Since Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Council has adopted eight packages of sanctions against Russia and Belarus. The sanctions aim at weakening Russia’s ability to finance the war and specifically target the political, military and economic elite responsible for the invasion. The restrictive measures do not target Russian society. […]
WTO panel rules against Indonesia’s export limitations on raw materials
The EU welcomes the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) clear ruling confirming that Indonesia’s export ban and domestic processing requirement on nickel ore violates WTO rules. The WTO panel report was made public today. The WTO panel upheld all EU claims against Indonesia. First of all, it found that Indonesia’s export ban and domestic processing requirement […]
Colombia and the EU hold the 8th High Level Political Dialogue
(Bogota, November 18, 2022). The VIII High Level Political Dialogue between Colombia and the European Union (EU) was held in Bogotá D.C., Colombia, on November 18, 2022, chaired by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Ambassador Francisco Coy Granados and the Director for the Americas of the European External Action Service of the European […]
EU budget for 2023: Council and Parliament reach agreement
The Council and the European Parliament have this week reached an agreement on the EU budget for 2023 that places particular emphasis on the EU’s main strategic priorities. Total commitments are set at €186.6 billion. This is an increase of 1.1% compared to the 2022 budget as amended. €0.4 billion have been kept available under […]
Parliament wants to clamp down on foreign public subsidies
Parliament is set to approve rules to counteract market-distorting foreign subsidies to companies operating in the EU. Government financing of enterprises has been on the rise worldwide, in particular because of China’s growing role in the global economy. Foreign subsidies can have a distortive effect on competitive markets. Parliament wants the European Commission to have […]
European Health Union: building a stronger EU health response
Today, the Council has adopted the final building blocks of the European Health Union: the Regulation on Serious cross-border health threats, the Regulation on the extended mandate of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the Emergency Framework Regulation to provide extra powers to the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA). These new rules complete […]
The NEET rate within the EU and its Member States 2021
Today young people are changing jobs more frequently and it takes a longer time to get established on the labour market. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the transition from education to work is smooth and also highlight the risks of being neither in employment nor in education or training. There are risks, […]
Breaches of EU values: how the EU can act
The EU has tools to protect its values and budget when there is a risk of a breach from a member state. Find out how these mechanisms work. The European Union is based on common values that bind countries and people together. These values are set out at the very start of the Treaty on European […]
Commission welcomes Joint Statement to provide affordable, accessible and transparent remittance services to Ukraine
The European Commission has welcomed a Joint Statement by EU and Ukrainian financial institutions to provide access to affordable, accessible and transparent remittance services to Ukraine. Nowadays, remittances from Ukrainians in the EU are a vital way of providing means of subsistence to their families and relatives at home. In the face of the growing […]