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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 12685

25 March 2021
Contents Publication in full By article 10 / 36
EU RESPONSE TO COVID-19 / State aid
Covid-19, “yes” to €270 million Italian aid for rail transport

24/03/2021 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 24 March, the European Commission authorised €270 million in Italian State aid to support both the rail freight and commercial passenger transport sectors in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. It will allow Italy to relieve rail freight operators and commercial rail passenger service providers of part of the costs of track access charges for the period between 10 March and 31 December 2020. This support will help rail operators in Italy to...

Contents

EUROPEAN COUNCIL
HEALTH: EU leaders to take stock of Covid-19 vaccination on eve of a third wave
HOME AFFAIRS: EU Member States want to move forward as quickly as possible on digital green certificate
FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Russia, Turkey, US and China on European Council agenda
DIGITAL: EU leaders to discuss EU’s goals for next decade
EMU: euro area countries to discuss international role of single currency
TAXATION/ECONOMY: EU leaders to discuss the prospect of OECD agreement on digital taxation
EU RESPONSE TO COVID-19
TRADE: European Commission tightens export authorisation criteria for Covid-19 vaccines
SOCIAL: SURE instrument – European Commission finances itself a sixth time on markets 
BUDGET: European Commission proposes €345.2 million increase in 2021 funding to tackle Covid-19
STATE AID: Covid-19, “yes” to €270 million Italian aid for rail transport
REGIONS: Cohesion Alliance warns of risk of “vaccine divide” between European regions
SOCIAL AFFAIRS
SOCIAL: European Commission presents its recommendations for tackling child poverty
SOCIAL: Luca Visentini worries that some Member States are not using EU aid for fear of getting deeper into debt
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - SOCIETAL ISSUES
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: Commission will continue to work towards respecting the rights of children as “active citizens”
SECURITY - DEFENCE
NATO: Stoltenberg highlights agreement between Alliance and its partners on Russia
EXTERNAL ACTION
CHINA: Chinese measures against European Parliament “do not intimidate us”, says David Sassoli
SYRIA: a political message and substantial support for huge humanitarian needs expected at ‘Brussels V’ Conference
RUSSIA: EPP group in European Parliament could propose that EU work on a more democratic Russia
TRADE/CLIMATE: nine Member States set out their vision for an effective Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
SECTORAL POLICIES
AGRICULTURE: Portuguese Presidency of EU Council hopes to finalise agreement on CAP with European Parliament soon
HEALTH: political agreement in principle in EU Council on health technology assessments
TRANSPORT: European Parliament and EU Council stick to their positions on revision of ‘Eurovignette’ directive
ENERGY: seven Member States call on European Commission to ensure level playing field for nuclear energy in EU
ENERGY: market shares of large electricity and gas producers are falling, according to Eurostat
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
TAXATION: digital levy should be compatible to OECD solution, says Margrethe Vestager
TAXATION: French MEPs of Greens/EFA group call on France to review its position on country-by-country reporting
NEWS BRIEFS
BENIN: EU calls for free, transparent and peaceful presidential elections on 11 April
BELARUS: 19 countries support establishment of International Accountability Platform
INDUSTRY: European Commission launches referral on charging for electric buses
FISHERIES: EU Council will adopt legislative acts on new EU-Greenland agreement on 26 March
FISHERIES: EU fishermen demand reimbursement of illegal subsidies on electric fishing
UNITED KINGDOM: European Parliament to vote on consent to trade and cooperation agreement on 26 April, says David Sassoli
SOCIAL: coordination of social security systems, no resumption of interinstitutional negotiations before Easter
SOMALIA: EU calls on Somali leaders to hold immediate elections
TERRORISM: Commission consults on possible improvements to its Directive on combating terrorism
UKRAINE: Kiev sanctions three French MEPs from Identity and Democracy group for visiting Crimea