The European Commission's international cooperation and development policy will continue to play a leading role in ensuring women's access to health and family planning services. Gender equality is a global priority. The European Commission supports this actively, in particular through the Gender Action Plan and EU external action. World-wide, around 225 million women are in need of modern contraception. More than 300,000 women die each year from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes, 99% of them in developing countries. Ensuring women's access to...

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European Commission plans for changes to the Financial Regulation, which governs the operation of the EU Budget, should be simplified further, according to a new opinion published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). The Commission is proposing what it calls an “ambitious revision” of the Regulation as part of its Mid-term Financial Review. In general, the auditors welcome the Commission’s intention to simplify the Regulation. They also note moves towards rewarding performance, a point which they have raised several...

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Growth prospects and macroeconomic imbalances  The Council discussed growth prospects and macroeconomic imbalances under the 'European Semester', the EU's annual policy monitoring process.  It adopted conclusions and approved a draft recommendation on the economic policies of the euro area.  "We are calling on member states to redouble their efforts to create a virtuous triangle of boosting investment, pursuing structural reforms and ensuring responsible fiscal policies", said Edward Scicluna, Maltese minister for finance and president of the Council. "These are our policy priorities...

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"Tomorrow, 28 January marks European Data Protection Day. Personal data protection is a fundamental right in the European Union; it is part of the European DNA and deserves the highest protection standards. 2016 was a historical year for data protection in the EU. We agreed on a data protection reform that will help stimulate the Digital Single Market in the EU by fostering consumer trust in online services and by providing legal certainty for businesses based on clear and uniform...

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EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström at the Bruegel Lunch Talk Ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for inviting me here today. In 2016, we saw many trying to reverse the trend of increasing globalisation, and increasing openness. Their reflex was to say "close a border! Build a wall!" - as though that were the solution to all our problems. It isn’t. The fact is that the nations of the world, and especially the nations of Europe, need each other, are dependent on each...

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