The European Commission has approved the inclusion of ‘Río Negro’ wines in the Register of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Rio Negro” wines are white and red wines produced in the province of Guadalajara in Spain. They are known for their high aromatic intensity: the whites are dominated by citrus, floral and fruity series, with […]
A provisional agreement on new rules for driving licences
Last March 25th, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on the update of the driving licence directive. This update of the directive will have an important impact on the issuing of driving permits throughout the EU, updating the minimum requirements related to fitness of drivers across the EU, harmonising rules […]
New online debate on the Citizens’ Engagement Platform
Building on the Youth Policy Dialogues of the first 100 days of the new mandate, the Commission is now launching a new online debate on the Citizens’ Engagement Platform. This brings the most prominent themes raised by young people into an open, EU-wide discussion. Youth Policy Dialogues are an annual initiative that allow young people to engage directly […]
Commission approves €5 billion German State aid scheme to help industries decarbonise production processes
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €5 billion German scheme to help companies subject to the EU Emission Trading Scheme (‘ETS’) decarbonise their production processes. The scheme contributes to the achievement of Germany’s energy and climate targets as well as of the EU’s sustainable prosperity and competitiveness objectives. The German scheme The scheme […]
European citizens want the EU to protect them and to act as one
The European Parliament’s Winter 2025 Eurobarometer survey shows historic levels of approval for EU membership, linked to peace and security. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said: “Two thirds of Europeans want the EU to play a greater role in protecting them. This is a clear call to action, to which we will respond. Europe needs […]
Commission finds that arbitration award ordering Spain to pay a compensation is illegal and incompatible State aid
The European Commission has concluded that an arbitration award, in which Spain is ordered to pay compensation to Antin for the modification of a renewable electricity support measure, constitutes illegal State aid. In the decision, the Commission instructs Spain not to pay any compensation based on the arbitration award. The decision also requires Spain to […]
Council adopts regulation on financial benchmarks to ease burden on SMEs
The Council adopted on 24 March a regulation on financial benchmarks, which aims to cut red tape for EU companies, in particular for SMEs. Benchmarks are generally used by companies and investors in the EU as a reference in their financial instruments or contracts. This Regulation amends a 2016 Regulation as regards the scope of […]
Continuous interoperability and data exchange in the energy sector
The INTERSTORE team presents a new framework to accelerate the integration of data spaces in the energy industry. A framework for energy data spaces developed within the EU-funded INTERSTORE project is expected to play a key role in accelerating the integration of data spaces within the energy sector. The framework is described in a recent […]
Conference addressing the housing crisis in the European Union
On 24 March, Parliament’s Special Committee on the Housing Crisis hosted a conference with the Commission to discuss ways to ensure EU citizens can access affordable housing. The conference, organised jointly with the European Commission, addressed the current housing crisis and explore measures that could be taken at EU level to tackle it. MEPs and […]