The EU Commission has approved a €1.2 billion Polish scheme to support investments in electricity storage facilities to foster the transition to a net-zero economy. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (‘TCTF’).
With 484 votes for, 121 against and 20 abstentions, MEPs adopted their position on compulsory licensing making the EU ready for future crises by ensuring availability of relevant products, such as vaccines or chips, in emergency situations. The EU should now be able to issue a special permission with specified scope, territorial coverage and duration for the use of patent without authorisation of the rights-holder in cross-border emergencies. Its aim
MEPs support creation of the European legal status for associations to facilitate their cross-border mobility, activities and access to funding.
With 490 votes for, 69 against and 64 abstentions, MEPs approved draft rules on the new legal form of the European cross-border association (ECBA) to be recognized across the EU. The aim of the draft law is to overcome diverging national rules and save 770 million euro annually on
The European Parliament backed today more effective EU rules for combined work and residence permits for third-country nationals. The update of the Single permit directive, adopted in 2011, which established a single administrative procedure for delivering a permit to third-country nationals wishing to live and work in an EU country, and a common set of rights for third-country workers, was adopted today with 465 votes in favour, 122 against and
The new legislation on seizing criminal assets would ensure fast and efficient freezing and confiscation everywhere in the EU and improve the rights of victims in these processes. The European Parliament has voted to approve the result from inter-institutional negotiations on new legislation to boost the freezing and confiscation of criminal assets. The agreement was adopted with 598 votes in favour, 19 against, and 7 abstentions.
The draft rules aim to decrease the number of unsafe toys sold in the EU single market and better protect children from toy-related risks.
On Wednesday, Parliament approved its position on revamped EU rules on toy safety with 603 votes in favour, 5 against and 15 abstentions. The text responds to a number of new challenges, mainly stemming from digital toys and online shopping, and converts the existing directive
To prevent reckless driving while abroad, the updated rules will expand the list of traffic offences committed by non-resident drivers that trigger cross-border assistance possibly resulting in a fine for dangerous drivers.
The Commission welcomes the Council’s decision authorising the European Union to enter into negotiations with Switzerland on a broad package of bilateral measures, together with the corresponding negotiating directives.
This follows the Commission’s recommendation for a mandate, presented on 20 December 2023, based on the EU-Swiss Common Understanding which was reached after 18 months of intensive exploratory talks. The Swiss Federal Council adopted its mandate to launch negotiations with
The Council decided today to prolong the restrictive measures targeting those responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for another six months, until 15 September 2024. The existing restrictive measures provide for travel restrictions for natural persons, the freezing of assets, and a ban on making funds or other economic resources available to the listed individuals and entities. Sanctions will continue to apply to
MEPs have approved new rules to harmonise the enforcement of EU sanctions across member states.
With 543 votes in favour, 45 against, and 27 abstentions, the European Parliament has adopted a directive, agreed with member states, on criminalising the violation and circumvention of EU sanctions. It will introduce a common definition of, and minimum penalties for, violations. EU sanctions can consist of freezing funds and assets (including crypto-assets), travel
On Tuesday, Parliament gave its consent to the Council decision inviting member states to ratify the International Labour Organisation’s Violence and Harassment Convention. Across the world, more than one in five people in employment has experienced violence and harassment at work, whether physical, psychological, or sexual. Women are disproportionately affected: one in three women in the EU has experienced a form of physical and/or sexual violence, of which about a
On Tuesday, MEPs adopted new EU consumer-protection rules to better respond to increased online shopping, emerging technologies and the transition to a circular economy. EU consumers will soon have easier access to compensation for damage caused by defective products. MEPs adopted revamped rules previously agreed on with EU governments on 14 December 2023, with 543 votes in favour, 6 against and 58 abstentions.
On Tuesday, Parliament approved new cyber resilience standards to protect all digital products in the EU from cyber threats. The regulation, already agreed with Council in December 2023, aims to ensure that products with digital features are secure to use, resilient against cyber threats and provide enough information about their security properties. Important and critical products will be put into different lists based on their criticality and the level of
On Tuesday, MEPs adopted plans, already agreed upon with Council, to help reduce energy consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions from the buildings sector. The proposed revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive aims to progressively reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption in the EU building sector, and make it climate neutral by 2050. It also aims to have more worst-performing buildings renovated and improve information-sharing on energy performance.
Parliament has adopted its position on establishing a verification and pre-approval system for environmental marketing claims to protect citizens from misleading ads. The green claims directive would oblige companies to submit evidence about their environmental marketing claims before advertising products as “biodegradable”, “less polluting”, “water saving” or having “bio based content”. EU countries would have to assign verifiers to pre-approve the use of such claims, to protect buyers from unfounded
Today, the Commission has endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Estonia’s second payment request for €122.3 (net of pre-financing) million under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU. Following its assessment of the payment request submitted by Estonia on 18 December 2023, the Commission has preliminarily concluded that Estonia has satisfactorily completed the 15 milestones and 3 targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision for the third
Next year, Parliament is scheduled to hold 15 plenary sessions, of which 12 are four-day sessions in Strasbourg, two are two-day sessions in Brussels, and a single one-day session commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day in Brussels.
Europol has supported the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional) and the Polish Border Guard (Straż Graniczna) in an operation targeting a criminal organisation trafficking human beings for the purposes of sexual and labour exploitation in Spain. The investigation has resulted in 17 arrests and the safeguarding of 13 victims. Europol has supported the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional) and the Polish Border Guard (Straż Graniczna) in an operation targeting a
By enshrining women’s right to abortion in the French Constitution, which is a first in the world, France has sent an unprecedented signal of support for women’s rights and invites other countries to do the same. We are continuing our efforts to ensure that this right is also enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as President Macron has proposed. Amid a backsliding of women and girls’ rights across
While the economy entered 2024 on a weak footing, the conditions for an acceleration of economic activity in the euro area in 2025 appear to be in place based on the Commission winter forecast. The labour market remains strong. Inflation is on a declining path and is expected to be close to the ECB target in 2025, while the effects of tighter monetary policy work their way through the economy.
The Council today adopted a new regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising, aimed at countering information manipulation and foreign interference in elections. The regulation will make it easy for citizens to recognise political advertisements, understand who is behind them and know whether they have received a targeted advertisement, so that they are better placed to make informed choices. It will also ensure that political advertising takes place
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