From July 1 through December 31, 2015, Luxembourg holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union. This important role is responsible for driving forward the Council's agenda and its work on legislation, as well as ensuring cooperation among Member States. Learn more.   IN THIS CONTEXT: What is the EU Presidency and how is it distinct from the individual presidencies of the major institutions? While each of the major EU institutions is led by an individual president—including European Council President...

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued today its official opinion agreeing to a seven-day emergency short selling prohibition proposed by the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HMCM) under the Short Selling Regulation. The ban will take effect on 00:00:01 hours (CET) 30 June 2015 and remain in place until 24:00:00 (CET) on 6 July 2015 and temporarily prohibit transactions in any financial instrument that create, or increase, a net short position on any of the shares admitted to...

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Speech: London, 30 June 2015 - Jonathan Hill, European Commissioner for Financial stability, financial services and capital markets union at TheCityUK Annual Conference It is a great pleasure to be here at the annual conference of an organisation that does so much to champion the UK's financial services industry. And there is of course a lot to champion. Hundreds of thousands of people work in financial services and linked industries here in the City. They are linked in turn to other...

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Brussels, 30 June 2015 -- Today the European Commission launches a call for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to help finance key trans-European energy infrastructure projects. Up to €550 million will be made available for projects which will contribute to develop a resilient Energy Union. Once in place, these projects will contribute to end energy isolation and to eliminate energy bottlenecks that prevent the completion of the European internal energy market. This investment money will act as...

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In the early hours of 30 June 2015, after 12 hours of negotiation, the Latvian presidency reached a provisional deal with the European Parliament on new rules to end mobile phone roaming fees and safeguard open internet access, also known as net neutrality rules. For the Council, the agreement still has to be confirmed by member states. End of roaming fees in mid-2017 Under the agreement, roaming surcharges in the European Union will be abolished as of 15 June 2017. However,...

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EP President Martin Schulz said the EU institutions are appealing to the Greek people to vote in favour of their proposals during Sunday's referendum. Speaking about proposals made to continue economic support for the country, Schulz said yesterday this represented "a hand stretched to the Greek people", adding that the result of the referendum would prove "fundamental" to Greece's position in the euro zone. "What will happen in the referendum affects first of all the Greek people," he said....

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Today the European Parliament's Conference of Presidents (EP President and political group leaders) discussed the latest situation on Greece with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The Conference of Presidents then discussed the situation further and adopted a position on the immediate next step that should be taken. It called for all parties to the talks on Greece to return to the negotiating table before the end of Tuesday to discuss how to avoid negative developments for Greece and possible ways of...

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Brussels, 29 June 2015 -- Today the Commission is further delivering on its top priority of creating jobs and boosting growth in Europe, by unveiling a record €13.1 billion investment plan in 276 transport projects, selected under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). This investment will unlock additional public and private co-financing for a combined amount of €28.8 billion. Along with the future European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the CEF will play a major role in bridging the investment gap...

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Brussels, 28 June 2015 - In the interest of transparency and for the information of the Greek people, the European Commission is publishing the latest proposals agreed among the three institutions (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund), which take into account the proposals of the Greek authorities of 8, 14, 22 and 25 June 2015 as well as the talks at political and technical level throughout the week. Discussions on this text were ongoing with the Greek...

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