The Council of the EU and the European Parliament have agreed to link payments from the EU’s €1.8trn budget-and-recovery package to concerns about the rule of law within Member States.
On Friday 23 October the European Parliament voted against a proposal to ban the use of meaty terms such as “burger” and “sausages” on vegetarian products.
The Home Office has announced that as of Friday 1 January 2021, EU citizens will be subject to the same travel regulations as foreign nationals — meaning those with criminal records could be denied entry to the UK if deemed necessary to ensure the safety of British citizens.
The ECJ’s recent judgment has concluded that Hungary has breached EU law with its reform of higher education rules.
The EU looks set to approve Google’s $2.1bn acquisition of fitness tracker maker Fitbit. The purchase will allow Google to go toe to toe with Apple and Samsung in the wearable technology market.
After a marathon meeting, European leaders have agreed a €750bn package to help Europe recover economically from COVID-19. €390bn will be distributed in grants to member states that have been particularly hard hit and a further €360bn will be made available in low interest loans. Leaders also agreed a new seven-year budget which totals €1.074tn.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) recently ruled that the EU-US Privacy Shield (the legal mechanism used to transfer data between the EU and the US) was invalid.
The General Court of the EU has found that Apple does not need to pay €14bn in back taxes to Ireland, but that won’t stop the EU’s fight for tax accountability.
On 11 December 2019, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, hailed “Europe’s man on the moon moment”. She was referring to the European Green Deal. The deal is an unprecedented plan, spearheaded by von der Leyen and her Vice-President Frans Timmermans, to transform the EU’s 27 Member States into a region defined by its sustainable development and low carbon economy. It charts a course for the EU bloc to be carbon neutral by 2050. But for this to happen, a lot will have to change.
The EU’s “New Deal for Consumers” initiative will see fines similar to those imposed by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation Directive (GDPR) on businesses for breaches of consumer law.