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Image header Agence Europe
Europe Daily Bulletin No. 13644
Contents Publication in full By article 2 / 36
EXTERNAL ACTION / Syria

EU Member States agree to lift economic sanctions

On Tuesday 20 May, EU foreign affairs ministers gave their political agreement to the lifting of all economic sanctions against Syria. In particular, this affects the Syrian banking system.

“This decision is reversible and also depends on progress. There cannot be peace without economic recovery, and we all need a stable Syria. Is everything really ideal? No, that’s not the case. (...) Either we give the Syrian people a chance to benefit from services, jobs and salaries in order to...

Contents

EXTERNAL ACTION
MIDDLE EAST: a majority of Member States call on European Commission to review EU-Israel Association Agreement
SYRIA: EU Member States agree to lift economic sanctions
HUMANITARIAN AID: Hadja Lahbib calls for greater “collective action” to tackle growing number of crises
UNITED KINGDOM: European Parliament political groups welcome new partnership agreements between EU and UK
Russian invasion of Ukraine
UKRAINE: having just adopted new sanctions against Russia, Europeans are already discussing next ones
RUSSIA: EU adopts new sanctions against Russia
ECONOMY: call to European Parliament for confiscation of frozen Russian assets
SECURITY - DEFENCE
DEFENCE: Spain opposes target of spending 5% of GDP on defence
SECTORAL POLICIES
MIGRATION: ‘safe third countries’ - European Commission makes it optional to consider a connection criterion between a person who has been rejected for asylum in EU and a third country
HOME AFFAIRS: stronger role for Europol in fight against smuggling networks, European Parliament ready to negotiate with EU Council
TRANSPORT: agreement between EU Council and European Parliament to strengthen role of European Maritime Safety Agency
DIGITAL: MEPs deem directive on AI liability “premature” and “superfluous”
CONSUMERS: faced with excesses of online commerce, MEPs are in favour of a fee per parcel
ENERGY: second European Hydrogen Bank auction—total of €992 million in funding to go to 15 selected projects
ENERGY: European energy efficiency financing coalition holds first General Assembly
ENERGY: energy price crisis—revenue collected from mandatory solidarity contribution totals more than €28 billion
ENERGY: Energy Charter Treaty, EU Council approves European Parliament’s position on intra-EU arbitration procedures
CLIMATE: EU Forum on adaptation to climate change - Wopke Hoekstra supports resilience built at all territorial levels
HEALTH: WHO member states adopt first-ever ‘global agreement on pandemics’
COHESION: EU countries due to adopt declaration on future of European Cohesion Policy on 21 May
FISHERIES: EU fishers come out winners in EU/UK fisheries agreement
ECONOMY - FINANCE
COMPANIES: ‘omnibus’ - Polish Presidency of EU Council submits second text on CSRD and CSDDD directives
ECONOMY: MEPs call for an 18-month extension of post-Covid-19 European Recovery Plan for most mature projects
ECONOMY: European Parliament / EU Council agreement on macrofinancial assistance to Egypt worth €4 billion
INSTITUTIONAL
BUDGET: Competitiveness Fund should be guided by joint investments, recommend experts at Annual EU Budget Conference
BUDGET: European People’s Party prepares its position on post-2027 multiannual financial framework
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - SOCIETAL ISSUES
WOMEN’S RIGHTS: implementation of Istanbul Convention is a political commitment, Ana Carla Pereira reminded MEPs
EDUCATION - YOUTH - CULTURE - SPORT
SPORT: Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski calls for greater EU commitment to protect European model from commodification
NEWS BRIEFS
ALBANIA: with opening of its fourth fundamental achievements cluster, Tirana is one step closer to EU membership
COMPETITION: European Commission unveils draft decision on EU/UK bilateral agreement
DEVELOPMENT: European Parliament Development Committee approves ‘Goerens’ report on aid funding
ECONOMY: euro area inflation at 2.2% in April
FINANCE: European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs in favour of reducing settlement cycle for securities transactions in EU
RESEARCH: Poland inaugurates first national hub dedicated to EU Cancer Mission
REGIONS: initial EU support of €24 million for Mayotte
SOCIAL: coordination of social security schemes - EU co-legislators are due to meet again on 3 June to try to reach agreement