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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 13631
Contents Publication in full By article 28 / 30
NEWS BRIEFS / Economy

More EU countries activate national escape clause of Stability Pact

30/04/2025 (Agence Europe) – Along with Germany (see EUROPE B13629A2), Greece and Latvia (see EUROPE B13630A30), more than a dozen countries in total officially activated the national escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact on Wednesday 30 April, so as to be able to commit to major military spending between 2025 and 2029 without breaching EU fiscal rules. This group includes Estonia, Finland, Hungary and Poland. On Wednesday 4 June, the European Commission will report on the...

Contents

Time off: Labour day
SECURITY - DEFENCE
DEFENCE: investments under 2024 edition of European Defence Fund amount to €910 million
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
ECONOMY/DEFENCE: resumption of discussions in EU Council on ‘SAFE’ instrument of loans for rearmament of Member States
FINANCE: European financial sector decision-makers and institutions agree on need to simplify rules
TAXATION: workers’ after-tax pay increased in most OECD countries in 2024, except for single-parent families
INSTITUTIONAL
BUDGET: EU budget needs new own resources, but Member States are defending their “sovereign right” to levy taxes
EPP: meeting in Valencia, Christian Democrat family openly criticises its pro-European partners
SOCIAL AFFAIRS - EMPLOYMENT
EMPLOYMENT: quality traineeships - discussions between Member States stall
SECTORAL POLICIES
ENVIRONMENT: future ‘nature credits’ on voluntary basis could serve as source of additional income for farmers, according to European Commission
RESEARCH: Ursula von der Leyen and Emmanuel Macron want to attract researchers to Europe and France
ENERGY: EU Council experts examine first version of conclusions on energy security
ENERGY: European electricity distribution and transmission system operators launch collaborative DSO/TSO Technopedia platform
ENERGY: approximately fifty energy sector players call on EU and UK to link their respective carbon pricing systems
DIGITAL: two NGOs denounce intensive lobbying by digital giants to water down ambitions of European code of practice on AI models
CONSUMERS: France wants to push EU to adopt a transitional measure to curb problem of e-commerce and dangerous parcels from China
TRANSPORT: EU is lagging behind in adoption of electric vehicles, despite emergence of new, more affordable models
EXTERNAL ACTION
UNITED KINGDOM: Member States reiterate their expectations for potential new areas of cooperation with United Kingdom
MIDDLE EAST: EU calls for immediate resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza
CHINA: Beijing lifts sanctions against four MEPs
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - SOCIETAL ISSUES
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: development of national human rights institutions is still uneven, according to European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
MEDIA: European Commission launches three calls for proposals to support independent and pan-European information
EDUCATION - YOUTH - CULTURE - SPORT
EDUCATION: ‘European diploma’ - ahead of EU Council meeting on 12 May, Member States are still facing obstacles
COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EU
RUSSIA: exporting cash from EU to Russia to finance medical treatment is illegal, says Court of Justice
TRADE: Court of Justice refers a case concerning importation into EU of ammonium nitrate from Russia to General Court
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
SERBIA: European Court of Human Rights announces interim measure to ban use of sonic weapons in repression of demonstrations in Serbia
NEWS BRIEFS
CULTURE: animated film “Flow” wins 2025 LUX Audience Award
DEFENCE: design of FACT project complete
ECONOMY: more EU countries activate national escape clause of Stability Pact
KUWAIT: EU “deeply concerned” by new executions
SPORT: EU Member States clarify their position on revision of World Anti-Doping Code