The European Commission has fined Nike €12.5 million for banning traders from selling licensed merchandise to other countries within the EEA. This restriction concerned merchandising products of some of Europe’s best-known football clubs and federations, for which Nike held the licence. Licensed merchandising products are extremely varied (e.g. mugs, bags, bedsheets, stationery, toys) but all […]
Brexit: European Council adopts decision extending the period under Article 50
The European Council (Article 50) has adopted a decision formalising the political agreement reached on 21 March 2019 on extending the period under Article 50. In accordance with the treaties, the decision was taken in agreement with the United Kingdom. Such an agreement was set out in a letter from the Permanent Representative of the […]
Brexit: Railway safety and connectivity with the UK
The EU is ensuring continuity of train services between the EU (France and Ireland) and the United Kingdom in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal. The Council today adopted a regulation on a temporary extension of the validity of certain authorisations, certificates and licences that are needed to run the […]
Epigenetic therapy! Switching off your own cancer genes
Cancer, particularly acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), is aggressive and also resistant to anti-cancer therapy, resulting in poor patient outcomes. Understanding how genes can be switched on and off without affecting their DNA sequence is paramount for the development of new anti-cancer therapies. AML is characterised by the abnormal proliferation of immature myeloid cells. The standard […]
€2 billion to fast forward the creation of the European Innovation Council
Ahead of the 21-22 March European Council discussion on innovation, industry and competitiveness, the Commission takes decisive steps to set up a European Innovation Council. Global competition is intensifying and Europe needs to deepen its innovation and risk-taking capability to compete on a market increasingly defined by new technologies. That is why the Juncker […]
European Media Literacy Week
The European Media Literacy Week is a new initiative by the European Commission to underline the societal importance of media literacy and promote media literacy initiatives and projects across the EU. From 18 to 22 March 2019, various events around the topic of media literacy will take place in Brussels and in Member States. A […]
MEPs call for EU Magnitsky Act to impose sanctions on human rights abusers
Last week, MEPs backed a resolution calling for new EU human rights sanctions to punish state and non-state actors responsible for gross violations of human rights. In a resolution adopted on Thursday, the European Parliament calls for a new sanctions regime to be established at EU level to impose asset freezes and visa bans on […]
European Commission calls on national political parties to join efforts to ensure free and fair elections in Europe
In September 2018, as part of the State of the Union, President Juncker proposed measures to bolster European democracy and protect free and fair elections in Europe. Ahead of the European elections, Commissioner Vera Jourová has written to national political parties calling on them to ensure transparency of political advertising, to be ready to face cyberattacks and to respect […]
EU report: Stepping up bilateral cooperation with the perspective of concluding a new comprehensive EU-Azerbaijan agreement
Over the last year, EU-Azerbaijan cooperation has intensified: Partnership Priorities were endorsed; high-level security and transport dialogues launched; improvements to human rights and fundamental freedoms sought. Concluding a new comprehensive bilateral agreement remains a top priority. The EU report published today sets out the state of play of developments in Azerbaijan since the last meeting of the Cooperation […]