The EU and the Philippines announced their intention to explore the relaunch of negotiations for an ambitious, modern, and balanced free trade agreement (FTA) – with sustainability at its core. The EU and the Philippines will shortly kick off a bilateral ‘scoping process’ to assess to which extent they share a mutual understanding on the […]
Commission opens investigation into possible anticompetitive practices by Microsoft regarding Teams
The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether Microsoft may have breached EU competition rules by tying or bundling its communication and collaboration product Teams to its popular suites for businesses Office 365 and Microsoft 365. Microsoft is a global technology company offering productivity and business software, cloud computing and personal computing. Teams is a cloud-based communication and collaboration […]
Enhancing EU resilience: A step forward to identify critical entities for key sectors
The Commission has adopted a list of essential services in the eleven sectors covered by the Critical Entities Resilience Directive (CER), which entered into force on 16 January 2023. Critical entities provide essential services in upholding key societal functions, supporting the economy, ensuring public health and safety, and preserving the environment. Member States will have to identify the […]
Commission published a Communication presenting the building blocks for a common European tourism data space
The Commission published a Communication presenting the building blocks for a common European tourism data space. This data space will allow tourism businesses and public authorities to share a broad range of data to inform the development of innovative tourism services, improve the sustainability of the tourism ecosystem and strengthen its economic competitiveness. Tourism is […]
EU foreign policy and its global impact
Last June, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, visited Latin America in order to strengthen ties with key partners. During her trip, she had the opportunity to visit Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico. The Latin American tour also served to prepare for the summit between the EU and the Community of […]
EU and Argentina step up cooperation on clean energy transition and energy security
At the EU-CELAC Summit in Brussels, the EU and Argentina have taken a further step in their energy cooperation with the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Signed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the Argentine Republic Alberto Fernández in the presence of Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson and Argentina’s Minister […]
Commission lifts the Fukushima restrictions on food imports
At the EU-Japan Summit, President von der Leyen announced that the Commission is lifting the import restrictions for food following the nuclear accident at Fukushima. The lifting of the measures stems from positive results from controls done on the products by the Japanese authorities and the Member States. Shortly after the accident, the EU took the necessary measures to protect […]
European Commission publishes July infringement proceedings package for Spain
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 and Latin America and the Caribbean step up action to promote inclusive and equal societies
Ahead of the EU-CELAC Leaders’ Summit, Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, announced a new EU programme worth €60 million to step up action against inequalities and to promote inclusive and equal societies in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Commissioner made the announcement at the EU – Latin America and Caribbean Forum bringing together civil society, youth and local […]