DAILY NEWS
Brussels, 11 December 2025
European Commission Strengthens Support for Peacebuilding in Cyprus with €2.6 Million Agreement
The European Commission has signed a €2.6 million agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to further support the efforts of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP). This marks the 17th such agreement, underscoring the European Commission's unwavering commitment to fostering peace and reconciliation on the island.
The funding, provided through the EU’s Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community, will support CMP’s mission to recover, identify, and return the remains of missing persons to their families. CMP’s objective is to address the fates of 2,002 individuals—492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots—who went missing during the inter-communal violence of 1963-1964 and the events of 1974.
The European Commission has consistently supported the bi-communal scientific teams, comprising Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot experts, who are involved at every stage of CMP’s work. This collaboration not only aids in the humanitarian effort to bring closure to families, but also promotes mutual understanding and cooperation between the two communities—key elements in advancing reconciliation in Cyprus.
Since 2006, the European Commission has been the largest financial contributor to CMP’s work, with total support of €43.7 million. This assistance has significantly contributed to the identification of 1,058 individuals, providing solace to affected families and reinforcing the broader goals of peacebuilding on the island.
For more information
CMP - COMMITEE ON MISSING PERSONS IN CYPRUS (cmp-cyprus.org)
Larnaka to be the European Capital of Culture 2030 in Cyprus
On 11 December 2025, the chairperson of the European Capitals of Culture Expert Panel announced that the city of Larnaka has been recommended to become the European Capital of Culture 2030 in Cyprus. The recommendation was made by a panel of independent experts assessing applications from the two short-listed Cypriot cities of Larnaka and Lemesos.
Since 1985, the European Capitals of Culture initiative, has developed into one of the most ambitious cultural projects in Europe and one of the EU's most appreciated activities. After Paphos in 2017, Larnaka will be the next Cypriot city to hold this prestigious title. The initiative is supported by the EU through the Creative Europe programme.
To counter ongoing global crises, Larnaka aims to bring back anthropia (our deep and common human values) at the centre of the stage. Through the exploration of a “Common Ground” in all its forms, whether physical, mental or emotional, the city wishes to foster togetherness, vulnerability and care.
The goals of this initiative are to provide Europeans with opportunities to learn about each other's cultures, to enjoy their shared history and values, to experience the feeling of belonging to the same European community, to develop European cultural connections and partnerships, as well as to underline the role of culture in the development of cities.
Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef, said: “Congratulations to Larnaka for having been recommended as the European Capital of Culture 2030 in Cyprus. Larnaka’s celebration of anthropia - our deep and common human values - is the best possible message to send Europe in these troubled times. When putting forward its own vision, Larnaka choses to celebrate what truly makes European culture and values what they are: our shared human nature.”
Background
In accordance with the Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council governing the European Capital of Culture Union action, there will be three European Capitals of Culture in 2030: one in Belgium (Leuven), one in Cyprus and one in Montenegro (Nikšić).
Conforming to the current scheme for designating the European Capitals of Culture, the selection has two rounds: a pre-selection round, following which a shortlist of candidate cities is drawn up, and a final selection round approximately nine months later, where one city is recommended for the title. The selected cities are then officially designated by the Member State concerned, or by the European Commission in the case of competitions in an EFTA/EEA country, candidate country or potential candidate.
The selection criteria state that cities should prepare a cultural programme with a strong European dimension, which fosters the participation of the city’s stakeholders as well as its various neighbourhoods and attracts visitors from the whole country and Europe. The programme must have a lasting impact and contribute to the long-term development of the city. The cities must also show that they have the support from the relevant public local authorities and the capacity to deliver the project.
The applications are examined by a panel composed of twelve independent experts, two appointed by the relevant national authorities and ten by EU institutions and bodies (European Parliament, Council, Commission and Committee of the Regions).
Cyprus published applications from interested cities in December 2023. Five cities submitted applications by the deadline of 16 December 2024: Agia Napa, Kourion, Larnaka, Lemesos and Nicosia. The pre-selection meeting took place in Nicosia on 25-27 February 2025 and the cities of Larnaka and Lemesos were short-listed. They were given until 3 November 2025 to complete their applications. The final selection meeting took place on 10-11 December 2025.
Each year, two to three cities hold the title of European Capital of Culture.
The two European Capitals of Culture 2025 are Chemnitz (Germany) and Nova Gorica/Gorizia (Slovenia)
Upcoming European Capitals of Culture are:
Commission adopts its December infringement procedures
To help citizens and businesses benefit fully from the European Union's legislation, the Commission maintains a constant dialogue with Member States to ensure compliance with EU law. It can initiate infringement procedures against Member States in the event of non-compliance. The decisions taken today, as part of this infringement package, include 18 letters of formal notice and 40 reasoned opinions. The Commission also decided to refer 8 cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Finally, the Commission decided to close 84 cases in which the Member States concerned, in cooperation with the Commission, have brought an infringement to an end and ensured compliance with EU law.
The decisions and the corresponding press releases are available online.
More information on the EU infringement procedure can be found in the following questions and answers.
(For more information: Olof Gill – Tel.: +32 2 296 59 66; Kristyna Eeckels – Tel.: +32 2 295 10 65)
Commission calls on Cyprus to ensure periodic review of water permits
Today, the Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion to Cyprus (INFR(2024)2227) for failing to comply with the Water Framework Directive and the obligation to carry out periodic reviews of water permits. Full implementation of EU water quality requirements is key to protecting human health and the environment. 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. Each programme must include measures to control different types of pressures affecting water bodies, such as water abstraction and diffuse pollution sources. Member States are required to periodically review these control measures, including any permits granted, to determine whether they still achieve their objectives and, if necessary, update them. In Cyprus, national legislation does not impose any periodic review, which demonstrates a situation of bad transposition of the Water Framework Directive. The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Cyprus in November 2024. In its reply, Cyprus acknowledged the need to modify its national legislation, however, such legislative modification has still not been adopted. Therefore, the Commission has decided to issue a reasoned opinion to Cyprus, which has two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Commission urges Greece, France, Italy, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Portugal to transpose the reinforced rules to promote renewable energy
Today, the European Commission decided to send reasoned opinions to Greece (INFR(2025)0214), France (INFR(2025)0220), Italy (INFR(2025)0228), Cyprus (INFR(2025)0201), Hungary (INFR(2025)0224), Malta (INFR(2025)0233), Poland (INFR(2025)0238) and Portugal (INFR(2025)0241) for failing to fully transpose the provisions of the amending Directive (EU) 2023/2413 into national law. The Directive was adopted in 2023. Member States had to notify the transposition of the Directive by 21 May 2025, except for some provisions related to permitting, which were already due by 1 July 2024. The new rules aim to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in all sectors of the economy, not only in the power sector, but also and especially in those sectors where progress is more difficult like heating and cooling, buildings, transport and industry, where the EU has also set new or strengthened targets. They set horizontal and cross-cutting measures to promote the deployment of renewables, such as the strengthening of guarantees of origin, facilitating energy system integration through the promotion of electrification and renewable hydrogen, and safeguards to ensure a more sustainable bioenergy production. The implementation of the legislation is instrumental to accelerate the roll-out of homegrown clean energy, to further reduce greenhouse gas GHG emissions in the energy sector - which currently contributes over 75% of total GHG emissions in the Union, and to strengthen energy security. It will also contribute to lowering energy prices and enhancing the competitiveness of the EU economy. In July 2025, the Commission sent letters of formal notice to 26 Member States for failing to fully transpose the Directive into national law. After having examined the replies from the Member States, the Commission has decided to issue reasoned opinions to Greece, France, Italy, Cyprus and Portugal for failing to notify transposition measures and to Hungary, Malta and Poland for failing to provide sufficiently clear and precise information on how their transposition measures transpose each of the Directive's provisions. These Member States now have two months to respond and take the necessary measures. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the cases to the Court of Justice of the European Union with a request for financial sanctions.
Commission calls on Cyprus to address deficiencies in aerodrome safety and oversight implementation
Today, the European Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion to Cyprus (INFR(2023)2151) for failing to ensure, under Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 and Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012, that the aerodrome operator of Larnaka and Pafos airports correctly reflects all applicable EU requirements in their respective Aerodome Manuals, including on rescue and fire-fighting services. Furthermore, the Commission holds concerns whether the Cyprus Department of Civil Aviation has sufficiently qualified staff in all required technical areas to be able to effectively deal with its aerodrome-related oversight tasks. These issues were detected during an inspection that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency carried out in 2020 and were raised by the Commission in the letter of formal notice sent to Cyprus on 16 November 2023. As Cyprus has not solved the issues identified by the Commission, the Commission is sending a reasoned opinion to Cyprus, which now has two months to respond and take the necessary measures. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
EU and United Arab Emirates launch Strategic Partnership Agreement negotiations
Today, the Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica and Lana Nusseibeh, State Minister for Political Affairs, and Envoy of the Foreign Minister to the EU of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) met in Abu Dhabi, to officially launch negotiations for an EU-UAE Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA).
This decision further strengthens the robust partnership between the EU and UAE building on the 2022 EU Joint Communication, on a strategic partnership with Gulf, and the joint agenda launched by Gulf and European leaders at the 2024 EU-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Brussels.
It reaffirms their shared goal of fostering stability and security in the region, and will allow them to explore, through the SPA negotiations, new opportunities to further strengthen bilateral and regional cooperation in priority areas of mutual interest.
High Representative and Vice-President, Kaja Kallas, said: “Strengthening ties between the EU and the Gulf is in our interest. Launching negotiations on a new Strategic Partnership Agreement will help build a stronger and more resilient relationship. Together, we aim to promote peace and regional stability, from humanitarian aid for Gaza to addressing the conflict in Sudan.”
Commissioner Šuica said: “The bilateral relationship between the EU and the UAE is today stronger than ever. I am pleased to announce here in Abu Dhabi the launch of negotiations on an EU–UAE Strategic Partnership Agreement. We want to step up our cooperation on priorities of shared importance for both the EU and the UAE - including digitalisation, artificial intelligence and connectivity, research and innovation, energy, environmental protection, the green transition, and people-to-people contacts.”
More information on the EU's relations with the UAE are available in the joint statement, press release, and a dedicated factsheet.
(For more information: Anouar El Anouni – Tel. +32 2 291 35 80; Guillaume Mercier – Tel. +32 2 298 05 64; Luca Dilda – Tel. +32 2 295 21 53)
Commission invests €14 billion through Horizon Europe to boost global research and innovation leadership
Today, the European Commission adopted the main Horizon Europe work programme for 2026-2027, a €14 billion investment designed to drive research and innovation across the EU's strategic goals. These goals include achieving climate neutrality, boosting the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in research and innovation, and ensuring resilience in a rapidly changing world.
To achieve this, the programme introduces new cross-disciplinary calls and topics that will boost decarbonisation and the use of AI in research. It also expands the ‘Choose Europe' initiative to attract global talent and makes applying for Horizon Europe funding and participation simpler.
The Horizon Europe work programme 2026-2027 is based on Horizon Europe's strategic plan 2025-2027, adopted in March 2024, co-created by Commission services and co-designed with Member States, countries associated to Horizon Europe, the European Parliament and more than 2000 stakeholders and citizens.
More information about the work programme can be found in our press release.
(For more information: Thomas Regnier — Tel. + 32 2 299 10 99; Nika Blazevic — Tel. + 32 2 299 27 17)
Commission launches European Partnership for Virtual Worlds
The European Commission has launched the European Partnership for Virtual Worlds, bringing together industry, academia, research organisations and end-users to support research and innovation in this area. The partnership is a key deliverable of the EU Strategy on Web 4.0 and Virtual Worlds. It aims to position the EU as a world leader in virtual worlds technologies. The partnership was signed yesterday by the Commission and the Virtual Worlds Association composed of 18 funding members. The partnership comes at a crucial time: the global market in virtual worlds is expected to grow from €27 billion in 2022 to more than €800 billion by 2030.
Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said:
“I am delighted to have signed the European Partnership on Virtual Worlds. Europe has everything it takes to be a world leader in the industrial space of virtual worlds. With this partnership we will move to the next gear, fully embracing the opportunities virtual worlds offer us, both for promoting economic growth and tackling important societal challenges. We want to see virtual world environments built around EU values and centred around innovation.”
The partnership will boost research, innovation, standardisation and skills development, and encourage the adoption of virtual worlds. It will play a key part in strengthening Europe's technological autonomy and ensuring that developments in virtual worlds reflect EU values and fundamental rights. By bringing together all actors of the value chain across domains of applications and virtual worlds technologies, the partnership will strengthen Europe's ecosystem. The partnership is underpinned by financial support under Horizon Europe of €200 million between 2025-2027, to be complemented with at least €200 million by virtual worlds association members.
Commission seeks public feedback on postal deliveries
Today, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the future of the EU postal and delivery services framework. The consultation aims to gather views on the challenges, opportunities and way forward in the letter and parcel delivery sector, collecting input from a wide range of stakeholders, including postal and delivery service users (individuals and companies), service providers, trade unions and Member State authorities.
Respondents are invited to share practical or regulatory issues they face in postal services, suggest improvements and give their opinion on possible policy options.
Feedback from the consultation will inform the preparation of the new EU Delivery Act, currently being worked on by the Commission. The Act will aim to modernise the EU framework for postal services, currently composed of the Postal Services Directive and Cross-border Parcel Regulation, safeguarding access to high-quality, affordable delivery services, promoting fair competition, and increasing consumer protection. The EU Delivery Act was announced in the 2025 Single Market Strategy, which aims to give a new dynamic to the Single Market for services by reducing regulatory complexity and improving harmonization across the EU.
The consultation is open until 5 March 2026.
(For more information: Thomas Regnier - Tel.: +32 2 299 10 99; Rüya Perincek – Tel.: +32 460 76 25 10)
Commission identifies actions to reduce tax gaps and support competitiveness in the EU
Today, the European Commission released its first Mind the Gap Report, which builds on the experience so far with Value-Added Tax (VAT) gaps reports and extends now to direct taxation. It offers a comprehensive assessment of tax gaps in the EU and its 27 Member States while providing opportunities to support key policy priorities in the EU and its Member States.
The reports show that the estimates of tax compliance gaps, which amounted to hundreds of billions of euros in 2023.
Tax gaps can emerge due to tax evasion and avoidance. Tax gaps such as tax expenditures, tax reliefs or concessions can be an important policy tool if carefully designed. Tax compliance gaps induced by tax evasion and avoidance weaken public finances and erode trust in tax systems. The VAT compliance gap reached €128 billion in 2023, reversing the progress observed during the pandemic. For Corporate Income Tax (CIT), the estimated average compliance gap using the latest available data stands at 10.9% of collected revenues.
The reports detail practical strategies throughout the EU, highlighting each country's strengths and areas that need improvement. Addressing tax gaps requires action in various priority areas, including enhancing tax administrations through skill development and data utilization and review past policy choices to ensure that measures remain efficient and well-targeted.
The report is accompanied by two technical reports, which provide evidence of substantial tax revenue losses that occur due to non-compliance across the EU, related to VAT and CIT.
Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, Wopke Hoekstra, said: “Every year, billions of public revenues are lost to governments, taxpayers and institutions. In a time when Europe needs to be more competitive, reducing tax gaps is critical and we're working towards this. In the area of VAT, we recently adopted VIDA, which will allow to exchange information about transactions in real time. With these types of measures, we will boost compliance to ensure we don't miss out on vital revenue.”
More information is available in the Mind the Gap Report and on a dedicated website.
(For more information: Anna-Kaisa Itkonen – Tel.: +32 2 295 75 01; Paula Clara Ritter-Moschütz – Tel.: +32 2 296 40 83)
Europeans see strong benefits from EU membership and call for a more assertive Union
The latest Eurobarometer shows that nearly three quarters of EU citizens consider that their country has benefited from EU membership. Support for the euro, as well as for common defence and security, is among the highest ever recorded. In a contested geopolitical environment, Europeans increasingly call for a stronger and more assertive EU with reinforced economic independence and a common defence and security policy.
Europeans see benefits from the EU membership
74% of Europeans say that their country has benefited from being a member of the EU. Almost six in ten EU citizens (59%) are also optimistic about the future of the EU and nearly three quarters of respondents (73%) say they feel they are citizens of the EU. Trust in the EU remains at a high level with 48% saying they trust the EU.
Europeans wish for a stronger and more assertive EU
Two thirds of respondents (67%) agree that the European Union is a place of stability in a troubled world. Support for strengthening the EU's economic independence is overwhelming: 83% believe the Union should diversify trade relations globally.
Nearly eight in ten Europeans (79%) are in favour of a common defence and security policy among Member States – the second highest result since 2004. Ensuring peace and stability remains by some distance the action that will have the highest positive impact on European citizens' life in the short term (selected by 42%), followed by the creation of more job opportunities (26%), securing food, health, and industry supplies in the EU (25%) and managing irregular migration (24%).
In terms of EU budget priorities, citizens would like the EU budget to be spent on employment, social affairs and public health (42%,), education, training, youth, culture and media (36%,) and defence and security (35%,).
Europeans show record support for euro
The Eurobarometer survey registered the highest support ever for the common currency in the EU (74%) and the second highest support in the euro area (82%). When it comes to the perception of the situation of the European economy, 46% of Europeans find it good while 46% find it bad. A majority of citizens (49%) think the European economic situation will remain stable in the next 12 months.
Continued and stable support for the EU's response to the war in Ukraine
In the face of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, 81% of European respondents agree with welcoming into the EU people fleeing the war, while over three quarters of Europeans (77%) support providing financial and humanitarian support to Ukraine. 73% of EU citizens back economic sanctions on the Russian government, companies, and individuals while nearly six in ten (59%) approve of the EU granting candidate status to Ukraine and 57% agree with the EU financing the purchase and supply of military equipment to Ukraine.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine remains the most important issue facing the EU (mentioned by 26%) followed by immigration (mentioned by 20%), the international situation (19%), as well as the security and defence (18%). 77% of European respondents agree that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a threat to the security of the EU.
The Standard Eurobarometer 104 (autumn 2025) was conducted between 9 October and 5 November 2025 across the 27 Member States. Overall, 26,445 EU citizens were interviewed face-to-face. Interviews were also conducted in nine candidate and potential candidate countries (all except Ukraine) and the United Kingdom.
Commission celebrates winners of fourth edition of EU Product Safety Award
Today, the European Commission announced the winners of the 2025 EU Product Safety Award. The Award encourages and honours innovative business initiatives and research that enhance consumer safety beyond legal requirements. Separate awards were attributed to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large companies and researchers.
Every two years, this Award celebrates the companies and researchers that contribute to enhancing consumer protection across the EU. It aims to raise awareness among consumers about their right to safe products, and inspire other businesses and researchers to enhance consumer protection in their day-to-day actions.
The 2025 Product Safety Award winners are:
Small and medium-sized enterprises
Gold winner: Deep Detection SL (Spain) – for their PhotonAi Cameras, which can identify microplastics that would otherwise be invisible to conventional X-ray machines. This technology has major potential for market surveillance authorities to screen parcels in a non-intrusive way.
Silver winner: SafeCart (Lithuania) – a browser plug-in that can instantly inform consumers shopping online whether a product has been notified on Safety Gate, the European Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products.
Bronze winner: ErFi Kids SRL (Romania) – which offers personalised assistance to parents to correctly install and use their child car seat, as well as first aid training, in their Child Car Seat Clinics service.
Large companies
Gold winner: allnex Germany GmbH (Germany) – a global supplier for coating additives and resins that eliminated PFAS from their additives.
Researchers
Gold winner: Prof. Dr Sascha Raithel, Freie Universität Berlin (Germany) – for his research establishing a comprehensive framework to effectively recall unsafe products through proactive preparation, execution, and recovery.
Launched in 2019 and organised every two years, the EU Product Safety Award encourages and celebrates innovative business initiatives that go the extra mile for consumers, raising the level of protection across Europe. For this fourth edition, the competition was open to companies and researchers from EU Members States as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Small and large businesses and researchers from 18 different European countries submitted applications. Following a preliminary screening, a jury panel of policy and safety experts selected the finalists based on innovation, impact, inspiration for others, and the strength of their product safety processes. Shortlisted companies were then screened against internationally recognised corporate social responsibility criteria.
EU Product Safety Award
General Product Safety Regulation
Safety Gate: the EU rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products
Quote(s)
Innovators, in research and in business, are pivotal to our economy. They drive up consumer confidence and give Europe an edge in their field. In doing so they are champions, not just of product safety, but of competitiveness. Congratulations to all the EU Product Safety Award winners!
Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy
A fair economy is one where consumers can trust that the products they buy are safe. The EU Product Safety Award celebrates businesses and researchers who place safety at the centre of their work. I warmly congratulate all 2025 winners and finalists, who use creativity and technology to strengthen consumer trust. Together, we are meeting today’s challenges and building a safer European market for our 450 million European consumers.
Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection
Commission welcomes political agreement on major reform of EU pharmaceutical rules
The European Commission welcomes the political agreement to modernise the EU's pharmaceutical legislation, reached last night by the Council and the European Parliament. The reform is a crucial step in boosting innovation and investment in the EU's pharmaceutical sector, while ensuring that medicines are safe, effective and available for patients throughout Europe. The reform package revises the current EU rules, which are over 20 years old.
Today's agreement offers a more modern, flexible and competitive framework for the pharmaceutical sector, so that it can better deliver for European patients and compete globally. The new rules will:
All these measures will substantially strengthen a sector that is vital for the EU's strategic autonomy. Reform of the pharmaceutical legislation is a key part of the Commission's agenda to ensure EU citizens have access to top-level medicines and treatments, and to support a more competitive and innovative healthcare sector in the EU. It is complemented by the Commission's proposal for a Critical Medicines Act, the recent Life Sciences Strategy and the upcoming Biotech Act, the targeted revision of the rules for medical devices, among other initiatives.
Next Steps
The political agreement is now subject to formal approval by the European Parliament and the Council.
More Information
Factsheet: Key elements of the agreed reform
Webpage
The EU pharmaceutical reform will redefine this sector for decades to come. It will boost our competitiveness, fast-track innovation and increase the resilience of our health systems. Most importantly, it will ensure that safe and effective medicines and modern treatments are available to EU patients across our Union.
Olivér Várhelyi, Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare
Prevention, investment and reform in healthcare bring economic prosperity
A new report published as part of the State of Health in the EU shows Europe urgently needs innovative and resilient health systems to improve healthcare and boost competitiveness. With pressing challenges such as ageing populations and non-communicable diseases, EU Member States are now advancing and putting in place critical reforms, supported by EU funding.
Today's Synthesis Report identifies four critical areas for improvement: preventing non-communicable diseases, accelerating the digital health transformation, strengthening primary care, and promoting affordable access to pharmaceuticals and innovation.
The report highlights the following key health system reform challenges and the support the EU is providing to overcome them:
Alongside the report, 29 Country Health Profiles have also been published, which cover the latest developments in health trends and health systems across all EU countries, plus Iceland and Norway. They reflect specific challenges that countries face, and provide an analysis of the effectiveness, accessibility and resilience of each country's health system, with a special focus on pharmaceuticals.
The State of Health in the EU cycle is a partnership between the European Commission, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Health Division and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (the Observatory), launched by the Commission in 2016 and funded by the EU4Health Programme. The aim is to gather up-to-date data and in-depth analyses on health and health systems and make information easily accessible to stakeholders. This strengthens the evidence base for policymakers and other health stakeholders seeking to improve the performance of health systems in the EU.
For More Information
State of Health in the EU:
The Reports are a clear wake-up call: non-communicable diseases — with heart disease as the biggest contributor — remain the leading cause of preventable illness and death. We also see worrying trends among young people, with rising childhood obesity and increasing use of e-cigarettes placing strains on individuals and health systems. Strong and innovative health systems are essential to the EU’s economic growth and global competitiveness. We must act now — strengthening prevention and primary care, boosting innovation, and bringing new therapies to all patients. This is why we are putting forward a Biotech Act next week, advancing pharmaceutical reform as well as the Critical Medicines Act, and soon presenting an EU Cardiovascular Plan.
Commission welcomes agreement on stronger EU rules ensuring victims' rights
Victims of crime across the European Union will receive better support and access to information, and easier access to justice thanks to the political agreement reached yesterday between the European Parliament and the Council on the Commission proposal for a revised Victims' Rights Directive.
The revised Victims' Rights Directive includes setting up victims' helplines that will provide information, guidance and emotional support to victims. It will be easier for victims to report crimes online and to participate in criminal proceedings. They will receive support at courts in dedicated spaces and there will be additional psychological support available to those victims who need it. Child victims will also benefit from better access to justice in courts. Crime reporting and testifying, social services, psychological and medical care, and administrative guidance will all be better structured and coordinated to meet their specific needs.
All victims will benefit from stronger protection of their personal dataand access to compensation will be reinforced. The new rules also strengthen training activities to ensure police officers, judges and prosecutors efficiently respond to victims' rights and needs.
The Victims' Rights Directive entered into application in 2015. Since that time, it brought a positive impact on victims' rights to access information and improved their access to support services. The evaluation of the Victims' Rights Directive, published in June 2022, confirmed that it has broadly generated the expected benefits. However, it also demonstrated shortcomings that require targeted improvement in relation to victims' main rights.
Victims' rights in the EU
It is crucial to ensure that justice is delivered for victims of crime. By updating the Directive on Victims' Rights, we are taking a step forward to ensure that we benefit from a justice system which has victim protection at its front and centre.
We welcome the agreement on the Victims’ Rights Directive. This is not just a matter of justice, but of dignity and respect for victims of crime, particularly the most vulnerable. We owe them recognition, safety, and access to justice.