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Image header Agence Europe
Europe Daily Bulletin No. 13582
Contents Publication in full By article 28 / 35
NEWS BRIEFS / Economy

EU Council approves revision of Belgian and Latvian post-Covid-19 recovery plans

18/02/25 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 18 February, the Ecofin Council approved, without debate, a revision, for objective reasons, of the post-Covid-19 recovery plans for Belgium and Latvia, worth €5.3 billion and €1.97 billion respectively. In Belgium, the revision concerns a measure designed to speed up the digitisation of the government of the Flemish Region. The revision of the Latvian plan covers 28 measures that will no longer be achievable or will be achieved by alternative means. See the draft EU Council decision and its annex for the Belgian recovery plan: https://aeur.eu/f/fgh; and the Latvian plan: https://aeur.eu/f/fgi (MB)

Contents

SECTORAL POLICIES
COMPETITIVENESS: Clean Industrial Deal, principle of European preference is gaining ground
ENERGY: European Commission determined to bring about structural reduction in energy prices in EU without tackling underlying causes
ENERGY: EU Council approves revision of Euratom safeguarding regulation
ENVIRONMENT: European Parliament Environment Committee adopts position on ‘one substance, one assessment’ package
AGRICULTURE: according to MEPs, review of wolf’s protection status is taking too long
AGRICULTURE: Thomas Waitz worries existence of “independent” CAP budget is not guaranteed in next MFF
DIGITAL: in European Parliament, right and left at loggerheads over appropriateness of artificial intelligence liability directive
CONSUMERS: MEPs hail Commission’s “Herculean efforts” to combat abuses of online commerce, but deplore their slowness
HOME AFFAIRS: EU Entry/Exit System, Commission and eu-LISA agency acknowledge that they underestimated complexity of project
HOME AFFAIRS: discussions continue within Member States pending European Commission’s proposals on return and safe third countries
HOME AFFAIRS: MEPs give green light to draft agreement between Canada and EU on air transferring passenger data
EXTERNAL ACTION
interview MOLDAVIA: in context of Russian interference, “it is essential that European support comes in a visible manner before parliamentary elections”, warns Mr Mureșan
UNITED STATES: Maroš Šefčovič in Washington to negotiate tariffs
Russian invasion of Ukraine
UKRAINE: after meeting with Keith Kellogg, António Costa and Ursula von der Leyen say they are ready to work with United States to ensure peace and security
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
ECONOMY: “no taboo” in discussing increased EU countries’ defence investment, says Andrzej Domański
EIB: “We are not a Ministry of Defence, we are a bank”, Robert de Groot reminds MEPs in face of criticism
FINANCE: European Commission wants to reduce regulatory burden “without compromising fundamental objectives” of EU policies
TAXATION: EU makes no changes to blacklist of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
TAXATION: Valdis Dombrovskis gives assurances that EU remains committed to minimum corporate tax, despite fears to contrary of Márton Nagy
INSTITUTIONAL
BUDGET: “Negotiations will be difficult” on post-2027 multiannual financial framework, Piotr Serafin admits
BUDGET: Council adopts its guidelines on EU budget for 2026
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - SOCIETAL ISSUES
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: Horizontal Equal Treatment Directive, Hadja Lahbib justifies withdrawal and calls on MEPs to put “pressure” on Member States
EDUCATION - YOUTH - CULTURE - SPORT
EDUCATION/YOUTH: to support Erasmus+ programmes and European Solidarity Corps, Glenn Micallef wants to obtain “most solid budget possible”
SOCIAL AFFAIRS - EMPLOYMENT
SOCIAL: coordination of social security schemes – Polish Presidency of EU Council giving itself time to find best possible outcome
NEWS BRIEFS
STATE AID: European Commission approves Finnish State aid for businesses worth €2.3 billion
CULTURE: stories of European Heritage Days 2025 - call for entries open until 12 March
ECONOMY: Hungary invited to reduce its excessive public deficit by 2026
ECONOMY: EU Council approves revision of Belgian and Latvian post-Covid-19 recovery plans
ECONOMY: economic and budgetary policy recommendation for euro area makes competitiveness top priority
ENERGY: European Commission to rule on maintaining regulated electricity tariffs in France
ENERGY: ACER highlights obstacles to meeting demand in Poland
TAXATION: EU Council adopts new electronic value added tax exemption certificate to replace paper forms
TRANSPORT: European Commission unveils EU-funded technical support for African Road Safety Observatory
TRANSPORT/INDUSTRY: automotive, Henna Virkkunen hosts working group on sector's technological and digital transformation
ZIMBABWE: arms company Zimbabwe Defence Industries no longer affected by EU’s restrictive measures