In 2023, the EU exported 8.5 million tonnes of recyclable products (paper, plastic and glass) to extra-EU countries, a 34% increase from 2022 (6.4 million tonnes), while imports dropped by 19% to 3.2 million tonnes, down from 4.0 million tonnes in 2022.
The European Council adopted the Strategic Agenda for the European Union 2024 – 2029. Get an insight into the strategy set out by the European heads of state or government.
The 10th Energy Infrastructure Forum kicks off today in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the presence of Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, who delivered a speech during the high-level opening session.
Committed to common values and interests and in line with European Council Conclusions and a Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine, the EU and its Member States will contribute, for the long term and together with partners, to security commitments to Ukraine, which will help Ukraine to defend itself, resist destabilisation efforts and deter acts of aggression in the future.
At the EU Justice Council meeting in Luxembourg, justice ministers addressed the fight against impunity in the context of Russia’s war of aggression and the implementation of the EU anti-racism action plan.
In the face of increasingly fierce international competition, the act is intended to support key industries in Europe for the purposes of strengthening their competitiveness and mitigating unilateral reliance on imports, thereby reducing the risk of unstable supply chains and achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal.
The “Net-Zero industry Act”, already informally agreed upon with the Council, sets a target for Europe to produce 40% of its annual deployment needs in net-zero technologies by 2030, based on National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and to capture 15% of the global market value for these technologies.
Following several revelations of Kremlin-backed attempts to interfere with and undermine European democratic processes, MEPs adopted on Thursday a resolution firmly denouncing such efforts: Any such tactics, they say, must have consequences.
The key decisions taken by the Commission are presented below and grouped by policy area. The Commission is also closing 76 cases in which the issues with the Member States concerned have been solved without the Commission needing to pursue the procedure further.
The disbursement follows a positive assessment by the EU Commission of agreed policy conditions linked to reforms in the area of judiciary, anti-money laundering, public finance management, business environment and agriculture, as well as reporting requirements to ensure the legal and efficient use of the EU funds.
The EU Parliament approved with 374 votes against 235 and 19 abstentions a new “due diligence” directive. The law requires firms and their upstream and downstream partners, including supply, production and distribution, to prevent slavery, child labour, labour exploitation, biodiversity loss, pollution, or destruction of natural heritage.
The new rules, adopted with 554 votes in favour, 56 votes against and 24 abstentions, aim to ensure that platform workers have their employment status classified correctly and to correct bogus self-employment. They also regulate, for the first time ever in the EU, the use of algorithms in the workplace.
New rules, already agreed on with member states, aim to ensure that national business registers contain reliable information about companies to be used in cross-border situations and establishes EU Company Certificate and digital EU power of attorney to reduce formalities.
To eliminate bottlenecks and missing transport links, MEPs backed an update of the EU’s plan to build a network of railways, roads, inland waterways and short sea shipping routes connected through ports and terminals across the EU.
The new rules oblige national authorities to reply to requests from another EU country without delay, and no later than two months after it has gathered the necessary information.
A new resolution on the state of EU values in Hungary pinpoints several concerns, especially given the upcoming elections and the Hungarian Presidency of the Council.
The EU Parliament has adopted a package of laws strengthening the EU’s toolkit to fight money-laundering and terrorist financing. The new laws ensure that people with a legitimate interest get immediate, unfiltered, and free access to beneficial ownership information held in national registries and at EU level.
Today, the EU Commission has sent a request for information (RFI) to Temu requesting the platform to provide detailed information and internal documents on the mitigation measures taken against the presence and reappearance of traders selling illegal products on its online marketplace.
EUREGIONSWEEK La Semaine européenne des régions et des villes est sur le point de commencer :
Brussels, 10 October 2022 My dear Kaja, dear Prime Minister Kallas, Prime Minister Ngirente,
Brussels, 7 October 2022 On 25 March 2022, President von der Leyen and President Biden announced that
Geneva, 7 October 2022 The historical record is a bit fuzzy, but we seem to be nearing the
The Hague, 7 October 2022 This week, Europol confirmed its position as the centre of
4 October 2022 CEPOL and eu-LISA jointly organised a course on “Interoperability of the EU
Brussels, 5 October 2022 The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a
Strasbourg, 4 October 2022 MEPs adopted a resolution on Tuesday calling for a better use
Strasbourg, 4 October 2022 The EU “Single Window” for customs aims to facilitate trade, reduce
Strasbourg, 4 October 2022 On Thursday, the EP’s spyware inquiry committee will organise a debate
At the EU Justice Council meeting in Luxembourg, justice ministers addressed the fight against impunity in the context of Russia’s war of aggression and the implementation of the EU anti-racism action plan.
Today, Frontex and Europol took another step towards strengthening the cooperation between the two agencies. Frontex’s Executive Director Hans Leijtens and the Executive Director of Europol Catherine De Bolle signed a joint statement, which will further increase the safety and security of the European Union.
The mandates of both EU agencies have been significantly enhanced in recent years, opening new possibilities to work together, particularly in the fields of migrant smuggling and human trafficking.
“Based on the latest information received from Member States – and I stress again these figures keep evolving on a daily basis, not all Member States have already sent their inputs, but with the overall picture at that moment – I can say that, since last March until now – the beginning of this year -, we have already delivered 330,000 ammunition rounds. So, [we have reached around] one third of the objective, mainly taken from our stockpiles, from existing stocks. By March – today – I expect this figure will be increased by around 200,000 more, thus reaching 524,000. It is a little bit more – [so] 52% of the objective. This comes from destocking, and individual and joint procurement. But this is a work in progress. The whole machinery here at the European defence industry is working and Member States are passing commands” – EU HR Josep Borrell
“First and foremost, the agreement on the mid-term revision of our Multiannual Financial Framework. At our last meeting in December, 26 Leaders firmly supported a balanced negotiating box which took into account a clear set of main priorities – support for Ukraine, management of migration and its external dimension, support for the Western Balkans and our response to natural disasters” – European Council President Charles Michel.
On the other hand, as highlighted by the latest UN Global Study on Homicide, eight of the ten countries with the highest murder rates worldwide are in Latin America or the Caribbean. Unfortunately, the trend is worsening. For instance, Costa Rica, often referred to as the ‘Switzerland of Central America,’ used to report annual murder rates in single digits; it now experiences high levels of violence. Similarly, Ecuador has seen its murder rate increase by 95% between 2021 and 2022.
At a stakeholder meeting on Crafting the Transatlantic Green Marketplace, which takes place on 31 January, stakeholders will present their views and proposals on how to make transatlantic supply chains stronger, more sustainable and more resilient. A series of workshops will take place to boost the transatlantic green marketplace and to promote good quality jobs for the green transition, as well as workshops on the solar supply chain, permanent magnets and investment screening.
The European Union is very concerned by recent developments in Venezuela and the Supreme Court’s ratification of the disqualification of opposition politicians Maria Corina Machado and Henrique Capriles from the upcoming presidential elections. Decisions intended to prevent members of the opposition from exercising their core political rights can only undermine democracy and the rule of law.
The EU calls for the full implementation of the Barbados Agreement and the continuation of an inclusive dialogue process that can lead to fair and competitive elections in 2024.
During their meeting, HR/VP Borrell welcomed the Prime Minister’s commitment to deliver on EU accession related reforms and reiterated the EU’s support to the country in this regard. He also underlined the importance of meeting the interim benchmarks of Chapters 23 and 24, as no further chapters will be provisionally closed before this milestone is reached and encouraged the Prime Minister to continue the governments work in this regard.
“In the face of this ongoing devastating war, the people of Ukraine are demonstrating impressive resolve and resilience. And the EU, like the US, has made it clear that Ukraine is our top priority” – EU Commissioner Breton.
The European Union and its Member States express solidarity with Australia on the impact of malicious cyber activities against their healthcare sector, notably against a major health service provider, Medibank.
EU Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis announced that European and international financial institutions present at the Forum will commit €10 billion in support and investments towards sustainable transport connectivity in Central Asia.
“The new Mattei Plan comes as an important contribution to this new phase of our collaboration, and it comes complementary to our European Global Gateway. Global Gateway, as you know, is the EUR 150 billion investment plan for Africa. This is, plain and simple, Team Europe at work” – Ursula von der Leyen.
The High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell held a phone call yesterday, 28 January, with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss the situation in the Middle East, including very serious allegations against a number of UNRWA staff members.
The EU Commission has approved the acquisition of joint control of NTS Middle East of the United Arab Emirates by ADNOC Drilling Company, Alpha Dhabi Holding, both of the United Arab Emirates, and Tubacex of Spain. The transaction relates primarily to the provision of specialised machining services to the oil and gas sector.
ACER and the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) publish a paper reviewing the national treatment of anticipatory investments and proposing ways to facilitate the necessary grid enforcement to meet the EU’s climate and energy targets.
The Biden-Harris Administration has released the 2nd U.S. National Action Plan (NAP) on Responsible Business Conduct. The plan shall reflect a commitment to strengthen and improve respect for human rights and labor rights, expand use of green energy, counter corruption, protect human rights defenders, advance gender equity and equality, and promote rights-respecting use of technology.
EU environment ministers held policy debates on two Commission proposals: the targeted revision of the waste framework directive and the regulation on preventing pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution. Ministers also exchanged views on the Commission communication on the 2040 climate target.
Führende deutsche Politiker eröffneten gemeinsam mit Northvolt-Führungskräften und Vertretern lokaler Kommunen den Bau der Batterie-Gigafabrik Northvolt Drei. Bundeskanzler Scholz ordnete den Bau in die Energiewende Deutschlands und Europas ein.
The EU Council today formally adopted the recommendation that encourages member states to continue reducing their gas consumption until 31 March 2025.
The development measures of the employment and economic development services (TE services), the Finnish Immigration Service and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment reduced the processing time of residence permits for employed persons to an average of 41 days in February 2024 from the previous year’s figure of 77 days. A faster processing time for favourable decisions is particularly significant. In February 2024, the average processing time was 23 days for first permits and 21 days for extended permits.
The European Council discussed the challenges facing agriculture and the concerns raised by farmers. EU leaders noted that the EU’s own agricultural production is key to food security and to the Common Agricultural Policy. Farmers must have a stable and predictable framework. EU leaders called for rapid action to reduce the administrative burden for farmers and to ensure a fair income for farmers by strengthening farmers’ position in the food supply chain. They discussed the need to help Ukraine export grain outside the EU so that Ukraine can get much-needed revenue without affecting the sales of EU farmers.
The regulation bans the shipments of all waste destined for disposal within the EU, except if agreed and authorised under the prior written notification and consent procedure (‘PIC’). This procedure requires notifiers within the EU and exporters to third countries to notify and receive written confirmation from the countries of dispatch, destination and transit prior to export. It includes specific timelines and deadlines to ensure an efficient process.
Today, Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, and Lee Jong Ho, Korean Minister for Science and Information and Communication Technology concluded negotiations on Korea’s association, marking a significant milestone in our commitment to foster mutual collaboration in research and innovation. The signing of the Association Agreement is expected to take place in the second half of 2024, pending the completion of all necessary ratification procedures on both sides. This will enable Korea’s participation in Horizon Europe as of 2025.
“The SMR Alliance represents a golden opportunity to foster this collaboration and accelerate deployment of the technology. And I can assure you that the Commission is invested in this partnership and will do its utmost to ensure it thrives now and in the next decade” – EU Commissioner Simson
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