The President of the EU Commission and the UK Prime Minister agreed today to strengthen the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. They agreed on shared challenges including the altered strategic context for the wider continent notably resulting from Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton and Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Digitalisation Dumitru Alaiba have yesterday afternoon signed an association agreement for the Digital Europe Programme with Moldova. Following the signatures, and upon the completion of the related ratification processes, the association agreement will enter into retroactive effect as of 1 January 2024. Businesses, public administrations and other eligible organisations in Moldova will be
Today’s decision follows an in-depth investigation of the proposed transaction. Orange is a full mobile network operator while MásMóvil is a hybrid mobile network operator. MásMóvil relies on its own mobile network, which does not cover the entire Spanish territory, and on a national roaming agreement with Orange to provide retail mobile services. There are two other mobile network operators active in Spain (Telefónica and Vodafone). There are also several
The Council adopted changes to the EU’s trading rules, which will give investors a better access to the market data necessary to invest in financial instruments and increase the global competitiveness of the EU’s capital markets and ensure a level playing field.
The changes concern the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) which together regulate investment services and financial markets activities
EU law precludes national legislation which allows an employer not to state the reasons for the termination of a fixed-term employment contract with a notice period although it is required to do so when it terminates an employment contract of indefinite duration. In such a situation, a worker employed for a fixed term is deprived of important information for assessing whether his or her dismissal is unjustified and, where appropriate,
Concerning Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands, ever since October 2022, deficiencies in the enforcement of economic substance requirements had been identified in both of these jurisdictions by the OECD Forum of Harmful Tax Practices (FHTP). In the FHTP’s most recent assessment, the recommendations to both jurisdictions to remedy these deficiencies were converted from “hard” to “soft” recommendations, which allowed the Code of Conduct Group to consider these jurisdictions compliant
Today, the Council agreed on the final shape of a directive to strengthen the role of equality bodies across the EU in combatting discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. The European Parliament will now be asked to give its consent. Equality bodies have been established across the EU to promote equal treatment, combat discrimination and offer assistance to victims. It
In a coordinated action supported by Eurojust and Europol, judicial and law enforcement authorities from 10 different countries have severely disrupted LockBit, the world’s most active ransomware operation. Two members of the ransomware team have been arrested in Poland and Ukraine. In addition, law enforcement has compromised LockBit’s primary platform and other enabling infrastructure. This includes the takedown of 34 servers in the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, France, Switzerland, Australia, the
EU Commission EVP Vestager at a Renew Europe event at the European Parliament: “There are questions around input neutrality and the influence such systems could have on our democracies. A Large Language Model is only as good as the inputs it receives, and for this there must always be a discretionary element. Do we really want our opinion-making to be reliant on AI systems that are under the control –
Today, the Commission has endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Czechia’s second payment request for €702 million under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU. Following its assessment of the payment request, submitted on 6 December 2023, the Commission has preliminarily concluded that Czechia has satisfactorily completed the 28 milestones and targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision for the second and third instalments.
The opening of formal proceedings empowers the Commission to take further enforcement steps, such as interim measures, and non-compliance decisions. The Commission is also empowered to accept any commitment made by TikTok to remedy on the matters subject to the proceeding. TikTok was designated as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) on 25 April 2023 under the EU’s Digital Services Act, following its declaration of having 135.9 million monthly active
As a result of the decision, certain categories of humanitarian actors, including those outlined in the UN Security Council resolution 2664 (2022), as well as organisations and agencies certified as humanitarian partners of the EU or its member states and member states’ specialised agencies can engage in transactions with listed individuals and entities without any prior authorisation, if the purpose is to deliver humanitarian assistance or to support other activities
Europol initiated this cooperation with Ecuador, one of the main transit hubs for cocaine shipments to the EU. The common efforts to combat these large-scale criminal activities resulted in the signature of a Working Arrangement between Europol and Ecuador in October 2023. This new framework enhances the cooperation between law enforcement authorities from EU Member States and their Ecuadorian counterparts in the joint fight against multinational drug cartels.
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €4 billion German scheme made available in part through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (‘RRF’) to help companies, which are subject to the EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS), decarbonise their industrial production processes. The measure contributes to achieving Germany’s climate and energy targets, as well as the EU’s strategic objectives of the European Green Deal.
On 17 February, the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU’s landmark rulebook that aims to make the online environment safer, fairer and more transparent, starts applying to all online intermediaries in the EU.
Under the DSA, EU users are better protected against illegal goods and content and have their rights upheld on online platforms where they connect with other users, share information, or buy products.
France notified the Commission of its plans to support operators in the forestry sector in the prevention and restoration of damage to forests. The scheme will cover damage to forests resulting from forest fires, natural disasters, adverse climatic events, plant pests, infestations, catastrophic events and climate change-related events, in the period between 2023 and 2029. The scheme forms part of the forestry renewal plan of the France 2030 investment plan.
The Commission welcomes the political agreement reached last night between the European Parliament and the Council on the amendment of Directive 2005/35/EC on ship-source pollution and on the introduction of penalties for pollution offences. The co-legislators agreed to align the Directive with the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol) and to extend the scope of the directive to cover more types of polluting substances discharged into
The global needs entail new demands to ensure a long-term perspective, transparency and effectiveness in Swedish development assistance. The Government therefore presents this reform agenda for development assistance that replaces the Policy framework for Swedish development cooperation and humanitarian assistance (Govt communication 2016/17:60) and the Strategy for multilateral development policy (UD2017/21055/FN).
Different means will be used to better identify and detect exploitation and trafficking in human beings and to prevent the recurrence of such abuses. Work-based residence permits will be better monitored both before and after their issuance so that discrepancies in pay, for example, can be detected more effectively. The line between entrepreneurship and employment relationship will be clarified and the position of victims will be improved.
From 1 April 2024, collection service providers will have to meet quality requirements and will be required to register. With these requirements and the registration obligation from the Collection Services Quality Act, the industry will be regulated in the Netherlands for the first time. This will better protect people in debt and creditors will be better informed about what collection service providers can do for them. The Act should also
To support Estonia in its ongoing investigation on the damage of the Balticconnector gas pipeline on 8 October 2023, the European Commission decided to grant close to €99,000 to the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board and the Estonian Navy. The funding from the Internal Security Fund (ISF) complements the emergency support already awarded to Finland in December 2023. Following sabotage on the Nord Stream pipeline, the Commission has accelerated
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