Commissioner Vella announced the winners of the 2016 Natura 2000 Awards. The six winners include projects from Bulgaria, Latvia, Spain, the United Kingdom and cross-border projects from Belgium, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Finland and Norway. The annual Natura 2000 Awards recognise conservation achievements across the EU and raise awareness about initiatives that protect nature across Europe, benefiting citizens' quality of life as well as the economy on which their prosperity depends. Natura 2000 is a network of over 27 000 protected...

Data on your online activities - from social media to shopping - is regularly sold to American advertisers. Strong data protection standards are in place in the EU to protect your privacy, but this is not the case in the US. The EU is now negotiating a new agreement with the US called Privacy Shield to safeguard your data. MEPs debate whether this deal will offer enough protection in plenary on Wednesday 25 May. Read on for an explanation...

The European Commission's proposal for an EU anti-tax avoidance directive was welcomed by Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in a resolution voted on Tuesday. MEPs nonetheless advocated stricter limits on deductions for interest payments and an effective corporate tax rate of 15%. The committee approved its text by 20 votes to 15, with 21 abstentions. This outcome was closer than expected because at the last minute - during the voting - the EPP group decided to vote blank due...

The European Commission has just released a report on digital progress in the EU. The analysis shows that Member States are at very different stages in the development of the digital economy; some, for example, such as the Nordic countries, are among the most advanced in the world, whilst other still have a lot of catching up to do. Europe's Digital Progress Report (EDPR) presents a set of horizontal chapters analysing developments in five different aspects (connectivity, digital skills, use...

  1. The Italian economy continues to recover from a deep and protracted recession. Buoyed by exceptionally accommodative monetary policy, favorable commodity prices, supportive fiscal policy, and improved confidence on the back of the authorities’ wide-ranging reform efforts, the economy grew by 0.8 percent in 2015 and continued to expand in the first quarter of 2016. At the same time, labor market conditions have been gradually improving, and nonperforming loans (NPLs) appear to be stabilizing. Still, the challenges ahead are...

The European Commission has taken an important step today towards ensuring the effectiveness of so-called 'bail-in' rules for banks and, more broadly, clarifying the overall EU resolution framework. Today's proposed Delegated Regulation specifies the criteria that authorities responsible for resolving banks will need to consider when setting the minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) – or easily 'bail-inable' instruments - for the purpose of loss absorption and recapitalisation of banks. The Delegated Regulation will further clarify a...

Starting Monday, new rules will permit anyone, not just the moneyed, to risk $2,000 a year or more investing in small companies in exchange for a stake in the business. Companies can raise up to $1 million a year this way. This change, years in the making, represents an enormous shift, one that essentially permits anyone to become a venture capitalist — with all the attendant risks of losing one’s shirt on a company that fails. Until now, only accredited...