Europe’s innovation performance continues to improve, with the EU’s overall score having risen by 11.6 percentage points since 2019, according to the 2026 European Innovation Scoreboard, recently published by the European Commission. This result reflects almost a decade of steady growth and highlights the resilience of Europe’s innovation ecosystem in an increasingly competitive global environment. […]
The Commission has registered the European Citizens’ Initiative calling for an unconditional basic income
On 7 July, the European Commission registered a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) entitled ‘Introduction of an unconditional basic income (UBI) across the EU’. The organisers of the initiative believe that,“with rapid advances in artificial intelligence and robotics, there is an urgent need to decouple our livelihoods from our ability to sell our labour, as we […]
The Commission presents the EU Action Plan on Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence
The European Commission has presented an Action Plan to provide a structured response to address the risks and capitalise on the opportunities presented by advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models in the field of cybersecurity. New advanced AI models are redefining cybersecurity. AI can be misused to identify vulnerabilities, automate attacks and increase the scale and […]
The EU is deploying aid to help fight forest fires and tackle the numerous blazes ravaging Portugal and France
As Europe is fighting wildfires in several Member States, the Commission is swiftly mobilising assistance via the EU civil protection mechanism (UCPM). Over the weekend, Portugal and France have activated the UCPM due to devastating wildfires, with several of them active simultaneously and burning thousands of hectares. France activated the UCPM on 5 July. The European Commission […]
A Commission report highlights the achievements of EU animal health standards
Ten years after its adoption, the European Commission has published an evaluation of EU legislation on animal health. The evaluation and the accompanying report highlight the positive impact the legislation has had on combating animal diseases, whilst also identifying areas for improvement. Animal diseases can have devastating consequences for livestock farmers and rural communities, and […]
8th edition of the Madrid Summit, an international conference on the challenges facing the LGBTIQ community
On 3 July 2026, Madrid hosted the 8th edition of the Madrid Summit, a conference focusing on the main challenges currently facing the LGBTQIA+ community in Europe and internationally. Launched in 2017 during WorldPride Madrid, the Summit has established itself as a leading forum for analysing the challenges affecting LGBTIQA people around the world. This […]
The Commission is proposing five joint defence projects to strengthen Europe’s industrial capabilities
The European Commission has proposed five new large-scale projects, known as European Defence Projects of Common Interest (EDPCI),to help EU countries strengthen their defence capabilities through the joint development of key military systems. The industrial projects focus on five priority areas: drones and anti-drone systems; maritime and seabed defence; space; air and missile defence; and […]
The Commission has approved Spain’s sixth payment request, worth EUR 5,700 million, under the NextGenerationEU programme
On 2 July, the European Commission gave partial approval to Spain’s sixth payment request, worth EUR 5,700 million, under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU. At the same time, it has approved a payment for two milestones that had previously been suspended under the fifth payment request. This is an important step […]
Specialist prosecutors step up the fight against human trafficking
On 17 and 18 June, the Working Group of Prosecutors Specialising in Human Trafficking met at Eurojust’s headquarters in The Hague. The meeting was co-chaired by the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator and focused on recent developments in the fight against human trafficking. This fifth meeting of the Working Group addressed the practical challenges of applying the […]