Chapter News, COVID-19 News

EU Commission disburses €14 billion under SURE to nine Member States

The European Commission has disbursed €14 billion to nine EU countries in the second installment of financial support to Member States under the SURE instrument. As part of today's operations, Croatia has received €510 million, Cyprus €250 million, Greece €2 billion, Italy an additional €6.5 billion, Latvia €120 million, Lithuania €300 million, Malta €120 million, Slovenia €200 million and Spain an additional €4 billion. This support, in the form of loans granted on favourable terms, will assist these Member States...

Read more

Chapter News

ECB | The euro area financial sector in the pandemic crisis

Keynote speech by Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, at the 23rd EURO FINANCE WEEK | Frankfurt am Main, 16 November 2020 I am honoured to open the 23rd Euro Finance Week. My remarks today will focus on two main issues. First, I will provide an overview of the current economic situation in the euro area, and focus on how the pandemic has amplified existing vulnerabilities in the financial system. And second, I will highlight the important role that financial...

Read more

COVID-19 News, Member News

H&K | COVID-19 Vaccinations Are Coming, But What Will the PREP Act Immunize?

Highlights: Due to the recent announcements of successful trials for a COVID-19 vaccine, healthcare providers are asking about the extent to which the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) will protect them against liability under state and federal law. There is limited case law addressing the applicability of the PREP Act, but the bottom line of the few cases that have examined the question is that the PREP Act is likely to preempt state claims relating to...

Read more

Member News

Faegre Drinker | Draft Standard Contractual Clauses Released by European Commission: New Clause Cause for Applause?

Following on from this week’s big announcement by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) on its expectations for international data transfers after the European Court of Justice’s July 16 Schrems II decision, the European Commission released a draft set of new Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and a draft implementing decision. The Commission’s draft set of clauses allows for two new types of transfer (EU-based processor to ex-EU processor, and EU-based processor to ex-EU-controller) and contains important updates to bring the text of the...

Read more

Member News

Steptoe | The 5 Things We Like – and the 5 We Do Not – in the EDPB Post-Schrems II Recommendations

On November 10, 2020, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted the long-awaited "Recommendations 01/2020 on measures that supplement transfer tools to ensure compliance with the EU level of protection of personal data" (the recommendations) - available here. The recommendations should assist organizations in dealing with the consequences of the Schrems II judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (which invalidated the Privacy Shield and imposed additional requirements on organizations for their transfers of personal data). There are...

Read more

COVID-19 News, Member News

Vulcan Insight | EU Health Union: A Commission rethink on health crisis response

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission proposed on Wednesday to create a European Health Union to better equip the EU for the prevention, preparation and management of health crises. In its communication, the Commission said that in order to save lives and livelihoods it would push for a more resilient EU internal market and a sustained economic recovery. The draft proposal, which follows on from the State of the Union address by the President of the...

Read more

Member News

Via | Public transit isn’t dead: Three ways cities are upgrading their networks

Cities are getting creative and exploring changes to draw people back to public transportation and get the economy moving again. Is public transportation as we knew it officially dead? Despite the doomsday scenario seemingly cemented in the media, public transportation was actually already seeing diminished ridership around the world over the past decade — led by a 15% decline in bus riders in both the US and UK. COVID-19 should actually be seen as the long-overdue catalyst for change. Now more than ever, cities...

Read more

Chapter News, Trade & TTIP Related

EU Commission launches new complaints system to fight trade barriers and violations of sustainable trade commitments

The European Commission has today launched a new complaints system for reporting market access barriers and breaches of Trade and Sustainable Development commitments in the EU's trade agreements and under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences. The new complaints system reflects the Commission's increased efforts to strengthen the enforcement and implementation of trade agreements. It follows the Commission's appointment in July of its first Chief Trade Enforcement Officer (CTEO) to oversee its tougher action on enforcing trade policy, as well as the Commission's...

Read more

Chapter News, COVID-19 News

New Consumer Agenda: European Commission to empower consumers to become the driver of transition

Today, the European Commission launched the New Consumer Agenda to empower European consumers to play an active role in the green and digital transitions. The Agenda also addresses how to increase consumer protection and resilience during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought significant challenges affecting the daily lives of consumers. More concretely, the Agenda puts forward priorities and key action points to be taken in the next 5 years together with Member States at European and national levels. This will,...

Read more

Chapter News

LIFE programme: over €280 million in EU funding for environment, nature and climate action projects

The European Commission has approved an investment package of more than €280 million from the EU budget for over 120 new LIFE programme projects. This EU funding will trigger total investments of nearly €590 million to help meet these projects' ambitious goals for environment, nature, and climate action. This amount represents a 37% rise compared to last year. The projects will help to achieve the European Green Deal objectives by supporting the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the Circular Economy Action Plan, contributing to the green recovery from the Coronavirus...

Read more