Breaking news

Business news and information from the European Union

Brussels adopts negotiating mandates for trade deal with the United States — 22 January 2019, 20:46 CET

The EU Commission adopted Friday proposals for negotiating directives for its trade talks with the United States: one on conformity assessment, and one on the elimination of tariffs for industrial goods.

European AI platform launches with EUR 20m EU funding — 18 January 2019, 01:32 CET

The EU's AI4EU artificial intelligence project officially launched Thursday with a view to mobilising Europe's AI community to build the first European on-demand Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform.

MEPs propose to improve EU approval procedure for pesticides — 18 January 2019, 00:51 CET

The EU Parliament put forward plans Wednesday to make the EU approval procedure of pesticides more transparent and accountable, including granting the public access to studies used in authorisation.

'Blame Brussels' culture must end: European Ombudsman — 17 January 2019, 23:12 CET

Europe's Ombudsman called Thursday for an end to the culture of EU states being able to blame 'Brussels' because of a lack of transparency and accountability of national governments' legislative work.

States who violate rule of law could lose EU funds, say MEPs — 17 January 2019, 23:09 CET

Governments who interfere with courts or fail to tackle fraud and corruption will risk suspension of EU funds, according to a draft law endorsed by the European Parliament on Thursday.

EU Court annuls Commission block of UPS buy of TNT — 17 January 2019, 00:14 CET

The European Court of Justice confirmed Wednesday that a 2013 Commission decision to prohibit the acquisition of TNT Express by UPS must be annulled due to procedural irregularity.

Brussels urges end to Member State veto on tax decisions — 16 January 2019, 18:59 CET

The European Commission kick-started a debate Tuesday on ending the requirement for unanimity among EU states on EU taxation policy, to avoid delays and 'sub-optimal' policies on key tax initiatives.

14,500 young people get free EU travel passes — 16 January 2019, 18:48 CET

More than 14,500 18-year-olds have been selected from almost 80,000 applications to receive a DiscoverEU travel pass, the EU initiative giving young people the opportunity to travel around Europe.

May's Brexit agreement suffers record Commons defeat — 16 January 2019, 00:06 CET

Prime minister Theresa May faces a no confidence vote Wednesday as she suffered the biggest ever defeat by a sitting government with MPs rejecting her EU withdrawal agreement by a record 432 votes to 202.

Brussels consults on EU equal pay guarantee — 15 January 2019, 23:26 CET

The European Commission has launched a public consultation to gather information on the impact of EU rules on equal pay and how to better implement and enforce the EU equal pay principles.

EU approves new rules on occupational pensions — 14 January 2019, 14:42 CET

The EU agreed new rules for work pension funds Thursday, in a bid to improve the way they are governed and to enhance clarity in the information that is provided to pension savers.

New EU rules on occupational pension funds in force — 14 January 2019, 14:38 CET

The EU's revised Directive on occupational pension funds, known as IORP II, which came into force on 13 January, aims to increase savers' trust in work pension funds regardless of where in the EU they are based.

ECB must allow full scrutiny of banking supervision: EU auditors — 14 January 2019, 14:13 CET

The European Court of Auditors called Monday on EU legislators to intervene and ensure the European Central Bank allows full access to documents for audits related to banking supervision.

Google 'right to be forgotten' applies only in EU, suggests EU Court — 11 January 2019, 00:27 CET

Google and other search engine operators need to guarantee the 'right to be forgotten' to users inside the European Union but not to users globally, the EU's Advocate General said in an Opinion Thursday.

EU begins probe into Nike's Dutch tax setup — 10 January 2019, 23:45 CET

The EU Commission opened an in-depth investigation Thursday to examine whether tax rulings granted by the Netherlands to Nike may have given the company an unfair advantage over its competitors.

EU's single currency turns 20 years old — 08 January 2019, 23:29 CET

The euro, Europe's common currency, turned 20 on 1 January 2019. 11 EU states launched the euro in January 1999, introducing a shared monetary policy under the European Central Bank.

EU lifts Thailand's 'yellow card' for illegal fishing — 08 January 2019, 23:25 CET

The European Commission removed Thailand off the list of "warned countries" Tuesday, in recognition of what it says is its progress in tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

EU anti-tax avoidance rules target multinationals — 03 January 2019, 23:44 CET

New EU rules to eliminate the main loopholes used in corporate tax avoidance came into force on 1 January, with legally binding anti-abuse measures targeting tax practises of some large multinationals.

Brexit heads major challenges for EU's new Romanian presidency — 03 January 2019, 00:13 CET

Major challenges of Brexit, the EU's future Budget and the upcoming European elections faced Romania on 1 January 2019 as it took over its first presidency of the European Union.

EU steps up WTO action against China over technology transfers — 21 December 2018, 00:11 CET

The EU is stepping up its challenge in the World Trade Organisation to practices that force European companies to give up sensitive technology and know-how as a precondition for doing business in China.

Legislators sign off on major reform of EU electricity market — 20 December 2018, 22:57 CET

EU legislators agreed Wednesday to new electricity market rules to better integrate renewable energy, help consumers switch energy providers and end state subsidies to the most polluting coal power plants.

EU states agree 30 pct cut in CO2 emissions from trucks by 2030 — 20 December 2018, 22:56 CET

EU environment ministers adopted a 'common position' on future CO2 standards for trucks and buses Thursday afternoon, the first time the EU is setting CO2 emission reduction targets for heavy-duty vehicles.

A website has data responsibility for Facebook 'like' button: EU Court — 20 December 2018, 14:07 CET

A website's use of Facebook's 'Like' button, which processes users' personal data, makes the website jointly responsible for that stage of the data processing, says the EU top Court's Advocate General.

EU agrees single-use plastics ban to reduce marine litter — 19 December 2018, 23:27 CET

Provisional plans to ban single-use plastics, agreed Wednesday by the EU institutions, target products most often found on beaches such as plates, cutlery, straws and cotton buds, and abandoned fishing gear.

EU agrees 2019 fish quotas for Atlantic and North Sea — 19 December 2018, 23:26 CET

After intense negotiations, EU fisheries ministers reached agreement in the early hours of Wednesday morning on the 2019 catch limits for the main commercial fish stocks in the Atlantic and North Sea.