EU web links

A collection of links to web sites of the European Union institutions and other European business web sites.

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BlueInvest platform — 04 February 2020, 18:37 CET

The BlueInvest platform supports investment readiness and access to finance for early-stage businesses, SMEs and scale-ups in the blue economy.

Cybersecurity of 5G networks - EU Toolbox of risk mitigating measures — 30 January 2020, 00:10 CET

The objectives of this toolbox are to identify a possible common set of measures which are able to mitigate the main cybersecurity risks of 5G networks, and to provide guidance for the selection of measures which should be prioritised in mitigation plans at national and at Union level. It does this in order to create a robust framework of measures with a view to ensure an adequate level of cybersecurity of 5G networks across the EU and coordinated approaches among Member States.

New Deal for Consumers — 07 January 2020, 21:47 CET

The "New Deal for Consumers" initiative aimed at strengthening enforcement of EU consumer law in light of a growing risk of EU-wide infringements and at modernising EU consumer protection rules in view of market developments. The Commission adopted it on the 11 April 2018.

EU Water Legislation - Fitness Check — 13 December 2019, 00:22 CET

The fitness check is a comprehensive policy evaluation of: the Water Framework Directive (WFD); the Environmental Quality Standards Directive (EQSD); the Groundwater Directive (GWD); the Floods Directive (FD). It assesses whether the Directives are fit for purpose by examining their performance against 5 criteria set out in the Commission’s Better Regulation agenda: effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, relevance and EU added value.

Due diligence ready! — 21 November 2019, 13:53 CET

The 'Due diligence ready!' online portal contains information, tools and training materials to guide your company in conducting due diligence on its minerals and metals supply chain. It is available in 7 languages.

Erasmus+ student exchange programme — 06 November 2019, 21:30 CET

Erasmus+ is the EU's programme for mobility and transnational cooperation in the areas of education, training, youth and sport for the period 2014-2020. The current programme, as well as its successor, coming into effect in 2021, have a key role in making the European Education Area a reality by 2025. Erasmus+ aims to facilitate access to the programme for participants from all backgrounds, with a particular focus on reaching out to people with social, economic, physical or geographic disadvantages.

.eu top-level domain — 17 October 2019, 23:24 CET

The .eu top-level domain gives Europe its own Internet identity. It aims to boost the visibility of the European Union on the Internet, increase users' choice of domain names and promote the development of electronic commerce.

European Labour Authority — 16 October 2019, 18:24 CET

The European Labour Authority (ELA) ensures that EU rules on labour mobility and social security coordination are enforced in a fair and effective way and makes it easier for citizens and businesses to reap the benefits of the internal market.

Joint Research Centre (JRC) — 10 October 2019, 21:14 CET

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission's science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to EU policy.

Stages - Traineeship — 02 October 2019, 23:28 CET

Trainees work all over the European Commission/Services/Agencies mostly in Brussels, but also in Luxembourg and across the European Union. The content of the job depends on the service you are assigned to. You may, for example, work in the field of competition law, human resources, environmental policy etc.

Africa-Europe Alliance — 02 October 2019, 23:23 CET

In his State of the Union Address on 12 September 2018, President Jean-Claude Juncker announced a new Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs. It complements the long-standing political partnership between the two continents. It deepens the economic and trade relations and goes beyond a donor-recipient approach, an "equals’ alliance".

EU Beach Clean Up 2019 — 19 September 2019, 18:21 CET

Every year millions of tons of trash end up in the ocean. By 2050 there could be more plastic than fish in the sea. Therefore, the European Union, the United Nations and the Smurfs are teaming up. For clean oceans and clean beaches. EU and UN offices all across the world will organise beach cleanup events together with local organisations, schools, etc.

Payment services (PSD 2) - Directive (EU) 2015/2366 — 13 September 2019, 23:05 CET

In 2015 the EU adopted a new directive on payment services (PSD 2) to improve the existing rules and take new digital payment services into account. The directive became applicable in January 2018. It includes provisions to make it easier and safer to use internet payment services; better protect consumers against fraud, abuse, and payment problems; promote innovative mobile and internet payment services; strengthen consumer rights; strengthen the role of the European Banking Authority (EBA) to coordinate supervisory authorities and draft technical standards

Brexit preparedness checklist — 13 September 2019, 11:48 CET

This checklist has been developed for information purposes and is meant to help companies doing business in the EU and/or in the United Kingdom (UK) to double-check their state of preparedness for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

European Cybersecurity Act — 26 June 2019, 23:20 CET

The EU Cybersecurity Act revamps and strengthens the EU Agency for cybersecurity (ENISA) and establishes an EU-wide cybersecurity certification framework for digital products, services and processes.

Market Access database — 17 June 2019, 22:53 CET

The Market Access Database (MADB) gives information to companies exporting from the EU about import conditions in third country markets.

Company Law and Corporate Governance — 10 June 2019, 18:01 CET

The purpose of EU rules in this area is to: enable businesses to be set up and to carry out operations anywhere in the EU; provide protection for shareholders and other parties with a particular interest in companies, such as employees and creditors; make business more efficient, competitive and sustainable in the long term; encourage businesses based in different EU countries to cooperate with each other. EU company reporting, auditing and transparency rules complement this legal framework.

Bathing water quality - signs and symbols — 06 June 2019, 22:59 CET

The new Directive ensures timely information of the public during the bathing season, with an obligation for Member States to disseminate actively and promptly information on bathing water quality. In particular, notices banning or advising against bathing should be rapidly and easily identifiable. The Commission adopted on 27 May 2011 a decision establishing a symbol for information to the public on bathing water classification and any bathing prohibition.

European Election Results in 2014 — 21 May 2019, 12:15 CET

The elections were held in the UK on 22 May 2014. The UK voted in 73 MEPs from its 12 constituencies. An MEP additional seat in comparison of the previous elections, as a result of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty

European Election Results in 2009 — 21 May 2019, 12:10 CET

Results of the 2009 European elections - numbers of European Parliament seats by political group and by EU Member State

Systems for tobacco traceability and security features — 20 May 2019, 16:54 CET

Articles 15 and 16 of the Tobacco Products Directive 2014/40/EU (TPD) provide for EU-wide systems of traceability and security features for tobacco products to address the issue of illicit trade.

Youth4Regions programme for aspiring journalists — 09 April 2019, 23:50 CET

Youth4Regions is a European Commission programme helping journalism students and young journalists to discover what the EU is doing in their region.

EU Transport Scoreboard — 19 March 2019, 23:36 CET

The 'EU Transport Scoreboard' is a benchmark comparing how EU Member States perform in 30 categories covering all aspects of transport. The goal of the Scoreboard is to help Member States identify areas requiring priority investment and action. The Scoreboard brings together data from a variety of public sources (such as Eurostat, the European Environment Agency and the World Economic Forum). It can be consulted either by country or by topic (Internal Market, Investment and Infrastructure, Energy Union and Innovation, People).

Modernising VAT for cross-border e-commerce — 13 March 2019, 18:21 CET

European Commission DG TAXUD page on VAT for e-commerce including legal texts

ENISA - European Union Agency for Network and Information Security — 12 March 2019, 18:16 CET

The European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) is a centre of expertise for cyber security in Europe. The Agency is located in Greece with its seat in Athens and a branch office in Heraklion, Crete. ENISA is actively contributing to a high level of network and information security (NIS) within the Union, since it was set up in 2004, to the development of a culture of NIS in society and in order to raise awareness of NIS, thus contributing to proper functioning of the internal market.