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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 13604

21 March 2025
Contents Publication in full By article 6 / 41
EUROPEAN COUNCIL / European council
EU27 reach agreement on Middle East, multilateralism and the oceans
Brussels, 20/03/2025 (Agence Europe)

The leaders of EU Member States turned their attention to the situation in the Middle East on Thursday 20 March, and were united in calling for the immediate and full implementation of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. They adopted the text of the conclusions that we had detailed (see EUROPE B13603A3), prepared in advance of the meeting.

The same process was followed for the subject of multilateralism, which the leaders addressed in the afternoon. They reiterated their commitment to the...

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