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RRF: Delivering ambitious reforms

Unprecedented in its scale and ambition, the RRF was established in February 2021 and has the two-fold objective of helping Member States to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as bolstering their resilience and making our economies and societies greener, more digital and more competitive. In short, fit for the future. It has also been vital in addressing urgent challenges, such as the knock-on impact of Russia’s war of

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21/02/2024

EU Commission: Expert report proposes cohesion policy enhancements

Set up by Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira, the Group – which is independent from the Commission – looked at ways to ensure that Cohesion Policy continues to support growth and recovery across Europe’s regions, all the while delivering on the green and digital transition and helping regions adjust to ongoing demographic, industrial, and geopolitical challenges.
The Report is the outcome of intense work carried out by

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20/02/2024

Finland: Government to tackle labour exploitation with a broad action plan

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.

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15/02/2024

Finland launches the 2024 European Heritage Days with a social media campaign 

The annual theme of the European Heritage Days 2024 leads to fascinating routes and interesting networks. Finland will start celebrating the European Heritage Days already in February with the campaign Enchanting Routes. Come along and share your stories along your favorite routes. The campaign in Finland is carried out by the Ministry of the Environment, the Finnish Heritage Agency and the Finnish Local Heritage Federation in cooperation with the route

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15/02/2024

Netherlands: Rules for collection services as of 1 April

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

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15/02/2024

InvestEU supports EIB investment to make Italian road infrastructure safer and more resilient 

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

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15/02/2024

MEPs: EU Parliament open to find compromise on the revision of social security coordination

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

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15/02/2024

Netherlands Ministry addresses farmer protests

A line has been crossed: these are not demonstrations, these are not protests, they are illegal actions, or even criminal activities which those involved should not be allowed to get away with. The Public Prosecution Service and the police will be responding forcefully, together with the competent authority and this will include the option of issuing fines and retrospective prosecution. The identities of the perpetrators will also be established and

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13/02/2024

EU Commission paves the way for financial support on Holocaust remembrance

This week, the European Commission is supporting with €3 million the remembrance of the Holocaust through the creation of a ‘European Network of Places where the Holocaust happened’. The network will make a major long-term contribution to ensure the memory of the victims of the Holocaust is remembered, in line with historic factual truths. It will support the protection and preservation of Holocaust sites and raise awareness among national and

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09/02/2024

Eurobarometer survey shows strong and steady support for EU humanitarian action

The results of a new Eurobarometer survey show clear support for EU humanitarian action across the 27 Member States, with 91% of respondents stating that it is important that the EU funds humanitarian aid activities. The proportion of those who think so has remained unchanged since December 2020 and has been the highest since the first survey conducted in 2010, when it was at 79%. Survey results over the years

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09/02/2024

UNCTAD urges reforms on global debt architecture amid rising debt distress

The report advocates for a thorough re-evaluation of these factors, which encompass demographics, public health, global economic shifts, rising interest rates, geopolitical realignments, political instability, as well as the implications of sovereign debt on industrial policies in debtor states.
It proposes a five-stage life cycle for sovereign debt as a conceptual framework to analyse and improve the global debt architecture. The stages include incurring debt, issuing debt instruments, such

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08/02/2024

Sweden: Minister for EU Affairs Jessika Roswall on the Nordic cooperation

Already in 1872, formal Nordic law meetings were arranged. Legal cooperation was developed over several years, which resulted in the harmonization of laws in many fields. This cooperation has gradually become more formalized – and treaty-based. This was especially true between 1950 and 1970, when we took steps to integrate the region and to remove barriers. In particular, we made progress in the areas of free movement, a common labor

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06/02/2024

Tourist bus drivers: EU Council and Parliament strike a deal to improve working conditions

Rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods in road transport have been a topic of debate since 1969. Specific rules for passenger services were introduced by the Council in 1985, but were later abolished in 2006, and only partly re-introduced in 2009 (for international occasional passenger services). The scope of this proposal, submitted by the Commission on 24 May 2023, is limited to national and international occasional passenger services,

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30/01/2024

Main results: General Affairs Council, 29 January 2024

In the context of the General Affairs Council, the presidency will focus on protecting democracy, strengthening the rule of law and promoting free and fair European elections. It will take forward the ongoing work on enlargement. It will also encourage reflections on the next Strategic Agenda as well as on the future of Europe. The General Affairs Council will also continue to tackle a range of horizontal issues, such as

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30/01/2024
people, adult, man

EU Council adopts position to ban products made with forced labour on the EU market

The Council has today adopted its position (negotiating mandate) on the regulation prohibiting products made with forced labour on the EU market. The negotiating mandate of the Council supports the overall objective of combatting forced labour, and it introduces several improvements to the proposed text. The Council mandate clarifies the scope of the regulation by including products offered for distance sales, envisages the creation of a forced labour single portal,

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26/01/2024

MEPs welcome new mechanism removing cross-border obstacles

MEPs of the Regional Development Committee discussed new tool proposed by the European Commission to remove barriers in cross-border context. MEPs of the Regional Development Committee welcomed Commission´s proposal to tackle legal and administrative obstacles in Europe´s cross-border regions following up on their BridgeEU legislative initiative adopted last September.

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23/01/2024

EP: Civil Liberties Committee confirms deal on improved single residence and work permit rules

The Single permit directive, dating from 2011, establishes 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 based on the principle of equal treatment with nationals. The committee vote today confirms the outcome of negotiations reached between the Parliament and Council in December 2023.

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23/01/2024
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