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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 12649

3 February 2021
Contents Publication in full By article 27 / 36
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS / Economy
GDP to fall by 6.8% in eurozone and by 6.4% in EU in 2020, according to initial estimate by Eurostat 
Brussels, 02/02/2021 (Agence Europe)

According to the preliminary flash estimate published by the statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Tuesday 2 February, seasonally adjusted GDP in the fourth quarter of 2020 fell by 0.7% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the European Union, compared to the previous quarter.

The declines follow the strong recovery in the third quarter (+12.4% for GDP in the euro area and +11.5% in the EU) and the largest falls since the time series began in 1995 in the second quarter of 2020...

Contents

EU RESPONSE TO COVID-19
HEALTH: Covid-19, Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa call for unity in face of difficulties in vaccination campaigns
DEVELOPMENT: post-Covid-19 recovery in poor countries - moving towards a discussion between EU finance and development ministers
SOCIAL: SURE instrument, payments to Member States are continuing
SECTORAL POLICIES
HEALTH: EU Council discussions on Health Technology Assessments nearing a successful conclusion in fully intransparent manner
INTERNAL MARKET: Member States highlight need to actively tackle obstacles to single market
AGRICULTURE: debates between EU institutions continue on CAP reform
AGRICULTURE: MEPs give go-ahead to extension of wine sector measures for 2021
FISHERIES: European Parliament Committee on Fisheries concerned about loss of 25% of fishing rights in UK waters
FISHERIES: European Parliament committee calls for voluntary installation of cameras on board fishing vessels
CLIMATE: interinstitutional negotiations on ‘Climate Law’ are stalled
ENVIRONMENT: EU’s 8th action programme is to promote economy of wellbeing, according to a draft EU Council decision
ENVIRONMENT: Commission consults on new EU soil protection strategy
RESEARCH: Portuguese Presidency launches Horizon Europe, the 2021-2027 European Research Framework Programme 
RESEARCH: informal ministerial meeting on promoting research careers in EU
TRANSPORT: Commission adopts a first regulation governing deployment of functionalities developed in framework of SESAR
DIGITAL: EU Council draft conclusions support legislation on cybersecurity of connected objects
DIGITAL: Commission consults on future interoperability framework for public services
INSTITUTIONAL
FUTURE OF EU: agreement hoped for in EU Council on governance of Conference on Future of Europe
SECURITY - DEFENCE
CSDP: HS Aegean becomes new flagship of EUNAVFORMed Irini operation
DEFENCE: without a European strategic culture, it is utopian to have a CSDP, according to Mr Borrell
EXTERNAL ACTION
MYANMAR: EU27 united in their strong condemnation of military coup
RUSSIA: Borrell advocates maintaining dialogue with Moscow if EU wants to be a global player
MEDITERRANEAN: UfM ministerial declaration in favour of sustainable blue economy 
UNITED KINGDOM: choice of a trade and cooperation agreement with exclusive competence is right one, confirms EU Council Legal Service
TRADE: WTO urges members to strengthen cooperation on Covid-19 vaccines
SOCIAL AFFAIRS
SOCIAL: Nicolas Schmit confirms presentation, on 3 March, of action plan for European pillar of social rights
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
ECONOMY: GDP to fall by 6.8% in eurozone and by 6.4% in EU in 2020, according to initial estimate by Eurostat 
FINANCE: stakeholders call on Commission to revise PRIIPs regulation, instead of adopting new technical standards
COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EU
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: EU law allows natural person accused of insider trading to remain silent, says court
NEWS BRIEFS
FOOD: Coldiretti concerned about possible EU health measures damaging to meat and wine
RULE OF LAW: European Commission launches consultation to develop its second annual report on Rule of law
FINANCE: EU Council adopts new rules on replacement of critical benchmarks
FINANCE/TAXATION: European Parliament’s Economic Affairs Committee adopted its opinion on agreement on future relationship between EU and the United Kingdom
JUSTICE: European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties requests access to EU Council documents on several appointments to European Public Prosecutor's Office
KAZAKHSTAN: EU denounces pressure on human rights NGOs
HEALTH: Denmark joins list of signatories of declaration on genomic data