DAILY NEWS
Brussels, 21 April 2026
Commissioners participate in the 2026 Delphi Economic Forum
Starting tomorrow and until Saturday, 25 April, the European Commission will be represented by members of the College at the Delphi Economic Forum's 11th annual meeting, in Greece. Each year, the Forum provides a platform for participants to discuss environmental and socially responsible growth, with a regional focus on the Eastern Mediterranean and Southern Europe.
On Friday, Executive-Vice-President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, Teresa Ribera, will participate in a panel discussion with Stavros Papastavrou, Minister of Environment and Energy of Greece, on ‘Energy Security, Affordability and the Clean Transition in Times of Crisis.' She will also have several bilateral meetings, including with the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece, Kostis Hatzidaki, Minister Papastavrou, and – on the following Monday – with the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
On Thursday, Commissioner for Economy, Productivity, Implementation and Simplification, Valdis Dombrovskis, will meet Prime Minister Mitsotakis in Athens, and hand over Greece's seventh disbursement under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). He will also meet Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras, Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis and Alternate Minister for the RRF Nikos Papathanasis, and visit InterTrade S.A., an RRF-funded paper manufacturer in Boeotia. On Friday, Commissioner Dombrovskis will join a fireside chat in Delphi with Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis on ‘European Prosperity in an Age of Global Uncertainty.'
On Wednesday, Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica will meet with Prime Minister Mitsotakis and participate in a panel discussion at the Forum with the Foreign Minister of Greece, Georges Gerapetritis. She will remain in Greece on Thursday as part of a broader mission to the country, which will include meetings with the President of Greece, Konstantinos Tasoulas, the Greek Minister of Rural Development and Food, Margaritis Schinas, the Greek Minister of Social Cohesion, Domna Michailidou, and Minister Papastavrou.
On Thursday, Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos will meet with Prime Minister Mitsotakis and Minister Gerapetritis. On Friday, she will take part in a panel discussion titled ‘From Soft Power to Hard Reality: The Great European Re-balancing.'
On Thursday and Friday, Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, will hold a fireside chat and bilateral meetings related to the EU Ocean Pact, the Common Fisheries Policy Regulation, upcoming EU coastal and island strategies, and the 2040 Vision for Fisheries and Aquaculture. Following these discussions, the Commissioner will visit Galaxidi on Friday to meet with local fishers and aquaculture farmers.
On Thursday, Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, will join a fireside chat on military mobility, with a focus on strengthening Europe's collective resilience. The Commissioner will also participate in a debate with Christos Dimas, the Greek Minister of Infrastructure and Transport.
More details are available on the Commissioners' calendars.
(For more information: Ricardo Cardoso – Tel.: +32 2 298 01 00; Balazs Ujvari – Tel.: +32 2 295 45 78; Guillaume Merci – Tel.: +32 2 298 05 64; Maciej Berestecki – Tel.: +32 2 296 64 83; Anna-Kaisa Itkonen – Tel.: +32 2 295 75 01)
Commission celebrates European cultural heritage
The coming week will be marked by several key moments for the celebration of European cultural heritage.
Earlier today, the European Commission and Europa Nostra announced the 30 winners of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2026. The Awards, which are co-funded by the EU's Creative Europe Programme, celebrate outstanding achievements in the conservation, research, and promotion of Europe's cultural heritage. This year's award ceremony will take place on 28 May, against the backdrop of the 2026 European Cultural Heritage Summit in Nicosia, Cyprus. During the ceremony, the names of five Grand Prix laureates and one Public Choice Award winner will be announced, each receiving €10,000. Online voting for the Public Choice Award starts today.
Tomorrow, Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef, will hold an implementation dialogue on the European Heritage Label (EHL) initiative, contributing to the ongoing review of the legal basis establishing this initiative.
This meeting will be followed by the European Heritage Label ceremony at the Arts and History Museum in Brussels. During the ceremony, 13 newly designated sites from across the EU will be awarded the European Heritage Label 2025, officially recognising their outstanding contribution to European history, culture, and identity.
A forum with European Heritage Label stakeholders will then take place from 23 to 24 April, allowing participants to exchange best practices, build partnerships and strengthen cooperation. The aim of this forum is to foster a sense of belonging towards a common European space shaped by history, memory and values.
(For more information: Eva Hrncirova - Tel.: +32 2 29 88433; Eirini Zarkadoula-Tel.: +32 2 29 57065)
Commission makes €63.2 million available to support AI innovation in health and online safety
Seven Digital Europe Programme calls worth €63.2 million open today to support artificial intelligence (AI) in health, digital health, digital skills, and online safety. Part of the funding will also bolster the adoption and deployment of transformative digital technologies across Europe.
Of the total amount, €9 million will be made available for AI-powered image screening in medical centres, a field with enormous potential to improve prevention, early detection and diagnosis of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Another call worth €24 million will support digital health services and systems under the European Health Data Space, unlocking healthcare benefits for citizens. To further promote the digital wellbeing and protection of children across the EU, the call will support the comprehensive geographical coverage of the Network of Safer Internet Centres.
A call worth €12.5 million will fund trainings for advanced digital skills across the Union, supporting the development of the skills Europe's modern economy needs.
To support the Commission's goal of easing regulatory burdens on companies, an €8.5 million call will fund innovative digital solutions to facilitate compliance with EU rules. Moreover, a €6 million call will boost research on online information integrity across the EU, another call worth €1 million will establish an EDIC Support Hub, and a €1.8 million call will support dissemination and exploitation activities for the Digital Europe Programme.
These calls contribute to achieving the ambitions of the Commission's AI Continent Action Plan and Apply AI Strategy.
The calls close on 1 October 2026. More information on the calls and the application process is available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
(For more information: Thomas Regnier - Tel.: +32 2 299 10 99; Patricia Poropat - Tel.: +32 2 298 04 85)
Commission seeks feedback on cardiovascular health checks
Today, the European Commission has launched a call for evidence to gather input from citizens and health stakeholders on early detection and screening of cardiovascular diseases. The feedback will support the preparation of a proposal for a recommendation to EU Member States on cardiovascular health checks, a flagship initiative of the Safe Hearts Plan, presented by the Commission at the end of 2025.
Around 1.7 million people die of cardiovascular diseases in the EU each year. Health checks are an essential part of tackling cardiovascular diseases because they can identify health problems before symptoms emerge, and therefore issues such as high blood pressure can be managed earlier and more easily. However, less than half of EU Member States have cardiovascular screening programmes and more than a third of Europeans between the ages of 25 and 64 have not had their blood pressure measured in the past year.
The call for evidence will feed into the future proposal which aims to reduce premature deaths from cardiovascular disease and other diseases such as diabetes, by promoting early detection and diagnosis. It will also seek to reduce inequalities between countries and population groups that do not have the same access to health checks.
Cardiovascular diseases are largely preventable, and the Safe Hearts Plan is the first ever comprehensive EU-level approach to improve prevention, detection and treatment of these diseases across Europe. To date, the EU has invested almost €2.3 billion in cardiovascular and related research, and the Safe Hearts Plan earmarks €200 million for further research and innovation.
Open until 19 May 2026, the call for evidence will be complemented by other targeted consultations that will open in the near future. More information, including details on how to participate, is available on the ‘Have Your Say' portal.
(For more information: Eva Hrnčířová – Tel.: +32 2 298 84 33; Anna Gray – Tel.: +32 2 298 08 73)
Commission clears Lisbon railway line bid under Foreign Subsidies Regulation, subject to conditions
The European Commission has authorised Metropolitano de Lisboa to move forward with awarding the contract for the construction and design of the Lisbon ‘Violet' metro line, subject to conditions under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), following a change by the consortium that avoids any distortion caused by foreign subsidies.
Following a preliminary assessment, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation on 5 November 2025, based on indications that Portugal CRRC Tangshan Rolling Stock Unipessoal may have received foreign subsidies that distorted the procurement procedure. The in-depth investigation confirmed these preliminary findings.
The Commission has now adopted a decision to accept commitments made by the consortium to replace Portugal CRRC with Pojazdy Szynowe PESA Bydgoszcz Spółka Akcyjna, a Polish rolling stock manufacturer that has not received distortive foreign subsidies. These commitments remove that distortion of competition in the internal market. As a result, the Commission has given its approval for the consortium's participation in the tender.
“From the very beginning of this mandate, we committed to making full and systematic use of the FSR as a key tool to protect our Single Market against unfair practices,” said Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, Stéphane Séjourné, “Today's decision on the Lisbon metro shows that our efforts bring results. We remain vigilant to protect public procurement procedures from distortive practices, while maintaining our openness to trade and investment”.
This is the first time the Commission has adopted a final decision subject to conditions after an in-depth public procurement investigation under the FSR.
A press release is available online.
(For more information: Siobhan McGarry - Tel.: +32 2 296 47 98; Rüya Perincek - Tel.: +32 2 299 49 03)
Commission disburses €230.7 million to Slovenia under NextGenerationEU
Today, the European Commission disbursed €230.7 million – net of pre-financing - to Slovenia, marking the fifth payment under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
The RRF, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU, is the Commission's flagship post-pandemic programme supporting Member States' recovery, economic growth, and competitiveness.
Measures linked to this payment include key initiatives such as the pension and healthcare reforms, financial incentives for hiring young people on open-ended contracts, and the construction of a Civil Protection Training Hub. Today's disbursement follows Slovenia's fifth payment request, submitted on 19 December 2025 and approved by the Commission on 2 March 2026.
With this payment, Slovenia has now received 83% of its total €2.14 billion allocation (€1.61 billion in grants and €526 million in loans), with 59% of all milestones and targets under its national recovery and resilience plan now fulfilled.
As with all Member States, payments to Slovenia under the RRF are performance-based, contingent upon the successful implementation of their national plans.
With a view to the closure of the Facility at the end of 2026, Members States must implement all outstanding milestones and targets by August 2026 and submit their last payment requests by the end of September 2026.
An interactive map showcasing examples of reforms and investments supported by the RRF is available online. Further details on the RRF payment claim process are also available online.
(For more information: Maciej Berestecki — Tel.: + 32 2 296 64 83; Anna Wartberger – Tel: +32 2 28 20 54)
Commission approves €300 million French State aid scheme for advisory services in agriculture
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €300 million French scheme to provide aid for advisory services to companies active in the production, processing and marketing of agricultural products.
Under the scheme, the aid will be provided through subsidised services. Advisory services must be linked to one of the specific objectives of Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, complemented by the cross-cutting aim of modernising agriculture and rural areas by improving access to research and training and promoting knowledge, innovation and the digital transition. In most cases, funding will cover individual advisory services. In some cases, grouped advisory services will also be subsidised. This approach allows the scheme to reach more beneficiaries. The scheme will run until 31 December 2032.
The Commission assessed the scheme under EU State aid rules, in particular Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, which allows Member States to support the development of certain economic activities under certain conditions, and the Guidelines for State aid in the agricultural and forestry sectors in rural areas. The Commission found that the scheme is necessary and appropriate to encourage the use of advisory services. Furthermore, the Commission found that the scheme is proportionate, as it is limited to the minimum necessary, and will have a limited impact on competition and trade between Member States. On this basis, the Commission approved the French scheme under EU State aid rules.
The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case number SA.120916 in the State aid register on the Commission's competition website once any confidentiality issues have been resolved.
(For more information: Ricardo Cardoso – Tel.: +32 2 298 01 00; Luuk de Klein – Tel.: +32 2 299 47 74)
Tentative agendas for forthcoming Commission meetings
Note that these items can be subject to changes.
Upcoming events of the European Commission
Eurostat press releases
Calendar items of the President and Commissioners
Individual calendars of the President and Commissioners