COVID-19: EU response
9/04: COVID-19: Council approves additional funding from the EU budget – Council of the EU
The Council today approved additional funding from the EU budget, amounting to €121.5 million, to address urgent needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
6/04: EU Cohesion policy: first REACT-EU support measures for recovery and transition approved for the Netherlands and Austria – European Commission
The Commission approved the first decisions under REACT-EU (Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe) involving a modification of four operational programmes for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the Netherlands and Austria that will increase the funding available for investments by nearly €262 million from REACT-EU. The Netherlands and Austria thus become the first EU countries to make use of REACT-EU.
6/04: Estonian and Lithuanian micro-enterprises to receive European support with Finora Capital – European Commission
More support will become available for micro-enterprises in Estonia and Lithuania that are facing the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. A new transaction between the European Investment Fund (EIF) and financial intermediary Finora Capital is expected to support at least 100 micro borrowers in these two countries.
30/03: Commission disburses further €13 billion under SURE to six Member States – European Commission
The European Commission has disbursed €13 billion to six EU Member States in the sixth instalment of financial support under the SURE instrument. This is the third disbursement in 2021. As part of today's operations, Czechia has received €1 billion, Belgium €2.2 billion, Spain €4.06 billion, Ireland €2.47 billion, Italy €1.87 billion and Poland €1.4 billion.
30/03: SURE: Commission proposes additional €3.7 billion to six Member States to protect jobs and incomes – European Commission
The proposals follow formal requests for additional financial assistance under SURE submitted by Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta on top of the support that the Council has already approved.
Streaming platforms
12/04: European Producers Club Issues Code of Fair Practices for VOD Services – Film New Europe
The Paris-based European Producers Club (EPC) has issued a Code of Fair Practices for VOD services, aiming at establishing basic parameters to be applied to VOD Services’ contracts when commissioning feature films, TV series and other audiovisual works from independent production companies.
Antitrust
31/03: Antitrust: Commission withdraws 2019 decision making commitments binding on Disney, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and Sky UK and closes proceedings – European Commission
European Commission
9/04: Commission opens first European Innovation Council calls worth €1 billion – European Commission
The funding worth over €1 billion aims to help scale up start-ups and small and medium-sized businesses that have the potential to achieve high impact. While over half of the funding is open to breakthrough innovations in any field, €495 million are earmarked for innovations that support the European Green Deal as well as digital and health technologies.
Events
12 -15 April: EP Committees meetings (LIBE, JURI, IMCO)
16 April: Informal video conference of Economic and Finance Ministers (ECOFIN)
16 April: Eurogroup meeting
19 April: CULT meeting
22 April: EAO Webinar: Gatekeepers in the DSA Package: What about VoD?
26 – 29 April: European Parliament Plenary
26 May: EU Copyright Law: State of Play and Future Directions – Conference
May 2021: Porto Social Summit
