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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 12683

23 March 2021
Contents Publication in full By article 34 / 38
NEWS BRIEFS / Payments
EU Council adopts its conclusions on European Retail Payments Strategy

22/03/2021 (Agence Europe) – The Council of the European Union formally adopted, on Monday 22 March, at the Agriculture and Fisheries EU Council, conclusions on the European Retail Payments Strategy, presented by the European Commission last September (see EUROPE B12567A1). In the text, Member States support the main pillars of the new strategy, in particular the promotion of the widespread use of instant payments (see EUROPE B12673A19). They also warn of the policy challenges that the...

Contents

EXTERNAL ACTION
HUMAN RIGHTS: EU condemns Chinese sanctions against EU bodies and five MEPs
TURKEY: EU Foreign Ministers express concern about human rights situation
MYANMAR: EU sanctions eleven Burmese responsible for coup and repression
ETHIOPIA: EU threatens sanctions against all those responsible for human rights violations in Tigray
SECURITY - DEFENCE
NATO: future of Alliance, climate change, Afghanistan and fight against terrorism on ministerial meeting agenda
SECTORAL POLICIES
PLANTS: EU ministers call for proper implementation of pest control legislation
AGRICULTURE: EPP, S&D and ECR groups in European Parliament present compromise on ‘new implementation model’ for CAP
AGRICULTURE: EU ministers call for post-2020 strategy respecting multifunctionality of forests
AGRICULTURE: EU ministers discuss implementation of future CAP strategic plans
FISHERIES: EU Fisheries Ministers finalise agreement on an extension of provisional quotas with UK
ENVIRONMENT: revision of air quality standards, EPP MEPs do not want full alignment with WHO standards
ENVIRONMENT: European Commission issues guidelines to improve forest fire prevention
CLIMAT/FINANCE: EU taxonomy, Commission is considering classifying certain gas-related investments as ‘sustainable’
CLIMATE: CO2 removals by forests should not be used to offset inaction on emissions reduction, say seven NGOs
INTERNAL MARKET/INDUSTRY: EU ministers again support European strategic autonomy, which remains open
DIGITAL: EU-27 eager for Commission to unveil recommendation for Joint Cyber Unit
TRANSPORT: European Commission empowered to sign, on behalf of EU, Declaration of Locarno on developing railway system
SPACE: Italy and France set up High Level Group to discuss future of European launchers
HEALTH: cross-border care, no real medical tourism 8 years after implementation of directive
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
TAXATION: MEPs support a swift agreement on digital taxation at OECD, but want a plan B
TAXATION: MEPs’ mixed reception to draft ‘Gruffat’ report on sustainable taxation post-Covid-19
BANKS: Single Resolution Fund could reach €70 billion at full capacity, according to Elke König
EU RESPONSE TO COVID-19
HEALTH: Austria is up in arms over German method of distributing Covid-19 vaccines delivered in advance by Pfizer-BioNTech
TRADE: European Commission continues to consider all options to ensure supply of Covid-19 vaccines to EU
SOCIAL: EU’s SURE instrument supports 26.5 million people forced into short-time work by Covid-19
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
WOMEN: Council of Europe and European Union protest Turkish withdrawal from Istanbul Convention
SPAIN: Dunja Mijatović calls for changes to Spanish criminal code to better guarantee freedom of expression
NEWS BRIEFS
AGRICULTURE: EU Council guidelines for the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ meeting
CLIMATE: Commission and EIB want a “Global Green Deal”
DEFENCE: EU launches its European Peace Facility
ENVIRONMENT: EU calls for sustainable water management worldwide
TAXATION: seventh revision of directive on administrative cooperation in field of taxation adopted
MIGRATION: five EU Mediterranean countries urge Member States to show solidarity in managing migration challenge
PAYMENTS: EU Council adopts its conclusions on European Retail Payments Strategy
REGIONS: close to €87 million in aid proposed for France and Greece affected by natural disasters
SOCIAL: minimum wage, regions are calling for a binding target in directive
ADDENDUM
CLIMATE: clarification of paper entitled “A study commissioned by the European Commission points out the weaknesses of the CORSIA system”
Op-Ed
Op-Ed: A European recovery with villages, cities and regions at its core - by  Antonio López-Istúriz and Olgierd Geblewicz