Photo by Kent Tupas on Unsplash The ECR Group in the European Parliament says it supports the interim verbal assessment of progress made by Ukraine and Moldova in implementing the European Commission’s recommendations on European integration and shares the hope that Georgia will stay on the same strategic course. For ECR Foreign Affairs Coordinator Anna Fotyga, the assessment delivered…
Photo by Julian Berengar Sölter on Unsplash The 43rd session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly among the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and the European Union (ACP-EU JPA) has kicked off in Brussels. The summit (24-28 June) will represent an important occasion to raise debates and put forward possible common solutions to face global crises like climate change,…
Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash Dalia Grybauskaitė, former president of Lithuania, has urged NATO and EU countries to switch into a “war mentality”. The former European commissioner for financial programming and budget, and Trustee of Friends of Europe was speaking at Friends of Europe’s Peace, Security & Defence Summit. The event took place in Brussels last Wednesday. When…
Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has presented the details of the Commission’s proposal for a new Ukraine Facility that, if adopted by the European Parliament and Council of the EU, will mobilise up to €50 billion over four years in the form of both grants and loans. The details were outlined…
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash On 22 June the Commission paid €1.5 billion under the “Macro financial Assistance” package for Ukraine, worth up to €18 billion in total. With this instrument, the EU says it seeks to help Ukraine cover its immediate funding needs, with stable, predictable and sizeable financial support in 2023. This support will help Ukraine to continue paying wages and pensions, and keep essential…
Photo by Rohan Makhecha on Unsplash The body representing the electricity sector in Europe has a new head to steer it for the coming years.Leonhard Birnbaum – CEO of E.ON – takes the reins of Eurelectric, the trade body representing the European electricity industry in Brussels. Joined by Vice Presidents Markus Rauramo – CEO of Fortum – and…
Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash The European Commission has authorised three genetically modified maize and renewed the authorisation for four genetically modified crops, three soybeans and one cotton for food and animal feed. The Commission’s authorisation decision does not allow for their cultivation in the EU, only for their use as food and animal feed. These genetically modified crops have gone through…
Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash The EU’s economic system needs structural change and must be adjusted to become more resistant to future external shocks, says the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). The Brussels based organisation is now recommending establishing a “Green triple-T” criterion to assess future interventions in the EU’s economic system, so that adopted measures are…
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash The European Commission has proposed new rules which, it says, will make withholding tax procedures in the EU “more efficient and secure” for investors, banks and EU Member State tax administrations. The initiative and the Commission’s 2020 Action Plan on the Capital Markets Union will, says the EC, “promote fairer taxation,…
Photo by Precious Madubuike on Unsplash The EU risks falling behind in its bid to become a global battery powerhouse, according to a new report published by the European Court of Auditors. It says it is true that the EU’s industrial policy on batteries has been promoted effectively in recent years. But access to raw materials remains a major…
