European Union

Today, the EU Parliament agreed on the new EU law to make companies accountable for the damage they cause to people and the planet: the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). 

The European Union has adopted a new approach to foreign policy dubbed the “Global Gateway,” supported by a new European Financial Architecture for Development (EFAD). These policies are a direct response to the state of permacrises that the world finds itself in. It seeks to inject 180-300 billion euros over a period of six years into the EU’s partner countries in the form of infrastructure projects, a green transition and digitalisation. 

The European Parliament voted on the report "Own resources: a fresh start for the EU Finances, a new start for Europe". The ONE Campaign, Oxfam, ActionAid and Global Citizen are campaigning for any new own resources to be used to increase the EU’s external action budget to deliver on the EU’s promises on global development and climate action.

Today the European Parliament  Committee on Budgets voted on the Committee's own initiative report on new own resources to finance the EU budget and EU political priorities.

Today, the EU chose fuel over food in the provisional agreement reached on the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), the EU law that incentivises the burning of crops to fuel cars and trucks.

Today, European finance ministers updated the EU tax haven list. They added four countries to the blacklist (British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, the Marshall Islands and the Russian Federation), three to the greylist (Albania, Aruba and Curacao) and they removed four countries from the greylist (Barbados, Jamaica, North Macedonia and Uruguay).

Today, the EU reached a provisional agreement on a new carbon tariff on goods imported into Europe (the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism).

After months of deadlock, EU countries reached an agreement on a low-rate minimum tax for multinational profits at the EU level. This follows a deal struck at the international level to implement a global minimum tax.  

Today, European energy ministers agreed on a package of emergency measures to curb the surge in energy prices. The package includes two measures to capture extraordinary profits from energy and fossil fuel companies. This follows the European Commission’s proposal on 14 September.   

Less than half (49 per cent) of the 2.1 billion COVID vaccine donations promised to poorer countries by G7 countries have been delivered, according to new figures published today by Oxfam and the People’s Vaccine Alliance.