This week, COP31, the UN Climate Change Conference, gets underway in Antalya, Türkiye; EU leaders meet for an informal summit in Dublin; finance ministers look to reach political agreement on the tobacco taxation package; the Commission holds implementation dialogues on research security and on geographical indications, and the European research and innovation days 2026; the EU Council and European Parliament aim to agree on the EU’s annual budget for 2027; and MEPs in plenary assess the need for further sanctions against Russia in response to the escalating attacks on Ukraine, and discuss how to enhance the EU’s cyber resilience capabilities.
The EU decided to suspend a number of sanctions on Syria, aiming to facilitate engagement with the country, its people and businesses in key areas such as energy and transport.
Poland took over the presidency of the EU on 1 January promising to strenthen European security in its external, internal, information, economic, energy, food, and health dimensions.
The European Parliament gave formal approval Wednesday to the new team and programme of EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, with her College of Commissioners expected to take office on 1 December.
The European Parliament gave its green light Tuesday to an extraordinary loan of up to EUR 35 billion to Ukraine, to be repaid with future revenues from frozen Russian assets.
The European Union issued a strong condemnation Tuesday of Russia’s intensifying campaign of hybrid activities against the EU such as cyber-attacks and information manipulation. These activities illustrated Russia’s reckless and…














