The amount of plastic waste produced globally is on track to almost triple by 2060, with around half ending up in landfill and less than a fifth recycled, according to a new OECD report. Global Plastics Outlook: Policy Scenarios to 2060 says that without radical action to curb demand, increase product lifespans and improve waste management and recyclability, plastic pollution will rise in tandem with an almost threefold increase in plastics use driven by rising populations and incomes. The report...

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​​Tourism has been one of the sectors worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic: hotels, restaurants, airlines and travel agencies had to stop their activity almost completely during a long period and only now touristic activity is slowly recovering back to pre-2020 levels. However, the pandemic has also accelerated the transition to a more sustainable models of tourism. This was the topic of a conference organised by the CoR's NAT Commission in Santiago de Compostela on 3 June. The host...

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The European Commission and the US Commerce Department have agreed to strengthen coordination on the enforcement of export controls on Russia, building on the excellent cooperation under the US-EU Trade and Technology Council. In a meeting in Brussels, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves, US Ambassador to the European Union Mark Gitenstein and Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod, discussed export control enforcement with Bjoern Seibert, Head of Cabinet for the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der...

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Introductory statement by Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the meeting of the Euro Accession Countries Working Group of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament | Brussels, 1 June 2022 | Thank you for inviting me to discuss our latest ECB Convergence Report. As foreseen in the EU Treaties, we publish our Convergence Report at least once every two years. The report examines the progress made by non-euro area Member States...

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Today, the European Commission has concluded that Croatia is ready to adopt the euro on 1 January 2023, bringing the number of euro area Member States to twenty. The conclusion is set out in the 2022 Convergence Report, which assesses the progress that Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden have made towards joining the euro area. These are the seven non-euro area Member States that are legally committed to adopting the euro. The Report concludes that: Only Croatia...

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The US dollar has long played an outsized role in global markets. It continues to do so even as the American economy has been producing a shrinking share of global output over the last two decades. But although the currency’s presence in global trade, international debt, and non-bank borrowing still far outstrips the US share of trade, bond issuance, and international borrowing and lending, central banks aren’t holding the greenback in their reserves to the extent that they once did. As...

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Regular harmonised surveys are conducted by the European Commission's Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) for different sectors of the economies in the European Union (EU) and in the applicant countries. May 2022: Economic Sentiment slightly down in the EU, broadly stable in the euro area; Employment Expectations mildly up in both regions In May 2022, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) decreased slightly in the EU (-0.5 points to 104.1), while it stayed broadly unchanged in the euro...

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On the first day of the special European Council taking place on 30-31 May, EU leaders agreed on the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, that includes a ban on crude oil and petroleum products, with a temporary exception for crude oil delivered by pipeline. President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the agreement, calling it an important step forward. She also recalled other restrictive measures that this package of sanctions includes, such as de-SWIFTing Sberbank, by far...

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On the first day of the summit, the European Council adopted conclusions on Ukraine. The leaders were joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video conference for a discussion at the beginning of the summit. European Council conclusions on Ukraine, 30 May 2022 Remarks by President Charles Michel following the first day of the special meeting of the European Council, 30 May 2022 On the second day of the summit, EU leaders will discuss energy, defence and food security. Invitation...

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On 25 May 2022, the European Commission is proposing to add the violation of EU restrictive measures to the list of EU crimes. The Commission is also proposing new reinforced rules on asset recovery and confiscation, which will also contribute to the implementation of EU restrictive measures. While the Russian aggression on Ukraine is ongoing, it is paramount that EU restrictive measures are fully implemented and the violation of those measures must not be allowed to pay off. Today's...

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