interconnectivity and the exploitation of new features of emerging technologies. Without surprise, supply-chains attacks rank highly among prime threats because of the significant […]
September infringement package: main decisions for Spain – Agriculture and Fisheries
In its regular package of infringement decisions, the European Commission pursues legal action against Member States for failing to comply with their obligations under EU law. These decisions, covering various sectors and EU policy areas, aim to ensure the proper application of EU law for the benefit of citizens and businesses. The main decisions adopted […]
EU reinforces its leading position in global agri-food trade
2020 marked another improvement in the EU’s leading position among the world’s biggest exporters of agri-food products. On the import side, the EU has become the third largest importer after the United States and China, according to a report published on september 8th 2020 was an exceptionally challenging, yet successful year for EU agri-food trade, which […]
2021 Rule of Law Report
The European Commission has published the second EU-wide Report on the Rule of Law with a Communication looking at the situation in the EU as a whole and dedicated country chapters on each Member State. The 2021 report looks at the new developments since last September, deepening the assessment of issues identified in the previous report and taking […]
COVID-19 vaccination developments in Europe – 1st four-month period 2021
Vaccination against COVID-19 started on 27 December 2020 across the European Union, in a moment of unity. To date, 4 safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines have been licensed for use in the EU, following positive scientific recommendations from the European Medicines Agency: BioNTech-Pfizer: On 21 December 2020, the European Commission granted conditional marketing authorisation to […]
New VAT rules for e-commerce in the EU
New value added tax (VAT) rules for online shopping came into force this week. This development comes in the context of efforts to ensure a more level playing field for all businesses, simplify cross-border e-commerce and introduce greater transparency for EU shoppers in terms of prices and choice. The EU VAT system was last updated […]