“We must invest more in defence and make up for years of budget cuts and underinvestment. The message is clear: we need to reduce fragmentation and invest more together, starting now”, said High Representative/Head of the European Defence Agency, Josep Borrell, during the first European Defence Innovation Day – organised by the European Defence Agency […]
Joint Statement between the European Commission and the United States on European Energy Security
Russia has demonstrated that it is an unreliable supplier of energy to Europe through unjustified and unacceptable actions such as cutting off electricity and natural gas to Finland, halting natural gas exports to Poland and Bulgaria, and threatening similar actions against other European nations. The European Commission and the United States condemn Russia’s use of […]
Agriculture and Fisheries Council 24 May – Main results
Solidarity with Ukraine and the market situation, especially following the Russian invasion Ministers were briefed by the Commission on the channels of solidarity between the European union (EU) and Ukraine in order to facilitate the export of Ukrainian agricultural products by land to European and world markets. The aim of this action plan is to overcome the […]
Discover the winners of the European Charlemagne Youth Prize 2022
A Portuguese project on cross-border cooperation through music has won the 2022 European Charlemagne Youth Prize. Every year national and European juries select a project from each EU country. The 26 national winners were invited to the award ceremony in Aachen on 24 May, where the three European winners were announced. European winners The first […]
Spain has the largest area for wine in the EU
The total area under vines in the EU was 3.2 million hectares (ha) in 2020, equivalent to 2.0 % of the utilised agricultural area (UAA). In 2020, there were 2.2 million vineyard holdings for wine (hereafter termed ‘vineyard holdings’) in the EU, the vast majority of which were very small; 83.3 % had less than 1 ha of vineyards. Spain, […]
European Semester Spring Package 2022
The European Commission’s 2022 European Semester Spring Package provides Member States with support and guidance two years on from the first impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the midst of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The Spring 2022 Economic Forecast projects the EU economy to continue growing in 2022 and 2023. However, while the EU economy […]
EU member states to collaborate to store and share gas supplies
An important step to improve EU security of supply in the context of the war in Ukraine was taken today with the provisional political agreement reached between the Council and the European Parliament on the legislation on gas storage. The proposed regulation aims to ensure that storage capacities in the EU are filled before the […]
Provisional agreement reached to make international trade easier
The Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on a single window for customs which sets the appropriate conditions for digital collaboration between customs and partner competent authorities. The aim is to make international trade easier, shorten customs clearance times and reduce the risk of fraud. It will also help reduce the administrative burden […]
Spain will reiterate the need for the Commission to allow greater flexibility for the fruit and vegetable sector
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, advocated last Wednesday to carry out a constant monitoring of the European market situation in all fields in order to know the effect of the measures adopted to mitigate the effects of the war in Ukraine, in case the adoption of new measures is necessary. On […]