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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 13604

21 March 2025
Contents Publication in full By article 15 / 41
Russian invasion of Ukraine / Economy
EU pays additional €1 billion to Ukraine as part of G7 plan

20/03/2025 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 20 March, the European Commission announced the payment of an additional €1 billion to Ukraine as part of its share of the G7 loan, to be repaid with proceeds from immobilised Russian assets. This is a tranche of its exceptional Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) loan of €18.1 billion, which represents the EU’s contribution to the G7 loan. This loan is intended to provide financial support of around €45 billion to Ukraine. According to...

Contents

EUROPEAN COUNCIL
COMPETITIVENESS: EU27 united to “accelerate our economic agenda”, says António Costa
BUDGET: joint loan, own resources... Member States are divided on solutions for EU’s next long-term budget
UKRAINE: Volodymyr Zelensky calls for pressure on Russia to accept ceasefire
DEFENCE: European leaders call for acceleration of work
MIGRATION: EU27 call for swift examination of new Commission proposal on ‘returns’
EUROPEAN COUNCIL: EU27 reach agreement on Middle East, multilateralism and the oceans
INSTITUTIONAL
BUDGET: MEPs approve draft report on 2026 budget guidelines
BUDGET: fifteen NGOs urge European Council to adopt new own resources
EXTERNAL ACTION
UNITED STATES: European Commission postpones by two weeks its first wave of tariffs against Washington
CYPRUS: Cyprus issue on a positive trajectory, welcomes Nikos Christodoulides
TURKEY: Europeans question arrest of mayor of Istanbul
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: several MEPs call for sanctions to be imposed on Milorad Dodik
INDIA: EU commits to prevention of extremism and circular economy in country
Russian invasion of Ukraine
UKRAINE: ‘Register of damage for Ukraine’ opens up to new categories of complaint and raises question of frozen Russian assets
ECONOMY: EU pays additional €1 billion to Ukraine as part of G7 plan
SECURITY - DEFENCE - SPACE
NATO: Europe must not go it alone when it comes to defence, warns Radmila Shekerinska
SPACE: ESA Council finalises Agency’s 2040 strategy
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
ECB: Christine Lagarde recommends “closer integration” with rest of world and within EU to tackle US trade war
MONEY LAUNDERING: MEPs approve executive board for future AMLA
SECTORAL POLICIES
HEALTH: Olivér Várhelyi wants to do everything possible to “recover” billion lost in EU4Health programme
HEALTH: first positive response from EU Member States to text on critical medicines
AGRICULTURE : European Parliament is divided on proposal for an EU forest monitoring framework
AGRICULTURE : Christophe Hansen is prepared to continue relaxing certain rules on conditionality of aid
FISHERIES: many EU countries are failing to put an end to destructive fishing in protected areas, deplore NGOs
ENERGY: European hydrogen industry welcomes European Commission’s action plan for steel and aluminium
ENERGY/CLIMATE: EU supports just energy transition in South Africa after US withdrawal
DIGITAL: 40 MEPs call on European Commission to force Member States to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks
RESEARCH: European Commission is creating new partnerships in fields of advanced materials, textiles and photovoltaic energy
SOCIAL AFFAIRS
SOCIAL/EMPLOYMENT: social security – European Parliament wants to work towards an agreement with EU Council, but refuses any backtracking on key provisions
EDUCATION - YOUTH - CULTURE - SPORT
EDUCATION: European Universities alliances – rather than enlargement, MEPs prefer support for research and a stronger coalition
SPORT: future of European Sport Model – MEPs support financial solidarity between grassroots activities and professional practice
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - SOCIETAL ISSUES
WOMEN’S RIGHTS: United Nations Commission on Status of Women, MEPs discuss issue of online violence
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
HUMAN RIGHTS: Council of Europe publishes 2024 report on execution of ECHR’s judgments
COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EU
CONSUMERS: CJEU clarifies conditions for application of Unfair Contractual Terms Directive in contracts between a sportsperson and a company
NEWS BRIEFS
BANGLADESH: EU launches a €2 million subsidised project to support people affected by violence in summer 2024
ENERGY: Renewable energy sources accounted for 46.9% of net electricity production in EU in 2024
ENVIRONMENT: European Parliament Environment Committee adopts provisional agreement on revision of ‘food and textile waste’ framework directive
ENVIRONMENT: Jessika Roswall in Rome to discuss resilience in water sector
ENVIRONMENT: CINEA’s ‘Farm LIFE’ programme aims to transform European agriculture with trees
SOMALIA: EU reaffirms its support for Somalia in its fight against terrorist group al-Shabaab
ZAMBIA: EU welcomes abolition of death penalty