On Wednesday, the Conference of Presidents (EP President and leaders of political groups) agreed on the calendar for the hearings of the Commissioners-designate. The hearings will start on 4 November and take place until 12 November.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a €1.2 billion loan to Autostrade per l’Italia SpA (ASPI). €800 million of this investment is backed by the InvestEU programme. The key objectives of the financing include modernising and upgrading the nearly 3,000 km of Italian motorways managed by ASPI to improve safety and durability. This will include for instance modernising road infrastructure and installing new electric vehicle charging stations, as well
The Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a third Important Project of Common European Interest (‘IPCEI’) to support hydrogen infrastructure. This IPCEI is expected to boost the supply of renewable hydrogen, thereby reducing dependency on natural gas and helping to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU Plan. The project, called “IPCEI Hy2Infra”, was jointly prepared and notified by seven Member States: France, Germany,
On the basis of a derogation from data protection rules in the electronic communications sectors that was adopted in 2021, providers of so-called number-independent interpersonal communications services (e.g. messaging services) are permitted to use specific technologies for the processing of personal and other data to detect online child sexual abuse on their services, to report and to remove it.
This derogation, which the Council and the European Parliament agreed
The reform of social security coordination has seen 18 trilogues, 12 Presidencies and two provisional agreements. Council has failed twice to find a majority on the agreed provisional agreements, in 2019 and 2021, despite significant concessions made by MEPs to facilitate a compromise. The reluctance of the Belgian Presidency to continue the efforts by the Spanish Presidency to find an overall compromise is disappointing. Parliament cannot accept a split but
Switzerland wants to play an even greater role in the investigation and prosecution of international crimes. Corinne Cicéron Bühler, Switzerland’s ambassador to the Netherlands, signed the Ljubljana-The Hague Convention in The Hague on 14 February. It obliges states to provide mutual legal assistance in the investigation and prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Convention closes a loophole in international criminal law to prevent the perpetrators of
The Ministry of the Interior has sent out for comments a draft proposal for introducing a border procedure. The border procedure involves swift processing of asylum seekers’ applications in the vicinity of the border.
In accordance with the Government Programme, the aim of the proposal is to introduce a border procedure with an approach that will fully exploit the scope of the Asylum Procedures Directive as required by any
EU Council has adopted its position (negotiating mandate) on the amending directive to further expand and upgrade the use of digital tools and processes in company law. The new rules will make company’s data more easily available, enhance trust and transparency in companies across Member States, create more connected public administrations and reduce red tape for companies and other stakeholders in cross-border situations. It will thereby contribute to a more
Today, the European Commission and national consumer protection authorities of 22 Member States, Norway and Iceland released the results of a screening (“sweep”) of social media posts from influencers. The sweep found that nearly all (97%) of these influencers posted commercial content but only one in five systematically indicated that their content was advertising. The objective of the sweep was to verify whether influencers disclose their advertising activities as required
EU member states’ representatives greenlight an agreement reached between the Council’s and the Parliament’s negotiators on updated fisheries measures in the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) area.
Once formally adopted, the regulation will implement into EU law new rules on management, conservation and control for the NEAFC area, as well as control measures for certain pelagic species in the North-East Atlantic agreed during coastal states consultations. The text will
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of sole control of several entities of Stork active mainly in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands (‘Stork Europe’) by Bilfinger SE (‘Bilfinger’) of Germany.
The transaction relates primarily to the provision of services for industrial equipment, including installation and maintenance. The Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given its limited impact on
To counter this threat, the EU adopted new rules, which entered into application on 7 June 2022. These rules require that terrorist content in the EU is taken down by online platforms within one hour upon receipt of a removal order issued by Member States’ authorities. This helps to counter the spread of extremist ideologies online – which is key for preventing attacks and addressing radicalisation – while safeguarding fundamental
On Wednesday, Economic and Monetary Affairs MEPs voted for more open and competitive payment services sector in the EU, with strong defenses against fraud and data breaches. MEPs’ changes to the Payment services regulation were adopted with 39 votes to 1 and 3 abstentions. The regulation should provide more harmonisation in the EU for payment and electronic money services. It applies to banks, post office giro institutions and payment institutions.
MEPs want to increase the binding waste reduction targets proposed by the Commission to at least 20% in food processing and manufacturing (instead of 10%) and to 40% per capita in retail, restaurants, food services and households (instead of 30%), in comparison to the annual average generated between 2020 and 2022. EU countries would need to ensure that these targets are achieved at national level by 31 December 2030.
The European Commission has closed four market investigations launched on 5 September 2023 under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The Commission found that Apple and Microsoft should not be designated as gatekeepers for the following core platform services: Apple’s messaging service iMessage, Microsoft’s online search engine Bing, web browser Edge and online advertising service Microsoft Advertising.
France is adopting sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers who have been guilty of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. In this regard, 28 individuals have been targeted by an administrative ban on entering French territory.
These measures come at a time when violence perpetrated by settlers against the Palestinian population has been increasing in recent months. France reaffirms its strong condemnation of this unacceptable violence. As we
Between April and October 2023, Europol coordinated the fourth edition of Operation SHIELD. Law enforcement, judicial, customs, medical and anti-doping authorities from 30 countries across 3 continents joined forces in this global effort targeting the trafficking of counterfeit and misused medicines and illicit doping substances. The operation was also supported by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), Frontex, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and
To ensure safer maritime journeys in Europe, the Council presidency and European Parliament’s negotiators reached a provisional agreement to revise the 2009 directive on the investigation of accidents in the maritime transport sector. The new legislation forms part of the so-called ‘maritime safety’ legislative package.
The European Commission officially adopted a regulation which grants a partial exemption for European farmers from the conditionality rule on land lying fallow. This follows the Commission’s proposal presented on 31 January, and discussions with Member States in committee meetings. The Regulation will enter into force tomorrow, 14 February, and will apply retroactively as of 1 January for one year – that is, until 31 December 2024.
The European Commission has concluded that the State guarantee model granted by Denmark and Sweden for the construction of the Øresund fixed rail-road link does not constitute new aid within the meaning of EU State aid rules. The Commission has also found that part of the tax support implemented by Denmark constitutes new aid that is disproportionate and therefore not compatible with the Treaty. Denmark must now recover the incompatible
The Council today adopted a decision and a regulation clarifying the obligations of Central Securities Depositaries (CSD) holding assets and reserves of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) that are immobilised as consequence of EU’s restrictive measures. After Russia launched its illegal and unjustified full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU, in coordination with international partners, decided to prohibit any transactions related to the management of reserves as
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