A swift return to a fully functional Schengen area is needed to safeguard freedom of movement and ensure the EU’s economic recovery, says the Civil Liberties Committee. Civil Liberties Committee MEPs express their concern about the current situation of internal border controls in the Schengen area and their impact on people and businesses, in a resolution adopted on Thursday […]
Covid-19: EU recovery plan should prioritise climate investment
The proposed EU recovery package to tackle the profound economic recession caused by Covid-19 aims to create a sustainable future. The Covid-19 health crisis and its economic consequences are priorities for the EU and the recovery package proposed by the European Commission aims to relaunch economies, based on a greener, social and digital approach for […]
COVID-19: Now, we are either a Union or we are nothing
European Economicand Social Committee statement The COVID-19 outbreak has turned into a fast-moving emergency, figures and measures are constantly changing across Europe and the world, affecting all levels of society. Not since the end of the Second World War, has the global community faced such a dramatic crisis. No government in Europe or elsewhere can […]
Council sets its priorities for the 2021 EU budget
The Council adopted the following conclusions setting out its priorities for the 2021 EU budget: The Council underlines that the budgetary procedure for 2021 will be the first in the new programming period 2021-2027. In this regard, the budget will play an important role in the development and delivery of the Union’s objectives and priorities. […]
Birth rate of enterprises in the EU
In 2017, the number of new enterprise births in the European Union (EU) as a proportion of the total number of active EU enterprises stood at 9.3 %. This rate remained stable compared with 2016 (9.3%), but it was slightly higher than the rate recorded in 2012 (9.0%). The employment generated by these newly created […]
EU-Vietnam trade deal: interview with MEP Geert Bourgeois
Geert Bourgeois, the MEP in charge of steering the agreements through Parliament, explains the economic, social and environmental benefits. Overview of what changes the EU-Vietnam trade deal would bring about The aim is to eliminate 99% of tariffs within seven years. This should result in €15 billion a year in additional exports from Vietnam to […]
First year of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement shows growth in EU exports
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 […]