EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DAILY NEWS
Brussels, 09 April 2025
Commission proposal to impose trade countermeasures against US obtains necessary support from EU Member States
Today, EU Member States have voted in favour of the European Commission's proposal to introduce trade countermeasures against the United States.
The Commission's proposal was made in response to the March decision by the US to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium from the EU.
The EU considers US tariffs unjustified and damaging, causing economic harm to both sides, as well as the global economy. The EU has stated its clear preference to find negotiated outcomes with the US, which would be balanced and mutually beneficial.
Today's vote of approval by Member States means that – once the Commission's internal procedures are concluded, and the implementing act published – countermeasures will enter into force. Duties will start being collected as of 15 April.
These countermeasures can be suspended at any time, should the US agree to a fair and balanced negotiated outcome.
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CALENDAR
Calendrier du lundi 7 avril 2025 au dimanche 13 avril 2025
FRIDAY 11/04
Ms Dubravka Šuica in Nicosia, Cyprus,
Presidential Palace
09:30 – 10:00 meets with Mr Nikos Christodoulides, President of the Republic of Cyprus; [followed by Press point / exit doorstep]
Deputy Ministry for European Affairs
10:30 -11:15 meets with Ms Marilena Raouna, Deputy Minister for European Affairs of Cyprus; [followed by joint statements to the Press / to be confirmed]
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
11:30 – 12:30 meets with Mr Constantinos Kombos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus;
House of Representatives
12:45 – 13:15 meets with Ms Annita Demetriou, President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus.
Mr Costas Kadis in Nicosia Cyprus;
Cyprus Institute premises (Aglantzia)
12:00 -12:45 meets with Mr Stavros Malas, President of Cyprus Institute and members of the board;
Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth
13.30 -14:30 meeting with Minister Athena Michaelidou and with students for the presentation of the project ‘Exploration of the Oceans’, at the first Lego League Cyprus Robotics Competition 2025
Commission launches consultation on the Digital Product Passport
The Commission launched a public consultation on the future Digital Product Passport. The objective is to gather stakeholders' views on how data should be stored and managed by service providers and on the need for a certification scheme for such service providers. The feedback gathered through the public consultation will inform the development of an effective functioning of the Digital Product Passport system.
The Digital Product Passport is a key innovation under the 2024 Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation to store and share relevant data about a product's sustainability, durability and other environmental aspects. The Digital Product Passport will be available to consumers, businesses and relevant public authorities. It will help to make informed decisions and increase the demand for sustainable products. The Digital Product Passport could also host additional information, for instance product instructions or conformity documents.
Interested parties are invited to provide their feedback to the public consultation through the Have Your Say Portal by 1 July 2025.
(For more information: Lea Zuber – Tel.: +32 2 295 62 98; Federica Miccoli — Tel.: + 32 2 295 83 00)
Commission authorises use of safe genetically modified maize as food and animal feed
Today, following the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) favourable scientific assessment, the Commission authorised three genetically modified maize for food and animal feed – as safe as their conventional counterparts.
These maize have gone through a comprehensive and stringent assessment procedure, which ensures a high level of protection of human and animal health, and of the environment. The Commission's decisions only allow these genetically modified maize to be imported for use in food and animal feed, but not to be cultivated in the EU.
The authorisations are valid for 10 years, and any product produced from these genetically modified maize will be subject to the EU's strict labelling and traceability rules. The Commission had a legal obligation to decide on these authorisations after Member States did not reach a qualified majority either in favour or against the authorisation.
More information on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in the EU is available online.
(For more information: Eva Hrnčířová – Tel.: +32 2 298 84 33; Anna Gray – Tel.: +32 2 298 08 73)
Commissioner Brunner in Egypt to discuss migration management cooperation at the Khartoum Process Ministerial Conference
Today, Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, is in Cairo, Egypt, to participate in the 2nd Ministerial Conference of the Khartoum Process. The Khartoum Process brings together countries from the Horn of Africa and Europe to discuss measures to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
Commissioner Brunner participated in the opening ceremony and is meeting with partner countries to discuss progress made over the past years. Commissioner Brunner is also meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Badr Abdelatty, and the Minister of Interior, Mahmoud Tawfik. They will discuss migration and security priorities, including migration management, counterterrorism, and cooperation with EU agencies.
Commissioner Brunner will also attend the signing ceremony of the Working Arrangement between Europol and Egypt, which will enhance law enforcement cooperation to fight against terrorism, drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, and organised crime.
(For more information: Markus Lammert - Tel: +32 229-67533; Elettra Di Massa - Tel.: +32 2 298 21 61)
Commissioner Micallef to discuss the future of European sport policy at the EU Sport Forum 2025
Tomorrow, Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef will participate in the EU Sport Forum 2025 organised in Krakow, Poland, from 10 to 11 April. Now at its 18th edition, the event is the Commission's flagship sporting event that supports ongoing dialogue with the European and international sports stakeholders on priorities and main challenges in sport. More than 350 participants are expected to attend the event on site. This year's Forum will serve as an opportunity to discuss in depth how to further promote and support the European Sport Model as a value-based way to organise sport at all levels.
Commissioner Micallef said: “This 2025 edition of the EU Sport Forum is the first I have the honour to attend since my appointment as European Commissioner for Sport. I am looking forward to exchanging ideas with members of the sport community on how to further develop sport policy in Europe, address the sector's most pressing challenges, and strengthen our European Sport Model with solidarity, fairness, and equality as guiding principles.”
The EU Sport Forum will also provide an opportunity to examine the role of sport in education and in the context of EU enlargement. Debates will also address some of the current issues in the sport sector, including welfare of athletes, , artificial intelligence, future funding for sport, and foreign investment in sport. More information on the agenda and how to follow the event online can be found here.
(For more information: Eva Hrncirova – Tel.: +32 2 298 84 33; Quentin Cortès - Tel.: +32 2 291 32 83)
The European Commission transfers in the interests of the service a Deputy Director-General to its Directorate-General for Defence, Industry and Space to head the new Task Force for Security Action for Europe (SAFE)
The European Commission has decided today to transfer in the interest of the service Herald Ruijters to Head of the new Task Force for Security Action for Europe (SAFE) in Directorate-General for Defence, Industry and Space (DG DEFIS). This Directorate-General leads the European Commission's activities in the European defence industry and European space sectors, implementing the Union's Space Programme and ensuring an innovative, and competitive defence industry. The date of effect will be the 1st of May.
With almost three decades of service in the European Institutions, Mr Ruijters has built a distinguished career, with a special focus on innovation and transport. His career reflects a constant resilience, leading complex projects and initiatives, in varied roles throughout the European Commission. This has enabled him to navigate the nuances of EU policymaking when this comes to Trans-European Transport Network projects, military mobility, research or innovation, among others. He is recognised for his team leading capabilities, as well as his negotiation abilities and his capacity to think outside the box when it comes to produce innovative ideas. His experience has made him the perfect candidate for this new role.
Mr Ruijters, a Dutch national, is currently Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Transport (DG MOVE), in charge of coordinating the Directorate for Investment, Innovative and Sustainable Transport. Previously, he was Director of the aforementioned Directorate, in charge of formulating policies and responsible for all transport related budgetary instruments, Trans-European Transport Network, military mobility, research, innovation, social and equality aspects. Before this, he was Head of Unit for the Trans-European Network unit in DG MOVE. Prior to join the Commission in 1997, he worked in different organisations, in charge of the execution of different research projects.
(For more information: Balazs Ujvari - Tel.: +32 2 295 45 78; Isabel Otero Barderas - Tel.: +32 2 296 69 25)
Commission sets course for Europe's AI leadership with an ambitious AI Continent Action Plan
To become a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) is the objective of the AI Continent Action Plan launched today. As set out by President von der Leyen at the AI Action Summit in February 2025 in Paris, this ambitious initiative is set to transform Europe's strong traditional industries and its exceptional talent pool into powerful engines of AI innovation and acceleration.
The race for leadership in AI is far from over. From cutting-edge foundation models to specialised AI applications, the AI landscape in the EU is dynamic. It is driven by research, emerging technologies and a thriving ecosystem of startups and scaleups. The AI Continent Action Plan will boost the European Union's AI innovation capabilities through actions and policies around five key pillars:
1.Building a large-scale AI data and computing infrastructure
The Commission will strengthen Europe's AI and supercomputing infrastructure with a network of AI Factories. 13 of these factories are already being deployed around Europe's world-leading supercomputers. They will support EU AI startups, industry and researchers in developing AI models and applications.
As announced in the Competitiveness Compass, the EU will also help set up AI Gigafactories. These will be large-scale facilities equipped with approximately 100,000 state-of-the-art AI chips, four times more than current AI factories. They will integrate massive computing power and data centres to train and develop complex AI models at unprecedented scale. The AI Gigafactories will lead the next wave of frontier AI models and maintain the EU's strategic autonomy in critical industrial sectors and science, requiring public and private investments. A call for expression of interest for interested consortia is published today.
Private investment in Gigafactories will be further stimulated through the InvestAI, which will mobilise €20 billion investment for up to five AI Gigafactories across the Union.
To stimulate private sector investment in cloud capacity and data centres, the Commission will also propose a Cloud and AI Development Act. The goal is to at least triple the EU's data centre capacity in the next five to seven years, prioritising highly sustainable data centres.
2.Increasing access to large and high-quality data
Bolstering AI innovation also requires access to large volumes of high-quality data. An important element of the Action Plan is the creation of Data Labs, bringing together and curating large, high-quality data volumes from different sources in AI Factories. A comprehensive Data Union Strategy will be launched in 2025 to create a true internal market for data that can scale up AI solutions.
3.Developing algorithms and fostering AI adoption in strategic EU sectors
Despite the potential of AI, only 13.5% of companies in the EU have adopted AI. To develop tailored AI solutions, boost their industrial use and full adoption in EU strategic public and private sectors, the Commission will launch the Apply AI Strategy in the coming months. European AI innovation infrastructure, including notably the AI Factories and the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), will play an important role in this Strategy.
4.Strengthening AI skills and talents
To meet rising demand for AI talent, the Commission will facilitate international recruitment of highly skilled AI experts and researchers through initiatives such as the Talent Pool, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action ‘MSCA Choose Europe' and AI fellowships schemes offered by the upcoming AI Skills Academy. These actions will contribute to legal migration pathways for highly skilled non-EU workers in the AI sector and attract the best European AI researchers and experts back to Europe. It will also develop educational and training programmes on AI and Generative AI in key sectors, preparing the next generation of AI specialists and supporting the upskilling and reskilling of workers.
5.Regulatory simplification
The AI Act raises citizens' trust in technology and provides investors and entrepreneurs with the legal certainty they need to scale up and deploy AI throughout Europe. The Commission will also launch the AI Act Service Desk, to help businesses comply with the AI Act. It will serve as the central point of contact and hub for information and guidance on the AI Act.
Next Steps
With this Action Plan the Commission opens today two public consultations, running until 4 June 2025, to further shape these AI Continent Action Plan initiatives.
A public consultation inviting all interested parties to share their views on the Cloud and AI Development Act
A public consultation on Apply AI to identify stakeholder priorities, challenges to the uptake of AI, and the relevance of proposed solutions and policy approaches—including additional measures to ensure the smooth and simple application of the AI Act.
A third public consultation on Data Union Strategy will be launched in May.
In parallel, the Commission will organise dialogues with industry representatives and the public sector to help shape the Apply AI Strategy. These dialogues, together with the public consultations, will identify relevant examples of untapped potential in adopting AI technologies in specific sectors, their current integration in business and production processes, and opportunities for scaling up within these sectors and the wider economy.
Background
On 1 August 2024 the AI Act entered into force and guidelines on prohibited AI practices were published on 4 February 2025. On 24 January 2024, the Commission launched a package of measures to support European startups and SMEs in the development of trustworthy AI. On 9 July 2024 the amended EuroHPC JU Regulation entered into force, allowing the set-up of AI Factories. On 10 December 2024, seven consortia were selected to establish AI Factories, followed by six additional consortia on 12 March 2025. At the AI Action Summit in Paris on 11 February 2025, President von der Leyen announced InvestAI, an initiative to mobilise a €200 billion investment in AI across Europe.
For More Information
Factsheet
Questions and Answers
AI Continent Action Plan
Apply AI strategy public consultation
Cloud and AI Development Act public consultation
Call for Interest for Gigafactories
Audiovisual material
Quote(s)
Artificial intelligence is at the heart of making Europe more competitive, secure and technological sovereign. The global race for AI is far from over. Time to act is now. This Action Plan outlines key areas where efforts need to intensify to make Europe a leading AI Continent. We are working towards a future where tech innovation drives industry and public services forward, bringing concrete benefits to our citizens and businesses through trustworthy AI. This means a stronger economy, breakthroughs in healthcare, new jobs, increased productivity, better transport and education, stronger protection against cyber threats, and support in tackling climate change.
Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy
Commission welcomes provisional agreement to reduce microplastic pollution
The Commission welcomes the provisional agreement reached last night between the European Parliament and the Council on the Commission's proposal to regulate and prevent microplastic pollution from plastic pellets, across the value chain, including during transport, notably at sea. The new Regulation will protect the environment while ensuring that European industries can continue to operate and expand sustainably.
Still to this day, many plastic pellets are lost during daily operations at handling installations or during transport ending up in the environment, including in the sea, due to inadequate handling by maritime and other operators. This was the case, for example, during recent accidents in the North-West coast of Spain and in the North Sea. The new rules are expected to reduce plastic pellet losses by up to 74%, which will help preserve ecosystems and biodiversity, reduce human health risks and improve the sector's reputation. This in turn, will benefit economic actors, for instance in the agriculture, aquaculture and tourism sector.
To reduce administrative burden for small companies, the Commission successfully advocated to limit the certification obligations to companies handling more than 1,500 tonnes of plastic pellets per year. Below this threshold, only a self-declaration will be required. In addition, smaller companies will benefit from special assistance to help them comply with this new Regulation.
Measures to prevent microplastics pollution
Plastic pellets contaminate water and soil, including agricultural lands, and harm ecosystems and biodiversity. Once ingested, they can cause physical harm or death to marine and coastal species, such as sea turtles, seabirds, and shellfish.
Microplastics are persistent, mobile, and extremely difficult and costly to remove from nature. They are found worldwide, even in remote locations, and in the human body, raising serious concerns about the impacts of high exposure on human health.
Too often, the burden falls upon local communities. Therefore, economic operators and carriers will have to follow best handling measures to prevent, contain and clean up losses. These measures are based on industry best practices. For instance, they will have to ensure that the quality of the used packaging is good and stop using it if it is leaking or sifting. To contain spills, they will have to make use of catchment devices like spill trays, and when cleaning up is necessary, they will have to make use of vacuum cleaners with sufficient capacity.
To support smaller operators, lighter requirements will apply to micro and small enterprises, which make up a significant portion of the pellet supply chain.
Standardisation bodies will develop a harmonised methodology to help economic operators and carriers monitor their losses and address data gaps. This will increase accountability and raise awareness of the impact of different practices on the environment and human health.
Next steps
The European Parliament and the Council will now formally have to adopt the new Directive before it can enter into force. It will then enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
The need to address microplastic pollution was identified in the EU Plastics Strategy, the Circular Economy Action Plan and the Zero Pollution Action Plan. The approach to achieving this target is threefold: reduce pollution from plastic products (as they degrade into microplastics); restrict the use of intentionally added microplastics in products; and reduce unintentional microplastic releases.
The rules provisionally agreed today, together with the restrictions on intentionally added microplastics adopted on 25 September 2023, are the first EU measures specifically designed to tackle microplastic pollution at source.
Together, they contribute to the target of reducing microplastics releases into the environment by 30% by 2030 established by the Zero Pollution Action Plan.
Webpage on microplastics
Brochure on EU action against microplastic pollution
Press release on measures to reduce microplastic pollution from plastic pellets
EU Plastics Strategy
Zero Pollution Action Plan
Today’s provisional agreement marks another important step toward a cleaner and healthier planet. All ecosystems will benefit from these new handling measures to limit pellet losses. Businesses that depend on these ecosystems will have a better environment to thrive in. By maintaining lighter requirements for small companies, we’ve developed smart environmental legislation, positioning the EU as a global leader in reducing pellet losses and a smart regulator that avoids unnecessary burden.
Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy
European Commission issues €8 billion in its 4th syndicated transaction of 2025
The European Commission has today raised €8 billion of EU-Bonds in its 4th syndicated transaction for 2025.
The dual-tranche transaction concerned a €5 billion tap of the EU-Bond maturing on 4 July 2028, and a €3 billion tap of the EU-Bond maturing on 4 October 2052. The 3-year bond was priced 101.052% with a re-offer yield of 2.283%, while the 30-year bond was priced at 77.217%, with a re-offer yield of 3.859%. Bids received were in excess of €41 billion on the 3-year bond and in excess of €45 billion on the 30-year bond. This equals oversubscription rates of approximately 8-times and 15-times, respectively.
The proceeds of the transaction will be used to finance EU policy programmes most notably in the context of NextGenerationEU and support to Ukraine.
Today's bond syndication
3-year Bond tap
Due on 4 July 2028, this bond carries a coupon of 2.625% and came at a re-offer yield of 2.283%, equivalent to a price of 101.052%. The spread to mid-swap is 14 bps, which is equivalent to 31.1 bps over the OBL due on 13 April 2028 and 0.5 bps over the OAT due 25 May 2028.
The final order book was of over €41 billion.
30-year Bond tap
Due on 4 October 2052, this bond carries a coupon of 2.5% and came at a re-offer yield of 3.859%, equivalent to a price of 77.217%. The spread to mid-swap is 126 bps, which is equivalent to 86.1 bps over the Bund due on 15 August 2052 and -11.1 bps below the OAT due 25 May 2052.
The final order book was of over €45 billion.
The joint lead managers of this transaction were BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Natixis and Nomura.
The Commission has now issued approximately €52.92 billion of its €90 billion bond issuance target for the first half of 2025. A full overview of all EU transactions executed to date is available online. A detailed overview of the EU's planned transactions for the first half of 2025 is also available in the EU funding plan. The next transaction in the EU's indicative issuance calendar is an EU-Bill auction on 16 April 2025.
The European Commission is empowered by the EU Treaties to borrow from the international capital markets on behalf of the European Union to finance selected EU policy programmes. It is a well-established name in debt securities markets, with a track record of bond issuances over the past 40 years. All issuances executed by the European Commission are denominated exclusively in euro. All EU borrowing is guaranteed by the EU budget, and contributions to the EU budget are an unconditional legal obligation of all Member States under the EU Treaties.
Since January 2023, the EU funds its different policy programmes by issuing single-branded EU-Bonds rather than separately labelled bonds for individual programmes. This follows the creation of a unified funding approach, extending the diversified funding strategy first established in 2021 for NextGenerationEU to other policy programmes funded by EU borrowing.
To finance EU policies as efficiently and effectively as possible, the Commission's issuances are structured by semi-annual funding plans and pre-announced issuance windows. In parallel, a framework incentivising EU Primary Dealers to provide quotes on EU securities on electronic platforms is in place since November 2023 and a new repurchase facility is now made available to EU Primary Dealers as from 7 October 2024 to support the secondary market liquidity through the use of EU-Bonds in repurchase agreements.
With today's transaction, the EU has now issued €483.33 billion in EU-Bonds under the unified funding approach. Of the proceeds raised, almost €298 billion has been disbursed to Member States under the NextGenerationEU Recovery and Resilience Facility. A further €72.04 billion has been allocated to other EU programmes benefitting from NextGenerationEU funding. Furthermore, almost €16.20 billion has been disbursed to Ukraine under the Ukraine Facility that will finance up to €33 billion in loans to Ukraine between 2024 and 2027. In addition, €4 billion has recently been disbursed under the new €18 billion EU exceptional Macro Financial assistance loan which will be repaid with proceeds from immobilised Russian State assets as part of the G7-led Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) loans initiative.*
The EU's total debt outstanding now stands at about €658.38 billion, of which €29.69 billion in the form of EU-Bills.
Information on the allocation on the investors in this transaction is available in the transactions section of the EU as a borrower website. More information on EU's issuance activities is available here: The EU as a borrower – investor relations - European Commission (europa.eu)
* Under the Commission's unified funding approach amounts raised are not necessarily equal to amounts disbursed at a specific point of time.