EU web links

A collection of links to web sites of the European Union institutions and other European business web sites.

* * Premium Membership - all your content on EUbusiness.com for a year! * *

Recovery and Resilience Facility

The Recovery and Resilience Facility is the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU to help the EU emerge stronger and more resilient from the current crisis. The Facility will make EUR 672.5 billion in loans and grants available to support reforms and investments undertaken by Member States. The aim is to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions.

European Electronic Communication Code

The EU Electronic Communications Code (EECC) is a new directive consolidating and reforming the framework for the regulation of electronic communications services and networks across the EEA. Member states had to adapt their existing telecommunications regulations in accordance with the EECC by 2020 - Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 establishing the European Electronic Communications Code (Recast)Text with EEA relevance.

EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement

The EU and Japan's Economic Partnership Agreement entered into force on 1 February 2019. Together the EU and Japan make up for a quarter of the world's GDP and bilateral trade reaches some EUR 170 billion a year. The trade agreement with Japan: removes tariffs and other trade barriers and creates a platform to cooperate in order to prevent obstacles to trade; and helps the EU shape global trade rules in line with its standards and shared values, and sends a powerful signal that two of the world's biggest economies reject protectionism.

Euroscola

The European Parliament set up the Euroscola project in 1990, thus allowing hundreds of thousands of high-school students to participate in a simulation exercise of the work of MEPs.

SME definition

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent 99 per cent of all businesses in the European Union. The definition of an SME is seen as important for access to finance and EU support programmes targeted specifically at these enterprises.

Provisional calendar of meetings under Portugal's EU presidency

Indicative calendar of meetings under the Portuguese Presidency (1 January - 31 July 2021)

Priorities of Portugal's presidency of the EU Council

For Portugal's Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) it will be very important to strengthen Europe's resilience and its citizens' confidence in the European social model, promoting - a Union capable of coordinated action to recover from the crisis.

EU Presidency

The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, the upper house of the EU legislature. It rotates among the EU Member States every six months. The presidency is not an individual, but the position is held by a national government. The presidency's function is to chair meetings of the Council, determine its agendas, set a work programme and facilitate dialogue both at Council meetings and with other EU institutions. The current presidency (as of January 2021) is held by Portugal.

Draft EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement

On 24 December 2020, the European Union and the United Kingdom reached an agreement in principle on the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

InvestEU

The InvestEU Programme brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments currently available and expand the successful model of the Investment Plan for Europe. With InvestEU, the Commission will further boost investment, innovation and job creation, triggering at least EUR 650 billion in additional investment.

Creative Europe

Creative Europe is the European Commission's framework programme for support to the culture and audiovisual sectors. Creative Europe is divided into two sub-programmes, Culture and MEDIA, and is supported by a cross-sectoral strand.

GI view - Search for Geographical Indications across the European Union and beyond

GIview is a modern user interface portal on geographical indications (GIs). It offers the public in general, as well as specific interested parties (e.g. producers, trade mark and other IP rights holders, enforcement authorities, public administration examiners), comprehensive information on all GIs protected within the EU (including non-EU countries’ GIs protected at EU level through bilateral and multilateral agreements), as well as on EU GIs protected in non-EU countries.

Gender equality

Promoting equal economic independence for women and men, closing the gender pay gap, advancing gender balance in decision making, ending gender based violence and promoting gender equality beyond the EU.

Access2Markets - Exporting from the EU, importing into the EU

Product-by-product information on tariffs & taxes; customs procedures; rules of origin; trade barriers; product requirements; statistics for all EU countries and for more than 120 export markets around the world.

LIFE Programme - EU financing for the environment and climate action

The LIFE programme is the EU's funding instrument for the environment and climate action created in 1992. The current funding period 2014-2020 has a budget of EUR 3.4 billion.

2021-2027 long-term EU budget & Next Generation EU

On 10 November 2020, the European Parliament and EU Member States in the Council reached a historic agreement on the next long-term budget and NextGenerationEU, the temporary recovery instrument. Once adopted, the package of a total of €1.8 trillion will be the largest package ever financed through the EU budget. It will help rebuild a post-COVID-19 Europe, which will be greener, more digital, more resilient and better fit for the current and forthcoming challenges.

EU Agency for Railways

The EU Agency for Railways is mandated to issue single safety certificates and vehicle (type) authorisations valid in multiple European countries and to ensure an interoperable European Rail Traffic Management System, in the development and implementation of the Single European Railway Area.

Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought

Awarded for the first time in 1988 to Nelson Mandela and Anatoli Marchenko, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is the highest tribute paid by the European Union to human rights work. It gives recognition to individuals, groups and organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to protecting freedom of thought. Through the prize and its associated network the EU assists laureates, who are supported and empowered in their efforts to defend their causes.

SURE - the temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency

The temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) is available for Member States that need to mobilise significant financial means to fight the negative economic and social consequences of the coronavirus outbreak on their territory. It can provide financial assistance up to EUR 100 billion in the form of loans from the EU to affected Member States to address sudden increases in public expenditure for the preservation of employment.

Single European Sky

Since 2004, the European Union (EU) has gained competences in air traffic management (ATM) and the decision-making process has moved away from an intergovernmental practice to the EU framework. The EU’s main objective is to reform ATM in Europe in order to cope with sustained air traffic growth and operations under the safest, most cost- and flight-efficient and environmentally friendly conditions.

DOOR - EU Database of Origin and Registration

You can search by country, product type, registered name and name applied for, and by: protected designations of origin (PDOs); protected geographical indications (PGIs); traditional specialities guaranteed (TSGs)

Geographical indications and traditional specialities

EU quality policy aims at protecting the names of specific products to promote their unique characteristics, linked to their geographical origin as well as traditional know-how. Product names can be granted with a 'geographical indication' (GI) if they have a specific link to the place where they are made. The GI recognition enables consumers to trust and distinguish quality products while also helping producers to market their products better.

Code of Practice on Disinformation

Representatives of online platforms, leading social networks, advertisers and advertising industry agreed on a self-regulatory Code of Practice to address the spread of online disinformation and fake news. This is the first time worldwide that industry agrees, on a voluntary basis, to self-regulatory standards to fight disinformation. The Code aims to set a wide range of commitments, from transparency in political advertising to the closure of fake accounts and demonetization of purveyors of disinformation.

Strategic Foresight

Foresight is the discipline of exploring, anticipating and shaping the future to help building and using collective intelligence in a structured, systematic and systemic way to anticipate developments. Strategic foresight, on the other hand, seeks to embed foresight into European Union policy-making. Strategic Foresight will: anticipate trends, emerging issues, and their potential implications and opportunities in order to draw useful insights for strategic planning, policy-making and preparedness; inform the design of new initiatives and the review of existing ones in line with the revamped Commission Better Regulation toolbox; build collective intelligence in a structured and systematic way to better develop possible transition pathways, prepare the EU to withstand shocks and shape the future we want.

OLAF - the European Anti-Fraud Office

OLAF investigates fraud against the EU budget, corruption and serious misconduct within the European institutions, and develops anti-fraud policy for the European Commission.