The European Commission has adopted the third annual Work Programme under the European Defence Fund (EDF), allocating €1.2 billion to defence collaborative research and development projects. With this new Work Programme, the Commission unlocks new funding for defence projects to jointly develop strategic defence capabilities and technologies. It also introduces a series of new measures […]
Consumer protection: European Commission contacts Nintendo to fix defective Nintendo Switch controllers free of charge
Following an alert from the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), the European Commission and EU consumer authorities (Network of Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Authorities) contacted Nintendo to address a recurring technical problem with irresponsive controllers. Following this action, Nintendo has agreed to offer all consumers the right to repair for affected controllers of the “Nintendo Switch” […]
Commission disburses over €150 billion to Member States under the Resilience and Recovery Fund
The Commission has disbursed more than €150 billion from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to Member States, after €6 billion was paid to Spain on 31 May. This is an important milestone in the implementation of the RRF, the key instrument at the heart of the €800 billion NextGenerationEU recovery plan for Europe. In just […]
Commission paves the way to improve the movement of mobile machinery on public roads across the EU
On 30 March, the Commission proposed a regulation to facilitate the use of non-road mobile machinery such as cranes, harvesters, forklift trucks and snow ploughs. These rules will eventually replace the various regulatory regimes that currently exist in the Member States. As the new rules will harmonise the technical requirements for the type-approval of off-road […]
Demographic challenges of Member States and political responses to address them
The European Commission has published an interactive mapping, developed jointly with national authorities, showing the current national demographic challenges in the Member States and the policy responses adopted to address them. In particular, the mapping shows, based on data from a 2022 survey conducted by the Commission and the Social Protection Committee (SPC), that most […]
European Commission adopts a proposal for a Directive aimed at greater transparency for companies
The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Directive making it easier for companies to expand the use of digital tools and processes in EU company law. The proposal aims to facilitate cross-border companies’ operations and to increase business transparency and trust by making more information about companies publicly available at EU level. It […]
European Council adopts regulation on CO2 emissions from new passenger cars and vans
‘Fit for 55’: The new rules aim to reduce emissions from road transport that has the highest share of emissions from transport – and provide the right push for the automotive industry to shift towards zero-emission mobility while ensuring continued innovation in the industry. The new rules set the following targets: 55% CO2 emission reductions for […]
Deputy Director-General Position in the European Commission
The overall mandate of the Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS) is to develop and carry out the Commission’s policies on defence industry and space. The duties of the Deputy Director-General are to support the Director-General while providing an overall strategic orientation of DG DEFIS in the field of defence industry and space, and […]
European Commission publishes regional competitiveness index: Spanish regions improve their performance
On 27 March, the European Commission published the Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI), a completely revised version of a tool long used to measure different dimensions of competitiveness in EU regions. The fully revised RCI 2.0 shows that large disparities persist between EU regions, but it also shows that the competitiveness of less developed regions has […]