MEPs debate October EU summit and need for an ambitious 2028-2034 budget 

European Commission issues €11 billion in its 2nd syndicated transaction of 2026This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. On Wednesday, plenary assessed the October EU summit results, focusing on a strong EU long-term budget and competitiveness in a debate with Presidents Costa and von der Leyen. Reporting a fruitful meeting by heads of state or government, European Council President António Costa […]

2027 EU budget: focus on transport, energy, research, climate and agriculture 

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament.This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. MEPs want a 2027 budget that reinforces the EU’s key priorities for the final year of the EU’s current long-term budget cycle. On Wednesday, Parliament set the overall level of commitment appropriations for 2027 (legal promises to pay in the same year or […]

Commission greenlights Germany’s final payment request for €6 billion under NextGenerationEU

European Commission issues €11 billion in its 2nd syndicated transaction of 2026This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the European Commission positively assessed Germany’s fourth and final payment request worth €6 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU. With this payment request, Germany has implemented all the reforms and investments included in its recovery and resilience […]

MEPs endorse better enforcement of passenger rights in the EU

On Tuesday, Parliament gave its final green light to updated EU rules to improve the protection and information passengers receive if their travel is disrupted. The regulation, which will strengthen the protection of passenger rights across all modes of transport, was adopted with 652 votes in favour, two against and eight abstentions. Reimbursement by air travel intermediaries The adopted text clarifies the rules on reimbursement in the case of cancellations when flights are booked via an intermediary, such as travel agents or online booking platforms. Passengers are entitled to receive full reimbursement, including of any intermediation fee, within 14 days (the air carrier must transfer the payment to the intermediary within a maximum of seven days, and the intermediary must transfer it to the passenger within a further seven days). Intermediaries must inform passengers at the time of booking about the applicable reimbursement arrangements. Common EU form Passengers will be able to submit claims using standardised forms for reimbursement and compensation, or any equivalent form provided by the carrier. The common forms will be made available on the Commission’s website, in all languages and for all types of travel. Improved rights for vulnerable passengers The new rules also strengthen the rights of persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility by allowing an accompanying person to travel with them on a flight free of charge if their presence is necessary, as is already the case for travel by bus, train or ship. More power for national enforcement and complaint-handling bodies National authorities are granted enhanced powers for investigating possible breaches of passenger rights. They will be able to proactively initiate audits, inspections or interviews of carriers, not only after receiving passenger complaints. Quote Rapporteur Matteo Ricci (S&D, IT) said: “Travelling is part of our lives. Whether we catch a train to work, a bus for a trip, a plane to return home, or a ferry for holiday, we all share these journeys as passengers. This legislation will improve the protection these travellers receive. National authorities will help make sure companies fulfil their responsibilities without court action. Passengers who buy tickets through intermediaries will keep their rights, and support for individuals with reduced mobility will be improved. We are prioritising the rights of our citizens over the profits of airlines.” Next steps The updated rules need still need to be formally approved by the Council, before their publication in the EU Official Journal. They will apply from 23 October 2027 (at the same time as the air passenger rights regulation). Background In 2023, the Commission presented an update of the EU rules governing the rights of passengers when travelling by air, rail, sea, inland waterway, bus or coach, as part of the passenger mobility package. Parliament adopted a specific upgrade of air passenger rights earlier in 2026. Around 13 billion passengers who travel by airplane, train, coach, bus or ferry in the EU every year are covered by EU passenger rights. This figure is expected to reach 15 billion by 2030 and almost 20 billion by 2050.This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. On Tuesday, Parliament gave its final green light to updated EU rules to improve the protection and information passengers receive if their travel is disrupted. The regulation, which will strengthen the protection of passenger rights across all modes of transport, was adopted with […]

Steady progress on the One Europe, One Market roadmap

This article is brought to you in association with the European Economic and Social Committee.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. In their second review of the joint declaration and roadmap, designed to boost economic growth, the EU institutions reaffirmed their commitment to timely delivery. In this review of the One Europe, One Market roadmap and the joint declaration on the EU legislative priorities […]

Commission issues €10 billion in its 9th syndicated transaction of 2026

This article is brought to you in association with the European Economic and Social Committee.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has raised €10 billion of EU-Bonds in its 9th syndicated transaction for 2026. The dual-tranche transaction concerned a €5 billion tap of the 7-year EU-Bond maturing on 12 October 2033 and a €5 billion new 15-year EU-Bond maturing on 12 December […]

Rise in poverty is ‘a wake-up call for the world’, UN development chief says

© UNOCHA/Ramatoulaye Moussa Maz A woman walks through a camp for displaced people in Ituri Province in eastern DR Congo, where decades of violence have impacted millions, creating a humanitarian emergency.This article is published in association with United Nations. The number of people living in “multidimensional” poverty has risen for the first time in 15 years, reaching 1.2 billion, as families struggle to meet their basic needs.  The finding comes in the 2026 update of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) published by the United Nations […]

The EU budget continues delivering for Europe in 2025

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the Court of Auditors (ECA) published its Annual Report, giving the EU’s annual accounts a clean bill of health for the 19th consecutive year. The ECA confirmed that the collection of EU revenues was free from material error. Significant milestones for the EU […]

NextGenerationEU shows strong delivery record as implementation reaches finish line

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the European Commission presents the fifth annual report on the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). As the EU’s flagship recovery instrument under NextGenerationEU, the RRF has now disbursed €450 billion in grants and loans, nearly 80% of the total amount requested by Member […]

Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Estonia and Cyprus receive more than €9.8 billion under NextGenerationEU

European Commission issues €11 billion in its 2nd syndicated transaction of 2026This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has disbursed more than €9.8 billion to Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Estonia and Cyprus under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU.  These payments reflect the successful fulfilment of key milestones and targets linked to reforms and investments set […]

EU support to research and innovation increases with additional €500 million for research programme Horizon Europe

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the European Commission allocated an additional €500 million to Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship research and innovation programme, for 2026 and 2027. With this additional amount, the total budget reaches now around €14.8 billion for the two years. In addition, the Commission will […]

EU advances Global Health Resilience Initiative with new Global Gateway investments in Africa and Latin America

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. In the context of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week, the European Commission has announced three new Global Gateway investments that put the EU Global Health Resilience Initiative into action in partner countries. The package includes an EU guarantee of €63.5 million designed to mobilise private investment […]

EU launches first €43 million Team Gaza projects to help restore essential services

European Commission issues €11 billion in its 2nd syndicated transaction of 2026This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the first flagship early recovery projects under the EU-led Team Gaza Initiative were signed by Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica in the margins of the UN General Assembly High-Level Week in New York. The projects, together worth a total of €43 million, will help restore essential water and solid […]

Commission issues €11 billion in its 8th syndicated transaction of 2026

This article is brought to you in association with the European Economic and Social Committee.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has raised €11 billion of EU-Bonds in its 8th syndicated transaction for 2026. The dual-tranche transaction concerned a €6 billion new 3-year EU-Bond maturing on 12 March 2030 and a €5 billion new 30-year EU-Bond maturing on 12 October 2056. Building on the pricing of recent […]

Restoring Europe’s wetlands to combat climate change and boost economies

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission’s Horizon, the EU Research and Innovation Magazine.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission’s Horizon, the EU Research and Innovation Magazine. Wetlands are surprisingly effective at locking away carbon. Marshes, floodplains and peatlands together cover less than a tenth of the Earth’s surface, yet peatlands alone hold around a third of all the carbon stored in soil worldwide. […]

Guterres: Old global order must change as power shifts to emerging economies

© Press Information Bureau, Government of India UN Secretary-General António Guterres meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.This article is published in association with United Nations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres told leaders of a bloc of major emerging economies in New Delhi on Sunday that a more balanced global order requires an overhaul of the institutions built after the Second World War, including the UN Security Council. The group – Brazil, Russia, India, […]

UN climate chief warns political division is undermining fight against ‘economic security emergency’

© UNICEF Girls wade through floodwaters on their way to school in Sunamganj, Bangladesh.This article is published in association with United Nations. The head of the UN’s climate body has warned that treating global warming as a partisan issue is dangerously out of step with reality, as he set out a stark account of the economic toll climate change is already inflicting on Europe. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the […]

Ships and seafarers increasingly caught in the crossfire of unrelated wars

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.This article is published in association with United Nations. The global shipping industry is facing a “genuinely unprecedented” convergence of maritime crises, with vessels and seafarers increasingly used as “leverage” in conflicts that have nothing to do with them. Four regions – the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, the waters off Somalia, and the Black […]

Statement in context of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings on 31 August and 1 September, in Asheville, US

Statement by the European Commission on the U.S. decision to impose travel restrictions on certain EU individualsThis article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Union has consistently urged Iran to curb its nuclear programme, and its ballistic missile programme, refrain from destabilising activities in the region and in Europe, stop its military support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and cease the violence and repression […]

Romanian businesses to get extra financing as EIB provides €100 million credit to BRD Sogelease IFN

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.This article is published in association with European Investment Bank. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending €100 million to the leasing subsidiary of BRD Groupe Société Générale to increase financing for businesses across Romania. The EIB loan to BRD Sogelease IFN SA will benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and Mid-Caps pursuing a range of […]

Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, and Slovenia receive more than €1.86 billion under NextGenerationEU

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has disbursed today more than €1.86 billion to Belgium, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Denmark under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU.  These payments reflect the successful fulfilment of key milestones and targets linked to reforms and investments set out in the four Member States’ national recovery and […]

Commission greenlights Sweden’s payment request for €1.47 billion under NextGenerationEU

EU long-term budget: MEPs want a 10% increase to support EU priorities This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the European Commission positively assessed Sweden’s second payment request for €1.47 billion under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU.  This is an important step in the delivery of the reforms and investments included in this payment request, which aim to support the green transition, a better functioning of the labour and housing markets, as well as […]

Commission greenlights Estonia’s fourth payment request for €135.5 million under NextGenerationEU

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the European Commission positively assessed Estonia’s fourth payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU. This payment request reflects significant progress across a wide range of reforms aimed at driving positive change for citizens and businesses in Estonia, […]

Commission takes action to ensure complete and timely transposition of EU directives

This article is brought to you in association with the European Economic and Social Committee.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission is taking action against several EU Member States that have failed to notify the Commission of measures they have adopted to transpose EU Directives into their national laws. The deadline to transpose these Directives has expired recently. The Commission is sending […]

EU Global Gateway strategy: EIB and BIIC strengthen strategic agricultural value chains for benefit of Benin and Europe

European Commission issues €11 billion in its 2nd syndicated transaction of 2026This article is published in association with European Investment Bank. The European Investment Bank (EIB), via its specialised arm for development and international partnerships – EIB Global – and the Banque internationale pour l’industrie et le commerce (BIIC) today announced the start of a strategic partnership aimed at strengthening financing for Beninese small and medium-sized enterprises  […]

Commission approves €2 billion Hungarian capital injection into development bank Magyar Fejlesztési Bank

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a capital injection worth €2 billion (HUF 760 billion) by Hungary into the development bank Magyar Fejlesztési Bank (MFB). The measure will be funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (‘RRF’). The Hungarian measure […]

Commission greenlights Cyprus’s sixth payment request for €120 million under NextGenerationEU

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the Commission positively assessed Cyprus’s sixth payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU. The reforms and investments tied to this payment request will drive positive change for citizens and businesses in Cyprus, notably in the areas of health, […]

Parliament backs modernised EU-Mexico partnership and easier trade 

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. On Wednesday, MEPs gave their green light to two agreements paving the way for closer political ties and expanded trade between EU and Mexico. The EU-Mexico modernised global agreement (MGA) will replace the current framework, in place since 2000, promoting new opportunities for business, […]

Digital euro: MEPs ready to start negotiations  

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament.This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. On Thursday, plenary backed talks with the Council on a digital euro proposal that would offer citizens a secure way to reduce reliance on non-EU providers. With 416 votes in favour, 169 against and 22 abstentions for the creation of a digital euro, and […]

Commission issues €11 billion in its seventh syndicated transaction of 2026

EU must respond decisively to any form of coercion against EU member states This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has raised €11 billion of EU-Bonds in its 7th syndicated transaction for 2026. The dual-tranche transaction concerned a €6 billion new 5-year EU-Bond maturing on 13 October 2031, and a €5 billion tap of the 20-year EU-Bond maturing on 12 October […]

Commission greenlights Belgium’s fourth payment request for €567 million under NextGenerationEU

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. Today, the European Commission positively assessed Belgium’s fourth payment request for €567 million under the Recovery and Resilience Facility  (RRF), the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU. This is an important step in the delivery of the reforms and investments tied to this payment request, in the […]

Start-up to Scale-up: EIF, HBOR and Croatia scale up partnership to boost venture financing in the country

EU long-term budget: MEPs want a 10% increase to support EU priorities This article is published in association with European Investment Bank. Hrvatsku inačicu preuzmite ovdje Over the past eight years, the partnership between the European Investment Fund (EIF), the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) has mobilised €270 million in public investment […]

Commission approves State aid for Romania’s investment and development bank

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, Romanian measures for the national investment and development bank Banca de Investiții și Dezvoltare S.A. (‘BID’). In January 2023, the Commission approved a Romanian measure to set up BID with an initial capital of […]
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