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Europe Daily Bulletin No. 13836
Contents Publication in full By article 21 / 27
NEWS BRIEFS / Economy/defence

‘SAFE’ instrument - European Commission gives green light to French and Czech investment plans

Brussels, 25/03/2026 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 25 March, the European Commission approved the investment plans of France and the Czech Republic, supported respectively with €15.09 billion and €2.06 billion under the European ‘SAFE’ instrument which provides loans to Member States to increase their military spending (see EUROPE B13827A28). It should be noted that the French plan initially had a budget of €16.22 billion (see EUROPE B13705A18). The two plans still have to...

Contents

INSTITUTIONAL
COHESION: European Union to redirect €34.6 billion in funding to meet new strategic priorities
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PLENARY
ENERGY: MEPs call for more independence in face of rising energy prices
Russian invasion of Ukraine
JUSTICE: European Commission presents proposal to make EU founding member of Special Tribunal for Crime of Aggression against Ukraine
SECURITY - DEFENCE
DEFENCE: European Commission unveils ‘AGILE’ Fund designed to integrate disruptive technologies into military sector
EXTERNAL ACTION
TRADE: reform of organisation and Middle East conflict central to discussions between European ministers at 14th WTO Ministerial Conference
SECTORAL POLICIES
CIVIL PROTECTION: after devastating fires of summer 2025, European Commission is launching a new Wildfire Risk Management strategy
JUSTICE: Ewa Kopacz calls for children’s rights to be integrated into all European policies
INTERNAL MARKET: 60% of barriers to EU’s single market in services identified in 2002 still existed in 2023, laments report by European Court of Auditors
FISHERIES: European ministers to discuss challenges facing small-scale fishing on Monday 30 March
AGRICULTURE: Belgium and other countries warn of milk crisis and call for European response
AGRICULTURE: World Bank publishes recommendations to strengthen agricultural risk management in EU
COMPETITIVENESS: following new global data, EUROFER urges EU legislators to agree on steel protection clause
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS
CUSTOMS: French city of Lille to host future European Union Customs Authority in 2028
EUROGROUP: EU countries will take stock of macroeconomic impact of war in Middle East and budgetary measures taken to deal with it
ECB: Frankfurt institute seeks to anticipate pass-through of energy shock to inflation
SOCIAL AFFAIRS - EMPLOYMENT
SOCIAL: Estelle Ceulemans calls for mandatory assessment of psychosocial risks in workplace by employers under ‘Quality Jobs’
COUNCIL OF EUROPE
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: implementation of judgments of European Court of Human Rights progresses, but faces “challenges”
NEWS BRIEFS
DEFENCE: European Parliament and Council of EU continue negotiations on intra-EU transfers of defence-related products
DEVELOPMENT: EU ambassadors approve European Parliament/EU Council agreement on reform of external action budget guarantee
ECONOMY: EU countries give green light to revision of Italy’s post-Covid-19 recovery plan
ECONOMY/DEFENCE: ‘SAFE’ instrument - European Commission gives green light to French and Czech investment plans
FINANCES: EU ambassadors approve extension of EIOPA Chairperson’s mandate
INTERNAL MARKET: Europe’s lottery sector redistributed a record €29.4 billion in 2024, according to new report
MIGRATION: first-time asylum applications in European Union fell by 27% in 2025
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Lukas Sieper, MEP from Party of Progress, joins Renew Europe group in European Parliament
RESEARCH: European Commission allocates €617.18 million to doctoral programmes designed to strengthen Europe’s talent pool
TRANSPORT: European Commission registers a European Citizens’ Initiative on accessible and sustainable transport