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Image header Agence Europe
Europe Daily Bulletin No. 12689
Contents Publication in full By article 6 / 29
EU RESPONSE TO COVID-19 / State aid

Green light given to €400 million Dutch loans for package tour companies

On Tuesday 30 March, the European Commission approved a €400 million Dutch loan scheme (known as the ‘Voucherfonds’) to support businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic that normally provide package tours and related services. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Framework.

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, companies offering package tours and travel services in the Netherlands and other Member States have issued vouchers (‘corona vouchers’) to...

Contents

BEACONS
Beacons: A fairly disappointing start to the year
EU RESPONSE TO COVID-19
HOME AFFAIRS: EU Council to seek political agreement on Digital Green Certificates on 14 April
HEALTH: several EU leaders support international pandemic treaty 
HEALTH: European Commission confident that 80% of population at risk can be vaccinated
SOCIAL: European Commission proposes to increase SURE support to six Member States
STATE AID: green light given to €400 million Dutch loans for package tour companies
TRANSPARENCY: European Ombudsman calls on EU Council to improve transparency of its remote decision-making process
EXTERNAL ACTION
SYRIA: EU and international community pledge increased support for resilience of Syrian population and neighbouring countries
CHINA: European Commission imposes additional tariffs on Chinese aluminium 
MERCOSUR: European Commission publishes final report of sustainability impact assessment for agreement and its position paper 
SECURITY - DEFENCE
CSDP: Civcom supports extension of EUBAM Libya’s mandate, subject to conditions
INSTITUTIONAL
BUDGET: EU Council prepares to intervene to defend Rule of law Regulation in Court of Justice
SECTORAL POLICIES
CLIMATE: Portuguese Presidency of EU Council proposes first draft conclusions on adaptation to climate change
CLIMATE: five Member States call on EU to keep existing rules for setting national emission reduction targets
TRANSPORT: transfer of freight from road to rail is emerging as one of Member States’ priorities for coming years
CUSTOMS: customs controls still need to be harmonised, says European Court of Auditors
JUSTICE: towards adequacy decision between EU and South Korea on transfer of personal data
AGRICULTURE: short-term outlook for EU agricultural markets is rather good 
ENERGY: according to Ember, growth in renewables has been accompanied by record fall in coal in 2020
ENVIRONMENT: citizens are highly exposed to harmful pesticides authorised by EMA as veterinary products, according to PAN Europe
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
COMPETITION: European Commission to investigate possible anticompetitive behaviour of EPEX Spot power exchange
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - SOCIETAL ISSUES
MEDIA: European Commission starts work on proposal to protect journalists from “SLAPPs”
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
MEDIA: Dunja Mijatović says Hungary must immediately restore media freedom and protect journalists
NEWS BRIEFS
FUTURE OF EU: Viktor Orbán, Matteo Salvini, and Mateusz Morawiecki to hold talks on creating a new European political alliance
CLIMATE: European Commission and IEA launch joint call to world’s major economies to become climate neutral
FINANCE: ESMA fines credit rating agency Moody’s €3.7 million
SOCIAL: number of high-quality jobs is not increasing sufficiently, according to ETUC
SOCIAL: EPSU launches campaign to include dangerous drugs in carcinogens and mutagens directive
ERRATUM
HEALTH: 88 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine delivered in EU