The European Commission decided to refer Bulgaria, Spain, Hungary, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to transpose the Directive on Non-Performing Loans (Directive(EU) 2021/2167). The Directive aims to foster the development of a well-functioning secondary market for non-performing loans by establishing rules for the authorisation and supervision of credit purchasers and servicers. […]
ELA stops new labour abuse case in Budapest
Workers from Romania were exploited at a waste processing plant in Budapest. They received meagre or no pay and lived in inhumane conditions. These violations were detected during inspections, including at an ELA-supported joint inspection between the Hungarian and Romanian Labour inspectorates in Budapest in December 2023. Eurojust, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice […]
European Commission approves up to €1 billion for fourth major project of common European interest in the health sector
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, the first Important Project of Common European Interest (‘IPCEI’) to support research, innovation and the first industrial deployment of healthcare products, as well as innovative production processes of pharmaceuticals. This IPCEI will notably contribute to the European Health Union‘s objectives by delivering innovations addressing diseases for […]
Decline in EU livestock population in 2023
In 2023, the EU‘s livestock populations were lower than a year earlier. Compared with 2022, the pig and bovine populations decreased by 1%, while sheep declined by 3%, and goats by 5%. In 2023, the EU had 133 million pigs, 74 million bovine animals, 58 million sheep, and 11 million goats. This information comes from provisional data […]
European Commission publishes analysis on social convergence in Spain in the context of the European Semester
The Commission has published a detailed country analysis on employment, skills and social inclusion for Spain and six other Member States (Bulgaria, Estonia, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary and Romania), detailing the results of the social convergence framework. This more detailed analysis is based on the findings of the Joint Employment Report 2024, which includes the first […]
CJEU clarifies: the supervisory authority of a Member State may order the erasure of unlawfully processed data even in the absence of a prior request by the data subject
Such erasure may cover data collected from that person and data originating from another source. In 2020, the municipal administration of Újpest (Hungary) decided to provide financial support to persons who had been made vulnerable by the COVID-19 pandemic. To that end, it asked the Hungarian State Treasury and the government office of the fourth […]
Hungary: European Parliament warns of threat to EU values, institutions and funds
Parliament condemns the deliberate, continuous and systematic efforts of the Hungarian government to undermine the EU’s founding values. In a resolution adopted on Thursday with 345 votes for, 104 against and 29 abstentions, MEPs express strong concern about the further erosion of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary, in particular through the recently […]
MEPs denounce deliberate and systematic efforts to undermine EU values
In its latest resolution, Parliament raises serious concerns over developments in Hungary, in light of the upcoming Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Following a plenary debate on Wednesday on the situation of rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary and frozen EU funds, the text was adopted on Thursday (442 for, […]
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 […]