Brussels, 14 November 2024
November infringements package: key decisions
The Commission calls on BELGIUM and CYPRUS to comply with the Water Framework Directive
The European Commission decided to open an infringement procedure by sending letters of formal notice to Belgium (INFR(2024)2231) and Cyprus (INFR(2024)2227) for failing to periodically review water permits in line with the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC). The Directive requires Member States to establish a programme of measures for each river basin district to ensure good status of European water bodies, such as rivers and lakes. These measures must be included in the river basin management plans which must be established and reported to the Commission every six years. Each programme of measures must include basic measures to control different types of water abstraction, impoundment, point source discharge, diffuse sources liable to cause pollution, and any other significant adverse impacts on water quality. Member States are required to periodically review and update these controls to determine whether the measures in place still achieve their objectives. The Commission has already initiated similar infringement procedures against four other Member States (the Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia and Finland). In Belgium, the legislation of the Brussels-Capital, Flemish and Walloon regions respectively is not compliant with the Directive. On water abstraction, these regional legislations do not always provide for a periodic review of the authorisation or they set an interval for review which is too long (exceeding 12 years). Regarding the point source discharge, the intervals set by the three regional legislations between the periodic reviews of the authorisation are too long. In Cyprus, the national legislation does not impose any kind of periodic review, as required by the Directive. The Commission is therefore sending letters of formal notice to Belgium and Cyprus, which now have two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
Commission calls on BELGIUM, BULGARIA, CZECHIA, ESTONIA, GREECE, CROATIA, CYPRUS, MALTA, AUSTRIA, POLAND, PORTUGAL, SLOVENIA and SLOVAKIA to urgently submit their final updated National Energy and Climate Plans
The European Commission decided to open an infringement procedure by sending a letter of formal notice to Belgium (INFR(2024)2252), Bulgaria (INFR(2024)2253), Czechia (INFR(2024)2255), Estonia (INFR(2024)2257), Greece (INFR(2024)2258), Croatia (INFR(2024)2256), Cyprus (INFR(2024)2254), Malta (INFR(2024)2259), Austria (INFR(2024)2251) Poland (INFR(2024)2260), Portugal (INFR(2024)2261), Slovenia (INFR(2024)2263) and Slovakia (INFR(2024)2262) for failing to submit their final updated National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) in line with the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action. The final updated NECPs are crucial tools to ensure that Member States set out a concrete roadmap to achieve the agreed EU goals for greenhouse gas emissions reduction, renewable energy and energy efficiency, among others. They are also key for the European Commission to assess where Member States stand collectively in terms of ambition towards the EU 2030 climate and energy targets. Under Article 14(2) of the Governance Regulation, all Member States had to submit their final updated NECPs by 30 June 2024. So far, the Commission has received 14 final Plans. Following extensive exchanges after the submission of draft Plans and adoption of Commission recommendations to the Member States, these 13 Member States have still not submitted their final updated NECPs. The Commission considers that they are in breach of their obligation under the Governance Regulation and is therefore sending letters of formal notice. Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Malta, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia now have two months to reply to the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion.
EU boosts defence readiness with first ever financial support for common defence procurement
The Commission has approved funding for five cross-border projects to support more coordinated and efficient defence procurement among EU Member States. Implemented under the European Defence Industry Reinforcement through Common Procurement instrument (EDIRPA), each of the 5 selected projects will receive €60 million, representing a total amount of €300 million funding.
Bringing greater value for money through economies of scale, the common procurement will make critical defence capabilities more affordable for Member States' armed forces. With products procured in common, Member States' armed forces will have improved interoperability. The clearer perspectives and greater predictability, which come with larger contracts, will strengthen the European industry, and allow it to adapt its production capacity to Europe's defence needs. All in all, the common procurement will reinforce defence readiness in the EU Member States.
Leveraging procurement of more than €11 billion worth of defence products for the armed forces of the Member States
Marking a new era in European defence cooperation, the Commission has announced the first-ever EU-funded projects supporting common procurement of critical defence products by the Member States, in three areas:
Two projects will bolster joint air and missile defence capabilities. The ‘MISTRAL' project supports the common procurement of ‘Mistral' very short-range air defence systems by nine Member States (FR, BE, CY, EE, ES, HU, SI, RO, DK). Another project, ‘JAMIE' (for ‘Joint Air Missile Defence Initiative in Europe), will result in the common procurement of IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defence systems by six Member States (DE, SI, BG, AT, EE, LV). These are systems for protection against air threats such as combat aircraft, attack helicopters and unmanned air systems.
EDIRPA will also support the procurement of the Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS), a modern armoured carrier for protected troop transport, by four Member States (FI, LV, SE, DE). The modern armoured vehicles offer high performance and unprecedented mobility.
In two further projects, EDIRPA will support the common procurement of different types of 155mm artillery ammunition, namely the project ‘CPoA 155mm' involving six Member States (NL, IT, PL, LT, DK, HR) and the project ‘HE 155mm' involving four Member States (DE, DK, NL, EE).
The five selected projects represent a combined procurement value exceeding €11 billion, illustrating the high leverage of EU funding. EDIRPA's €300 million investment has incentivized a commitment over 36 times larger, demonstrating the programme's effectiveness in driving substantial defence investments across the EU.
The five selected EDIRPA projects, for all three areas, will now enter the grant agreement preparation phase, involving detailed coordination between the Commission and the consortia of Member States' public authorities.
In addition to the selected projects, other promising proposals were submitted. They have been added to a reserve list making them identifiable for potential future funding. For instance, the Member States involved in these proposals could seek to financially support them by transferring unused EU funds allocated to them under shared management.
Impressive number of EU Member States participating
The selected EDIRPA projects involve 20 Member States, some of which will engage in common defence procurements projects for the first time. This reflects EDIRPA's role in encouraging collaboration among Member States to address critical capability gaps, in particular those exacerbated by the transfer of defence products to Ukraine. On average, six Member States are participating in each project —double the minimum legal requirement of three Member States— showing the interest towards a more unified European approach to defence procurement.
Supporting Ukraine
Most selected projects also include procurement of defence products intended for Ukraine, including air and missile defence systems and ammunition, bolstering the country's defence capabilities in the context of the ongoing Russian aggression.
Background
The selection of EDIRPA projects comes in response to calls for proposals launched by the Commission in March 2024. With the adoption of EDIRPA, and its subsequent implementation through the Work Programme, and the launch of the respective calls for proposals, the Union is incentivising for the first time Member States and Norway to acquire defence products in common, serving the most urgent and critical needs, especially those amplified by Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Aggregating demand provides predictability and therefore incentivises industry to ramp up manufacturing capacity and will improve the interoperability of the national armed forces.
The EDIRPA Work Programme supports common procurement in three areas: 1) Ammunition, 2) Air and missile defence, and 3) Platforms and replacement of legacy systems. These funding priorities have been set together with the Member States to address urgent defence needs and replenish defence stockpiles.
By the submission deadline of 25 July 2024, the Commission received a total of 12 proposals, showing the significant interest from Member States and Norway. The Commission services checked the admissibility and eligibility of the received proposals and evaluated them in line with the provisions of the EDIRPA Regulation.
The EDIRPA programme is a short-term instrument adopted following Russia's aggression against Ukraine and made to last until 2025 with the aim to incentivise cooperation for the most urgent defence products. The programme supports the procurement of defence capabilities by the armed forces of the Member States and Norway. The EDIRPA budget is not paying for defence products but is compensating Member States for the additional administrative costs of procuring in common. In March 2024, the Commission presented the proposal on a European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP) to extend the EDIRPA logic beyond 2025, to continue to aggregate European demand and increase interoperability.
For More Information
Factsheet ‘MISTRAL'
Factsheet ‘CAVS'
Factsheet ‘CPoA 155 mm'
Factsheet ‘HE 155mm'
Factsheet ‘JAMIE'
EDIRPA Webpage
Q&A EDIRPA
Press Release, 15 March 2024
EDIRPA Work Programme
EDIRPA Regulation
Quote(s)
“This is the first time we use EU budget to support Member States in commonly procuring defence products. This operation has been a success: we are investing €300 million into 5 projects addressing critical and urgent defence capability gaps. This will allow to provide better value for money for national defence budgets, improve the interoperability of European armed forces, strengthen our industry and make Europe better prepared to face defence threats. Importantly, the selected projects will also increase our support to Ukraine, with additional defence equipment.”
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age
Booking must now comply with the Digital Markets Act
As of today, Booking Holdings Inc. (BHI), designated as gatekeeper on 13 May 2024, must ensure that its online intermediation service, Booking.com, complies with all relevant obligations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Concretely, this means hotels, car rental companies, and other providers of travel services that depend on Booking.com to reach their customers can begin to enjoy new opportunities, for instance:
As of today, Booking is required to demonstrate its full and effective compliance with the DMA by outlining the measures undertaken in a compliance report. The public version of this report is accessible on the Commission's dedicated DMA webpage. Additionally, Booking has submitted to the Commission an independently audited description of techniques it uses for profiling consumers, along with a non-confidential version of the consumer profiling reports. Finally, the Commission ordered Booking to keep any documents and information which might be relevant to assess and monitor effective implementation of and compliance with the DMA.
The Commission will now carefully analyse the compliance report and assess whether the implemented measures are effective in achieving the objectives of the relevant obligations under the DMA. The Commission's assessment will also be based on the input of interested stakeholders, including in the context of a public compliance workshop on 25 November 2024, where Booking is invited to present its solutions.
The DMA aims to ensure contestable and fair markets in the digital sector. It regulates gatekeepers, which are large digital platforms that act as an important gateway between business users and consumers, whose position can grant them the power to create a bottleneck in the digital economy.
On 13 May 2024, the Commission designated Booking as a gatekeeper for its online intermediation service Booking.com. Following designation, Booking had six months to comply with all relevant obligations under the DMA, offering more choice and freedom to Booking.com consumers and business users.
If the Commission considers that Booking's solutions are not compliant with the DMA, it can take formal enforcement actions using the entire toolbox at its disposal. In case of an infringement, the Commission can impose fines of up to 10% of the company's total worldwide turnover, which can go up to 20% in case of repeated infringement. Moreover, in case of systematic non-compliance, the Commission is also empowered to adopt additional remedies such as obliging a gatekeeper to sell a business or parts of it or banning the gatekeeper from certain acquisitions.
“As a key player in the European tourism ecosystem, Booking must now comply with the DMA. Their role as intermediator between businesses and customers in accommodation, car-rentals and any other type of travel services will become fairer and more open. For example, until now many hotels and rental companies in the EU were obliged to guarantee the best prices on Booking.com. Now EU businesses are free to differentiate prices and conditions on any online sales channel they wish to use. This proves that the DMA is an important tool in making online marketplaces fairer for businesses and more open to competition.”
Commission publishes first draft of General-Purpose Artificial Intelligence Code of Practice
Today, the Commission has published the first draft of the General-Purpose Artificial Intelligence (AI) Code of Practice. The draft was prepared by independent experts who were appointed by the AI Office as chairs and vice-chairs of the four working groups of the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice. This first draft is based on the contributions from a multi-stakeholder consultation organised by the AI Office, as well as a dedicated workshop that brought together providers of general-purpose AI models. The document will be further discussed next week in the four working groups taking place from 18 November to 21 November, and on 22 November during the Code of Practice Plenary.
As part of the Code of Practice Plenary, stakeholders, representatives from EU Member States, as well as European and international observers are invited to provide comments via a dedicated platform by 28 November to help shape the next versions of the Code of Practice. The final document is expected to be published and presented at a closing Plenary in May 2025.
The rules governing general-purpose AI models under the AI Act will come into application in August 2025. The Code of Practice aims to facilitate the proper implementation of these rules and will play a crucial role in guiding the future development and deployment of trustworthy and safe general-purpose AI models in the EU.
Key aspects of the Code include details on transparency and enforcement of copyright-related rules for providers of general-purpose AI model, as well as a taxonomy of systemic risks, risk assessment methodologies, and mitigation measures for providers of advanced general-purpose AI models which may pose systemic risks.
(For more information: Thomas Regnier – Tel.: +32 2 299 10 99; Roberta Verbanac – Tel.: +32 2 298 24 98)
Torino and Braga win European Capital of Innovation Awards
Today, the Commission has revealed the winners of the 2024-25 European Capital of Innovation Awards (iCapital), celebrating a decade of recognising cities that lead the way in delivering innovative solutions for their citizens. This year's top prizes, funded under the EU research and innovation programme Horizon Europe, were awarded to the cities of Torino and Braga.
Torino showcases a comprehensive approach to experimentation and innovation, leveraging its rich history and industrial heritage to tackle both present and future urban challenges. Braga has developed a range of innovative solutions, from tech-based clusters to cultural and creative industries, and established a strong innovation ecosystem with a focus on collaboration and inclusivity.
The award ceremony took place on 13 November 2024 in Lisbon at the Web Summit, one of the world's largest technology events. Commissioner Iliana Ivanova handed the awards to cities that have embedded innovation into daily urban life, advancing sustainable, inclusive, and resilient communities. The ceremony brought together the mayors from winning cities and past iCapital winners.
In addition to the main category winners, the Commission has announced the 1st and 2nd runners-up for each category:
European Capital of Innovation category
European Rising Innovative City category
The European Capital of Innovation category winner, Torino, has received a €1 million prize, while the two runners-up have been awarded €100 000 each. The European Rising Innovative City category winner, Braga, has received €500,000, and the two runner-up cities have each been granted €50,000.
Supported by the European Innovation Council (EIC) under Horizon Europe, the European Capital of Innovation Awards - also known as iCapital - celebrate cities with dynamic, inclusive innovation ecosystems. The competition acknowledges those urban centres that successfully connect citizens, academic institutions, businesses, and public authorities to drive transformative change.
This year celebrates the tenth anniversary of the iCapital Awards. The prize first took place in 2014. Past winners include Barcelona (2014), Amsterdam (2016), Paris (2017), Athens (2018), Nantes (2019), Leuven (2020), Dortmund (2021), Aix-Marseille Provence Metropole (2022) and Lisbon (2023) as European Capitals of Innovation. Past winners in the Rising Innovative city category include Vantaa (2021), Haarlem (2022) and Linköping (2023).
iCapital is one of the five EIC Prizes granted under Horizon Europe. The prize is open to cities from all EU member states and countries associated to Horizon Europe and it is managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency. The winners are chosen following an assessment performed by two high-level juries of independent experts.
European Capital of Innovation Awards
European Capital of Innovation Awards (iCapital) 2024-25: the winners
“I warmly congratulate Torino and Braga on winning the 2024-25 European Capital of Innovation Awards. They show that innovation is not just about technology but about creating opportunities, fostering inclusion and improving the quality of life for citizens. The winners and finalists are transforming ambition into action, setting inspiring examples of innovation on the ground in Europe and beyond.”
Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
Commission coordinates delivery of 122 300 vaccines to support response to Mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The Commission is coordinating and financing the delivery and transport of 122 300 vaccine doses donated by Belgium, Germany and Portugal to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) as part of its response to the Mpox outbreak. A first shipment of 100 000 doses donated by Germany is expected to arrive today, 14 November, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
This delivery is part of the overall commitment by the EU and its Member States to donate 580 000 Mpox vaccines to the Africa CDC, including more than 205 000 doses already donated. Further shipments from other EU Member States are expected in the coming weeks. The donated vaccines will be transported by the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), based on a partnership with the Commission.
The EU has been active since the first wave of the virus. Since July 2024, in addition to delivering vaccines, the Commission has provided €1.5 million in humanitarian aid to help the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Uganda respond to the Mpox outbreak.
In addition, the EU has deployed four epidemiologists from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is the epicentre of this outbreak in the African region.
Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said: "The current Mpox emergency poses a threat to global health and is straining the capacity of local health systems. I thank the Member States that are offering their support and demonstrating EU solidarity through their donations. The EU joins its efforts to contain the outbreak and remains committed to supporting the DRC and all countries affected by this outbreak.”
Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said: “In a strong European Health Union, a public health emergency requires a rapid and coordinated response. In addition to the 215,000 doses donated by HERA through Team Europe, the Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, almost 350,000 additional doses will be shipped to Africa throughout November. This is EU solidarity in action and a tangible contribution to the global response to combat this deadly disease.”
(For further information: Stefan De Keersmaecker – Tel.: +32 2 298 46 80; Balazs Ujvari - Tel.: +32 2 295 45 78)
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Athanasios ATHANASIOU
Press Officer / Political Reporter
European Commission
Representation in Cyprus
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