European Union

The Council approved conclusions stressing the need for renewed focus on support for and advancement of human development across EU external engagement, ensuring that EU values and interests are pursued and no-one is left behind.

The Council today adopted conclusions on the European financial architecture for development (EFAD). The conclusions stress the urgent need to address the development challenges reinforced by COVID-19 pandemic.

Press briefing ahead of Eurogroup meeting will take place on 16 June 2021 at 10.30.

The EU is speeding up the completion of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) by streamlining its permit-granting processes.

The EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) will continue to fund key infrastructure projects in the areas of transport, digital and energy.

MEPs have called for calling for beefed-up EU security against cyber threats in a resolution on the bloc’s Cyber Security Strategy, known as EUCSS, for the digital decade.

The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, visited today the European Defence Agency (EDA) in Brussels. As Head of the Agency, Mr Borrell was presented with a broad overview of EDA’s current work, its ongoing projects and its outlook as a critical provider of security and defence services to the EU and its Member States.

One of the key tasks of the EDA is to support Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) operations.  The Agency  offers  tangible  services  to  Member  States,  military  and  civilian CSDP  missions/operations, as well as other EU bodies, institutions and agencies. These include the provision of commercially sourced Satellite Communications (Satcom) and wider Communication and Information Systems (CIS) services through EDA, the pooling and sharing of governmental satellite communications (Govsatcom), maritime surveillance assistance, geo-spatial information to support commanders’ decision-making, air medical evacuation solutions, diplomatic clearances for cross-border movements or cyber awareness seminars for mission headquarters, to name only them.

EDA also promotes capability development and training.  The Agency serves as an enabler of EU defence cooperation and a platform where Member States willing to join forces to develop new defence equipment can do so, with the Agency’s providing help and expertise to support them. Multinational capability development at EDA covers the whole life-cycle of a project, from research and development and definition of common standards and requirements to design planning, industrial development and procurement of new defence equipment. All capability domains are covered, including land, air, sea, cyber and space. Current projects promoted by the Agency include the Multirole Tanker Transport Aircraft (MRTT) Fleet, the EDA Helicopter Programme as well as Research & Innovation with a focus on Emerging Disruptive Technologies, IED detection and smart textiles.

 

 

Background

Created in 2004 to support and facilitate defence cooperation in Europe, the European Defence Agency (EDA) allows countries willing to develop their defence capabilities collaboratively to do so. EDA’s expertise and activities include harmonising requirements, delivering operational capabilities, research and technology (R&T), innovation, developing technology demonstrators, training, exercises and support to CSDP operations. EDA also engages closely with the European defence industry to enhance Europe’s defence technological and industrial base. It also helps make the industry stronger and more competitive. 

The European Defence Agency is an intergovernmental agency of the Council of the European Union. It falls under the authority of the Council of the EU, to which it reports and from which it receives guidelines. Appointed in December 2019, Josep Borrell is the Head of the Agency. Led by the Chief Executive Jiří Šedivý, who was appointed in March 2020, the European Defence Agency has a unique mission, structure and history that brings together each aspect of the defence process.

At the G7 round table, there are actually nine seats. At last week's three-day G7 summit in Cornwall, two of them were taken by European Council President Charles Michel and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (both of whom managed to grab a seat this time).

Today marks a historic day for the rights of the millions of children growing up in poverty in the EU, as the EU launches an unprecedented revolutionary framework to tackle child poverty and social exclusion, write Anita Bay Bundergaard and Jana Hainsworth.

On Tuesday 15 June, the first Summit of the Ibero-American Political Action Group ECR Eurolat will open in Brussels.

Yemen is experiencing critical days, as negotiations for a ceasefire are ongoing. Now it the time for Europe to put pressure on Iran, Yemen's foreign minister told EUobserver.

The European Union is set to become the continent’s largest supranational bond issuer within the next five years as a result of its SURE and NextGeneration programmes, aimed at helping the bloc’s economies recover from the damage caused by the COVID–19 pandemic.

The European Parliament is going beyond its mandate in its pursuit of punishment for Hungary, writes Judit Varga.

An EU-wide emissions trading system for the transport and building sectors would secure the financing of low carbon solutions and support lower-income households and member states through the redistribution of carbon pricing revenues, argue Matthias Buck and Andreas Graf.

Communication about the importance of plasma donations can be improved by focusing on a clear definition in the EU legislation, ensuring that more awareness is raised about the role it plays in producing life-saving medical products, a centre-right EU lawmaker told EURACTIV.

The leaders of the NATO countries are performing a delicate balancing act over China at the summit on Monday (14 June), in an effort to show firmness, but avoid language that would antagonise a such a huge world economic power.

While negotiations on the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform have not been concluded in Brussels, the German Bundestag, racing to complete work before national elections in September, has passed a legislative package to be implemented at the national level.

A group of international institutional investors coordinated by the Attestor Capital fund, on the hook for €2 billion in the Banco Espírito Santo case, want the European Commission to settle the case, warning that otherwise, they will not fund the post-pandemic economic recovery.

The G7 summit which took place in Cornwall, England, after having been cancelled in 2020 came to an end on Sunday. Hopes were high that far-reaching resolutions on climate protection and pandemic control would be reached, especially since participants had already agreed on a global minimum corporate tax before the summit. But according to most commentators the high expectations were not fulfilled.