European Union

The Commission will look at whether to designate DMA gatekeepers Microsoft and Amazon's respective clouds as "core platform services"

In today's edition: Digital health, superbugs and new drugs, UPFs

After a year of talking about supporting European tech, will policymakers take real action?

Within 48 hours, the Council could approve activation of an emergency mechanism that would remove the need for military convoys to get national permissions to cross intra-EU borders

The last prisoner exchange was in early October, with Moscow and Kyiv swapping 185 prisoners each

Plus Zelenskyy in Madrid, while Kubilius wants Ukraine in Vilnius

The European Union aims to reach climate neutrality by 2050, with a 55% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Meeting these goals will not only require decarbonising our energy system but also fundamentally transforming industrial production. As part of its efforts to decarbonise energy-intensive industries, the European Commission is designing the legislative proposal […]

In today's edition: GDPR reboot, spectrum for 6G, DSA review, more Space Act lobbying

In today's edition: Food safety, novel foods, tuna

In Europe, superbugs cause 35,000 deaths annually

Written by Pieter Baert.

Achieving ambitious climate objectives while supporting robust economic growth and safeguarding tax revenue requires simple and well-targeted tax incentives that encourage sustainable investment. The European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC) is due to hold a public hearing on this topic on 20 November 2025.

Clean industrial deal – tax recommendations

Launched in February 2025, the clean industrial deal is a package of wide-ranging actions aimed at ensuring that decarbonisation is a driver of economic growth for the European economy. Next to concrete action to lower energy prices, the European Commission published a (non-binding) recommendation to guide Member States when introducing and designing tax incentives to support the clean industrial deal objectives.

Firstly, the Commission recommends that Member States allow companies to deduct investment in green technology from their taxable income more quickly (‘accelerated depreciation‘), or even immediately (‘full or immediate expensing’). By enabling companies to deduct the cost of the asset faster – rather than spreading the cost evenly over time – accelerated depreciation effectively raises the after-tax rate of return on investment and helps mitigate distortions caused by inflation. While this incentive does not ultimately increase the nominal value of deductions, it does enhance their real value by allowing firms to claim them earlier, thereby improving businesses’ cash flow.

FranceInvestment in renewable energy equipment or energy-saving technologies can be depreciated at 2, 2.5 or 3 times the normal rate.Germany75 % of costs on electric company vehicles acquired after 30 June 2025 and before 1 January 2028 can be deducted in their first year.IrelandThe Accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA) scheme allows companies to deduct the full cost of investment in energy-efficient equipment in the year of purchase, rather than over the standard eight-year period.SpainSince 2023, Spain allows companies to apply accelerated depreciation for new electric and hydrogen company vehicles, at twice the standard depreciation rate. This also applies to investment in new electric vehicle charging infrastructure, both normal and high-power.

Accelerated depreciation for green assets – Member State examples (non-exhaustive)

Secondly, the Commission recommends that Member States, where feasible, use cost-effective and targeted tax credits for investment that creates sufficient manufacturing capacity in clean technologies, supports industrial decarbonisation, or strengthens the EU’s strategic resilience (for example, the production of a net-zero product where the EU is currently highly dependent on a single third country). The Commission notes that empirical evidence generally ranks input-based tax credits – for example, those covering R&D costs for green investment – higher than income-based credits, such as patent boxes, arguing that the former are more cost-effective in stimulating additional investment.

Action on these recommendations should be combined with other policy measures, such as the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies, whether provided through tax expenditure or direct grants.

The Council welcomed the Commission’s recommendations, but underlined the need for flexibility, allowing Member States to adapt tax incentives to their specific fiscal contexts and budgets.

Revision of the Energy Taxation Directive

The proposal to revise the Energy Taxation Directive (ETD) remains the only unfinished file in the Commission’s ‘fit for 55‘ package, tabled in 2021, aiming to reduce emissions by 55 % by 2030.

The ETD lays down EU-wide minimum excise duty rates on motor/heating fuels and electricity. Member States are free to set their own tax rates as long as they respect the ETD’s minimum rates. The Commission’s proposal aims to update the directive – unchanged since 2003 – to bring it into line with the EU’s climate objectives and modern green technology, while maintaining Member States’ capacity to raise tax revenue. While reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preserving tax revenues are not inherently contradictory objectives, concern is growing about potential long-term future revenue erosion for national budgets, as excise duties on fossil fuels decline with the green transition.

Some of the proposal’s key provisions to revise the ETD include:

• Shifting from volume- to energy content-based taxation: Minimum rates would no longer be expressed per litre or kilogram, but rather per gigajoule of energy content, removing the existing tax bias against low-energy-content biofuels.
• Environmental ranking of minimum rates: A new structure would tax energy products according to their environmental performance, ensuring that electricity is always taxed at the lowest rate and fossil fuels at the highest.
• Gradual rate increases: Minimum rates for certain energy products, such as natural gas, would rise by one-tenth each year over a ten-year transitional period, to balance social costs, climate objectives, and fiscal stability.
• Annual indexation: Minimum rates would be automatically adjusted each year to preserve their real value over time and prevent erosion through inflation.
• Phasing out exemptions and reductions: The proposal removes several existing tax advantages, including the mandatory exemptions currently granted to maritime and aviation fuels.

Over the four years of negotiation, reaching the required unanimous support in the Council has proven difficult, aggravated by the energy cost crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising concerns about the resilience of European industry. Several Council presidencies have tried to break the impasse by proposing prolonged transitional periods and the possibility for Member States to provide total or partial exemptions for certain sectors and services, or the installation of an ’emergency brake’ on the increase in taxation rates when countries are faced with a sudden increase in energy prices.

The Danish Council Presidency had invited ministers to reach a general approach on the proposal on 13 November 2025, but a number of Member States expressed reservations about the proposed compromise text. Consultation on the file (2021/0213(CNS)) in the European Parliament continues.

Read this ‘at a glance note’ on ‘Encouraging clean investment: The role of tax incentives‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

In today's edition: €400bn industry fund, methane emissions, defence permitting

In today’s edition: Kaja Kallas clashes with Ursula von der Leyen as a tightening budget exposes the EEAS’s limited sway, the Commission concedes that its €140bn Ukraine ‘reparation loan’ risks financial knock-on effects, and Friedrich Merz hosts Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer in Berlin after the European digital sovereignty summit

Spain’s 50-year reckoning with Franco is mired in a new culture war, with a fifth of Spaniards viewing the dictatorship positively and parties clashing over how to confront its legacy

Written by Ioannis Stefanou and Maria Margarita Mentzelopoulou.

Child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse are among the worst forms of violence against children and know no borders. The rise in these crimes is exacerbated by the use of digital technology. Harmonised national laws and international cooperation are essential to improve prevention and protect victims.

Background

The European Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, an initiative of the Council of Europe, is observed every 18 November to highlight the importance of preventing child sexual exploitation and abuse. The 2025 edition focuses on strengthening the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse through evidence-based policymaking. At the EU level, in 2020 the European Commission launched a strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse. Similarly, child sexual exploitation is a priority in the fight against serious and organised crime within the context of the 2020‑2025 EU security union strategy and the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).

According to a 2024 UNICEF report, one in five girls and women and one in seven boys and men alive today globally have experienced sexual violence as children, while in Europe one in five children is estimated to be a victim of sexual violence, with 70-85 % knowing their abuser. Child sexual abuse and exploitation are increasingly occurring online. In 2024, the United States’ National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received 20.5 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation.

International and EU efforts to combat child sexual abuse International legal framework

The 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child laid the foundation for an international framework to combat child sexual abuse and exploitation. In 2007, the Council of Europe adopted the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No 201), or ‘Lanzarote Convention‘. This was the first international instrument to categorise different forms of child sexual abuse as criminal offences. It entered into force on 1 July 2010 and has since been ratified by all EU Member States.

EU legal framework

The main EU legal instrument to combat sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children, as well as child pornography, is Directive 2011/93/EU (the Combating Child Sexual Abuse Directive), which criminalises various forms of child sexual abuse and exploitation, harmonises laws across the EU, and sets minimum sanctions. Article 25 requires the removal of websites containing or disseminating child sexual abuse material and allows blocking access where needed, helping combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse. Directive 2012/29/EU (the 2012 Victims’ Rights Directive) complements this framework with a child-sensitive approach prioritising the best interests of the child. The 2021 EU strategy on the rights of the child offers a policy framework to combat violence against children and protect them from all forms of abuse.

Recent developments

On 6 February 2024, as part of the EU strategy to more effectively combat child sexual abuse, the Commission proposed a revision of the 2011 Combating Child Sexual Abuse Directive. The updated rules would broaden the definitions of offences to include new forms of online child sexual abuse, introduce higher penalties, and establish more specific requirements for the prevention of offences and the provision of assistance to victims. Additionally, minimum statutes of limitation would be set to enable victims to seek justice more effectively. The Commission has also launched the revision of the Victims’ Rights Directive. On 23 April 2024, it adopted a recommendation on integrated child protection systems – a key deliverable under the children’s rights strategy to better protect children from violence.

Work has also continued on the 2022 legislative proposal that would require providers of online communication services to detect, report and remove child sexual abuse material. The proposal includes the establishment of an EU centre to prevent and combat child sexual abuse. Pending agreement in the Council of the EU (the Council), the European Parliament and the Council have agreed to extend the 2021 interim regulation, which temporarily exempts providers from electronic data protection rules, to allow for voluntary detection, reporting and removal. Furthermore, the Commission has launched a public consultation on an action plan to address cyberbullying, with a focus on minors.

International cooperation through EU agencies, initiatives and networks

Various EU agencies, such as Europol, support law enforcement cooperation among Member States to combat online sexual exploitation and abuse of children within the EU and globally. One example is the Stop Child Abuse – Trace an Object initiative, designed to help trace the origin of objects linked to criminal investigations. In addition, the European Commission has adopted the Decision to formally launch the Network for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse at the end of 2025.

Eurojust supports judicial cooperation among Member States for the cross-border prosecution of perpetrators. The Commission funds several initiatives and networks, including the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) portal, which raises awareness of risks, and INHOPE, a network of hotlines combating online child sexual abuse material. The WePROTECT Global Alliance develops political and practical solutions to protect children online and prevent online sexual abuse and long-term harm. The Internet Watch Foundation provides a hotline for reporting online sexual abuse content globally. ChildSafetyON brings together children’s rights organisations to end child sexual abuse and exploitation in the EU, as does the European Child Sexual Abuse Legislation Advocacy Group (ECLAG).

European Parliament position
In June 2025, Parliament adopted its position on the revision of the Combating Sexual Abuse Directive, proposing to increase maximum penalties for several offences and remove limitation periods. Since its first assessment in 2017 on implementation, Parliament and its Children’s Rights Coordinator have repeatedly called for full transposition of the directive and action in key areas. In November 2023, Parliament adopted its position on the proposed regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse; negotiations with the Council are ongoing. Moreover, a report from the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) on the protection of minors online is planned to be voted in the plenary of 25 November 2025. In addition, a draft report from the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) is expected to be voted in committee in April 2026.
Parliament has also demanded better child protection and victim support and a greater focus on prevention and awareness raising; stressed that information and communications technology companies and online platforms should take some responsibility in the fight against child sexual abuse material; and called for more national investment in digital education. Parliament has welcomed Europol’s prevention and awareness-raising work, and supported the establishment of an EU centre to prevent and counter child sexual abuse.

Read this ‘at a glance note’ on ‘European Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

MEPs arrive in Belém today to take part in the COP30 climate change conference, which seeks to accelerate global climate action in line with the Paris Agreement goals.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

MEPs arrive in Belém today to take part in the COP30 climate change conference, which seeks to accelerate global climate action in line with the Paris Agreement goals.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Length of video : 15'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Length of video : 45'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP