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The aim of the two proposals, discussed in this briefing, was to improve the use, quality of, and access to traineeships across the EU. In line with the 'evaluation first' principle, the impact assessment (IA) accompanying the two proposals was prepared after the evaluation. Its intervention logic captures the problem, the specific objectives and the internal drivers well. However, more attention could have been devoted to the external drivers. The IA describes the areas and the policy options alongside ...

This handbook provides an illustrated overview of the main fishing gears currently used in the EU. For each gear, the handbook outlines the essentials of its design, operation method and target species, and shows the main Member State fishing fleets that use it. In addition, it indicates the name of the gears in Danish, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese.

While shell companies – company entities that have no or minimal economic activity – can serve useful commercial and business functions, they are sometimes abused by companies or individuals for aggressive tax planning or tax evasion purposes. To ensure sustainable public finances under the exceptional circumstances imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, in December 2021 the European Commission presented a directive on preventing shell companies from misusing their structure for tax purposes ('Unshell ...

The crypto-asset sector, while still relatively new, has already changed the world of payments and investment forever. The fast-changing, mobile nature of the sector and its growing market prominence poses challenges, however, for tax authorities, which are not always able to track the capital gains made from trading crypto-assets. On 8 December 2022, the European Commission proposed to set up a reporting framework that would require crypto-asset service providers to report transactions made by EU ...

When businesses start operating across borders, they are faced with a new and unfamiliar corporate tax system in each EU Member State. As a result, businesses with cross-border activities have to spend time and resources on understanding and complying with complex local corporate tax rules. This represents a significant administrative burden, in particular for small companies. On 12 September 2023, to lower tax compliance costs, the European Commission tabled a proposal for a Council directive to ...

When businesses start operating across borders, they are faced with a new and unfamiliar corporate tax system in every EU Member State. As a result, businesses with cross-border activities have to spend time and resources on understanding and complying with complex local corporate tax rules. This represents a significant administrative burden for those companies, increases the risk of double taxation and discourages companies from taking full advantage of the single market. On 12 September 2023, ...

The European Union (EU) has been pursuing cultural cooperation with its Mediterranean partners for decades, enhancing dialogue and understanding between people. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), an intergovernmental organisation composed of the 27 EU Member States and 16 Mediterranean partner countries, recently launched the Mediterranean Capitals of Culture & Dialogue initiative to promote diversity and shared cultural identity in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Alexandria in Egypt and Tirana ...

As the new parliamentary mandate begins, this note looks back at notable achievements of the previous legislative term in the area of taxation. It then looks ahead to possible future action that could help the Member States and the European Union (EU) meet revenue needs in the context of climate and defence spending requirements, or bolster competitiveness by simplifying tax compliance for businesses operating across the single market.

In 2019, the European Union (EU) adopted the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Screening Regulation (Regulation 2019/452/EU), applied since October 2020. The regulation provides the EU with a framework for screening incoming foreign direct investment (FDI) from third-countries, with the objective of better equipping the EU to identify, assess and mitigate potential risks certain FDIs pose to the security or public order of the Union or its Member States. These concern, for example, access to sensitive ...

In June 2024, European citizens voted for their representatives in the European Parliament for the next five years, to defend their interests in the EU. This year's election saw turnout of 51.1%, slightly higher than the previous election in 2019 (50.7%). The number of political groups has increased from seven to eight at the start of the new term. Half of the elected Members (MEPs) elected are new to the European Parliament. Women now make up 38.5% of all MEPs; this share is 2.1 percentage points ...