The Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, in cooperation with the European Commission, organised in Zagreb from 5 to 7 June 2023 a meeting of the members of the INFORM EU network led by the European Commission and comprising communicators on EU funds from all EU Member States. The visit takes place each time in another Member State and this time Croatia was elected as host country, i.e. the city of Zagreb.

Visits to successful EU projects were organised as part of the event, with 100 INFORM EU members visiting Karlovac. As part of their visit to Karlovac, they visited Aquatic – the freshwater aquarium Karlovac, Nikola Tesla Experience Center and Meduza, Logo, as examples of successfully implemented EU-funded projects.

These projects were visited by Monika Hencsey, Director-General for Regional and Urban Development of the European Commission, followed by a visit to Europe Direct Karlovac, where she also met with local media.

„I am happy to be here today in Karlovac on behalf of the European Commission in a special year in which Croatia will celebrate 10 years of EU membership and where you joined the euro and the Schengen zone. I think that Croatia has proven its European heritage and how important it is for the European Union. Karlovac is the great place we are witnessing" said Hencsey to journalists..“, rekla je Hencsey novinarima .

It reiterated that Croatia has EUR 9 billion at its disposal in the new financial period until 2027, which will continue to invest in development with a greater focus on green energy, digital and on reducing the gap between poorer and richer regions, thus focusing on mountainous regions, but also on demography and creating conditions for increasing the population especially in rural areas.

She also put forward an interesting idea to further promote Karlovac in the European Union: “you would need to film Netflix’s Nikola Tesla film. Some of us did not know that he lived here and was trained. You have a great story to tell the EU. In addition, you have many rivers and clean and drinking water is very important. Today, we are struggling with a lack of energy, it is costly and scarce. I believe that in the future, water will be what is today’s energy. Managing your rivers in a clean and sustainable way is what will give you even more visibility in Europe. I really hope you will use more renewable, geothermal energy when I arrive next. These are long-term investments that the Cohesion Fund can finance" said Hencsey. „Trebali biste snimiti Netflixov film o Nikoli Tesli. Neki od nas nisu znali da je on ovdje živio i školovao se. Imate izvrsnu priču za ispričati u EU. Osim toga imate mnogo rijeka, a čista i pitka voda je vrlo važna. Danas se borimo s nedostatkom energije, skupa je i oskudna. Vjerujem da će u budućnosti voda biti ono što je današnja energija. Upravljanje vašim rijekama na čist i održiv način je ono što će vam dati još više vidljivosti u Europi. Stvarno se nadam i da ćete, kada dođem idući puta, koristiti više obnovljive, geotermalne energije. To su dugoročne investicije koje kohezijski fond može financirati“ rekla je Hencsey.

At the end of the visit, we walked through the Star so that our guests could see projects in implementation and where EU funds go.

Europe Direct Karlovac and the Public Institution Regional Development Agency of Karlovac County, in cooperation with numerous partners, organized a three-day celebration of Europe Day. The birthday of the European Union is celebrated every year on May 9. as a reminder to preserve lasting peace and unity, in memory of the historic "Schuman Declaration" from 1950. Europe Day 2023 is a sign of the European Year of Skills, in other words, focusing on lifelong learning and acquiring new skills, which was the main reason for organizing a series of lectures and workshops, as well as a quiz on knowledge of the European Union. We present an overview of how it all looked.

Three-day celebration, 09.05. we started in cooperation with our partner "Kinoklub Karlovac" with a screening of the Bulgarian film "Shelter", which was followed by an analysis of the film and a round table, and Boris Bakal gave a lecture on film art to students of the 3rd grade of Duga Resa High School, majoring in media technicians. CinEd was also presented - the European professional training program for teachers, professors, educators, pedagogues and interested professionals to teach children and young people about current issues that we encounter every day through film. As part of the project, the online platform https://www.cined.eu/collection is also active, which provides free access to a curated collection of top European heritage and contemporary art films with Croatian subtitles.

After that, in cooperation with the City Library "Ivan Goran Kovačić" Karlovac, in the Department for Children and Youth, students of the 4th grade of Grabrik Elementary School participated in a workshop called "Awareness and training of life and social skills through play" led by librarian Gabrijela Vine . The inspiration for conducting the workshop came from the books "Exercising Life Skills" by Jelena Bićanić and "Children's Games for the Development of Social Skills" by Deborah M. Plummer. Through the games Send it on!, Five and Joker, Pyramid of Life and Fear of School, we practiced the skills of cooperation, careful observation, memory, concentration, non-verbal communication, overcoming fear, empowerment and many others. In order to successfully advance in the education system, and later compete in the labor market, it is desirable to acquire good and sovereign mastery of both life and social skills from an early age, and these students experienced all this through play, the simplest way of learning.

On Wednesday 10.05. the central event marking Europe Day was organized in the newly opened Nikola Tesla Experience Center, where we hosted students from the Polytechnic in Karlovac and high school students from the Karlovac Gymnasium and the Karlovac Economic and Tourism School. Why them? It is precisely because high school students and students are the group that will soon enter the labor market that is why a lecture on lifelong learning and the presentation of vouchers was held in front of the Croatian Employment Service, Regional Office Karlovac.

With the education entitled "AI panic? - let's talk about artificial intelligence", Kinoklub representatives: Ksenija Sanković and Lucija Ćeškić continued to promote media literacy, given that it deals with content creation and technical conditions, as well as critical thinking, and artificial intelligence is currently a very popular topic. Within the topic of artificial intelligence, the results of the evaluation of workshops on media literacy of young people prepared and processed by prof. Martina Vičić Crnković from Karlovac Gymnasium.

The quiz "How well do I know Europe" was prepared by prof. Margareta Kulaš from Karlovac Gymnasium, which took place online via the Kahoot platform, and the three most successful couples also won prizes.

After the quiz on knowledge of the European Union, a guided tour through the interpretation center dedicated to Nikola Tesla was organized for all participants.

On Thursday, 11.05. in the "Ivan Goran Kovačić" City Library, we finished celebrating Europe Day with an educational workshop for preschool children called "EU and I". By recognizing the flags and coloring them, the children learned what the European Union is, how many members it has, how many years the Republic of Croatia has been a member, what other countries are in the EU, and what each country is known for.

We can conclude that with this three-day celebration of Europe Day, we put skills in the spotlight, because investing in education and training is crucial for the future of every individual. The European Year of Skills will be a new impetus in achieving the social goals of the EU by 2030, according to which at least 60% of adults should be trained every year, and at least 78% should be employed.

#DanEurope #EuropeDay #EuropanYearOffSkills

Komisija predlaže reviziju zakonodavstva EU-a o lijekovima kako bi ono postalo fleksibilnije i prilagođenije potrebama građana i poduzeća u cijeloj Uniji. Riječ je o najvećoj reformi u posljednjih 20 godina i više. Revizijom će se omogućiti veća dostupnost, pristup i cjenovna pristupačnost lijekova. Podupirat će se inovacije i poticati konkurentnost i privlačnost farmaceutske industrije EU-a te pritom promicati viši okolišni standardi. Uz tu reformu Komisija predlaže Preporuku Vijeća za jačanje borbe protiv antimikrobne otpornosti.

Reformom se svladavaju bitni izazovi. Lijekovi odobreni u EU-u još uvijek ne stižu dovoljno brzo do pacijenata niti su jednako dostupni u svim državama članicama. Postoje znatni nedostaci kad je riječ o nezadovoljenim medicinskim potrebama, rijetkim bolestima i antimikrobnoj otpornosti. Visoke cijene inovativnih načina liječenja i nestašice lijekova i dalje su velik problem za pacijente i zdravstvene sustave. Osim toga, kako bi osigurao da ostane privlačno mjesto za ulaganja i svjetski predvodnik u razvoju lijekova, EU treba prilagoditi svoja pravila digitalnoj transformaciji and novim tehnologijama te smanjiti birokraciju i pojednostavniti postupke. Naposljetku, novim pravilima treba se riješiti problem utjecaja proizvodnje lijekova na okoliš u skladu s ciljevima europskog zelenog plana.

Revizija uključuje prijedloge nove direktive i nove uredbe kojima se revidira i zamjenjuje postojeće zakonodavstvo o lijekovima, uključujući zakonodavstvo o lijekovima za djecu i za rijetke bolesti. Nastoje se postići sljedeći glavni ciljevi:

·         stvaranje jedinstvenog tržišta za lijekove kako bi svi pacijenti u EU-u imali pravodoban i pravedan pristup sigurnim, učinkovitim i cjenovno pristupačnim lijekovima

·         osiguravanje atraktivnog okvira za istraživanja, razvoj i proizvodnju lijekova u Europi kojim se potiču inovacije

·         drastično smanjenje administrativnog opterećenja ubrzavanjem postupaka kako bi se znatno smanjilo vrijeme potrebno za izdavanje odobrenja za lijekove i lijekovi bili brže dostupni pacijentima

·         povećanje dostupnosti i osiguravanje da se lijekovi pacijentima mogu isporučiti u svakom trenutku, bez obzira na to gdje u EU-u žive

·         borba protiv antimikrobne otpornosti i prisutnosti lijekova u okolišu, putem pristupa „jedno zdravlje”

·         povećanje okolišne održivosti lijekova.

Kako bi se ti ciljevi ostvarili, reforma se odnosi na cijeli životni ciklus lijekova.

Ključni elementi prijedloga:

·         Bolji pristup pacijenata i nacionalnih zdravstvenih sustava inovativnim i cjenovno pristupačnim lijekovima: Novim poticajima poduzeća će se poticati da svoje lijekove stave na raspolaganje pacijentima u svim zemljama EU-a i da razviju proizvode kojima se ispunjavaju nezadovoljene medicinske potrebe. Nadalje, omogućit će se ranija dostupnost generičkih i biosličnih lijekova te pojednostavniti postupci izdavanja odobrenja za stavljanje u promet. Uvest će se mjere za povećanje transparentnosti javnog financiranja razvoja lijekova i poticati izrada usporednih kliničkih podataka.

·         Promicanje inovacija i konkurentnosti učinkovitim i pojednostavnjenim regulatornim okvirom: Reformom će se stvoriti na inovacije usmjereno regulatorno okruženje za razvoj novih lijekova i prenamjenu postojećih. Europska agencija za lijekove (EMA) pružat će bolju ranu regulatornu i znanstvenu potporu subjektima koji razvijaju obećavajuće lijekove kako bi se omogućilo brzo odobravanje i pomoglo MSP-ovima i neprofitnim subjektima koji razvijaju lijekove. Ubrzat će se znanstvena ocjena i odobravanje lijekova (npr. EMA-ini postupci odobravanja trajat će 180 dana, čime će se doprinijeti smanjenju sadašnjeg prosjeka od oko 400 dana), a regulatorno opterećenje smanjit će se pojednostavnjenjem postupaka (npr. ukidanjem zahtjeva za produljenje odobrenja za stavljanje u promet u većini slučajeva te uvođenjem jednostavnijih postupaka za generičke lijekove) i digitalizacijom (npr. elektroničko podnošenje zahtjeva i elektroničke informacije o proizvodima). Zadržat će se najviši standardi kvalitete, sigurnosti i učinkovitosti za odobravanje lijekova.

·         Djelotvorni poticaji za inovacije: Regulatornom zaštitom u trajanju do najviše 12 godina za inovativne lijekove, u kombinaciji s postojećim pravima intelektualnog vlasništva, osigurat će se da Europa ostane privlačno mjesto za ulaganja i inovacije. Radi stvaranja jedinstvenog tržišta lijekova reformom će se postojeći sustav preusmjeriti s univerzalne regulatorne zaštite na djelotvorniji okvir poticaja za inovacije kojima se promiču i interesi javnog zdravlja. Kako bi se to postiglo, predlaže se minimalno razdoblje regulatorne zaštite od 8 godina koje se može produljiti u sljedećim slučajevima: ako se lijekovi stavljaju u promet u svim državama članicama, ako se njima odgovara na nezadovoljene medicinske potrebe, ako se provode usporedna klinička ispitivanja ili ako se razvije nova terapijska indikacija. Kombinacijom postojećih prava intelektualnog vlasništva i novih razdoblja regulatorne zaštite zaštitit će se i konkurentska prednost koju EU uživa zahvaljujući jednoj od najviših razina zaštite na svijetu kad je riječ o razvoju lijekova. Reformom će se poticati usmjeravanje istraživanja i razvoja na najveće potrebe pacijenata te pravodobniji i pravedniji pristup pacijenata lijekovima u cijeloj Uniji.

·         Rješavanje problema nestašica lijekova i osiguravanje sigurnosti opskrbe: Reformom se uvode novi zahtjevi za praćenje nestašica lijekova koje provode nacionalna tijela i EMA te jača koordinacijska uloga EMA-e. Povećat će se obveze poduzeća, što uključuje ranije izvješćivanje o nestašicama lijekova i povlačenju lijekova s tržišta te izradu i upravljanje planovima za sprečavanje nestašice. Sastavit će se popis ključnih lijekova na razini EU-a i procjenjivati slabosti lanca opskrbe tim lijekovima te pritom dati posebne preporuke o mjerama koje poduzeća i drugi dionici u lancu opskrbe trebaju poduzeti. Komisija može donijeti i pravno obvezujuće mjere radi jačanja sigurnosti opskrbe određenim ključnim lijekovima.

·         Bolja zaštita okoliša: Boljom provedbom postojećih okolišnih zahtjeva ograničit će se mogući negativni utjecaj lijekova na okoliš i javno zdravlje.

·         Suzbijanje antimikrobne otpornosti: Antimikrobna otpornost smatra se jednom od tri najveće prijetnje zdravlju u Uniji. Reformom se pružaju poticaji u obliku prenosivih vaučera poduzećima koja ulažu u nove antimikrobike koji mogu liječiti otporne patogene, čime se odgovara na problem tržišnog neuspjeha. Radi očuvanja učinkovitosti antimikrobika uvest će se i mjere i ciljevi za njihovu razboritu uporabu, uključujući prilagođeno pakiranje i obvezno izdavanje na recept.

Jačanje djelovanja EU-a za borbu protiv antimikrobne otpornosti primjenom pristupa „jedno zdravlje”

Antimikrobici su lijekovi od ključne važnosti. Međutim, zbog njihove prekomjerne i pogrešne uporabe tijekom godina povećala se antimikrobna otpornost, što znači da antimikrobici gube svoju učinkovitost, zbog čega je sve teže ili nemoguće liječiti infekcije. Stoga današnji paket uključuje i Prijedlog preporuke Vijeća koji sadržava dopunske mjere za borbu protiv antimikrobne otpornosti u području zdravlja ljudi, zdravlja životinja i okoliša u okviru takozvanog pristupa „jedno zdravlje”.

Prijedlogom se podupire razborita uporaba antimikrobika, preporučuju konkretni i mjerljivi ciljevi za smanjenje njihove uporabe i promiče visoka razina sprečavanja (posebno u bolnicama) i kontrole infekcija kod ljudi. Prijedlogom se poboljšava i informiranost javnosti, obrazovanje i osposobljavanje relevantnih djelatnika te potiče suradnja među dionicima iz svih relevantnih sektora.

Preporučeni ciljevi osmišljeni su uz potporu Europskog centra za sprečavanje i kontrolu bolesti (ECDC) uzimajući u obzir situaciju u pojedinim zemljama (razlike u razinama potrošnje antimikrobika i raširenosti ključnih otpornih patogena u državama članicama). Njima će se omogućiti i bolje praćenje napretka u narednim godinama.

Osim toga, Prijedlogom će se ojačati nacionalni akcijski planovi protiv antimikrobne otpornosti u okviru pristupa „jedno zdravlje”, poticati istraživanja i inovacije, pojačati nadzor i praćenje antimikrobne otpornosti i potrošnje antimikrobika, ojačati globalno djelovanje, pridonijeti osmišljavanju EU-ovih višedržavnih financijskih poticaja za poboljšanje pristupa antimikrobicima i potaknuti razvoj drugih medicinskih protumjera za borbu protiv antimikrobne otpornosti, kao što su cjepiva i brza dijagnostika.

Context

Komisija je u studenome 2020. predstavila farmaceutsku strategiju za Europu, kojom se nastoji stvoriti farmaceutsko okruženje koje će biti otporno na buduće promjene i usmjereno na pacijente i u kojem industrija EU-a može inovirati, razvijati se i zadržati svoju poziciju globalnog predvodnika.

Farmaceutski ekosustav EU-a koji je otporan na krize, prilagođen današnjici i pripremljen na buduće izazove jedan je od središnjih stupova snažne europske zdravstvene unije i dopunjavat će druge važne inicijative, kao što su jačanje okvira EU-a za zdravstvenu sigurnost novim zakonodavstvom o prekograničnim prijetnjama zdravlju i većim ovlastima za zdravstvene agencije EU-a te uspostava Tijela za pripravnost i odgovor na zdravstvene krize (HERA), europskog plana za borbu protiv raka i europskog prostora za zdravstvene podatke.

Strategijom je pokrenuta ambiciozna revizija postojećeg zakonodavstva o lijekovima, što predstavlja sveobuhvatan odgovor na trenutačne izazove s kojima se suočava farmaceutski sektor Unije.

Više informacija može se pronaći na slijedećim poveznicama:

Pitanja i odgovori o zakonodavstvu o lijekovima

Pitanja i odgovori o Preporuci o antimikrobnoj otpornosti

Informativni članak o stavljanju pacijenata u središte

Informativni članak o poticanju inovacija u farmaceutskoj industriji

                                                           Informativni članak o suzbijanju antimikrobne otpornosti

                                                           Farmaceutska strategija za Europu

                                                          Djelovanje EU-a u području antimikrobne otpornosti

                                                           Videozapis o reviziji zakonodavstva o lijekovima

U suradnji s centrom Europe Direct Karlovac i Ministarstvom gospodarstva i održivog razvoja, Europskim potrošačkom centrom Hrvatske, u četvrtak 6. travnja 2023. održana je radionica „Zamke online shoppinga“.

During the workshop, participants were informed about their rights and challenges when shopping online, as well as the possibilities in the event that their consumer rights are threatened, which were presented by Danijela Marković Krstić, head of the European Consumer Center Croatia at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. Also, last year the new Law on Consumer Protection came into force, so its novelties with an emphasis on consumer rights when purchasing products and services online could be heard.

In order to ensure a higher level of protection of consumer rights during cross-border shopping and to increase consumer confidence in the single EU market, the European Commission has provided a number of effective tools that will ensure that EU consumers, including Croatian consumers, feel safe when shopping cross-border in the European Union. of the Union.

You can see more about the European Consumer Center of Croatia, where you can seek help and advice, for all consumers in Europe by clicking on https://www.ecc-croatia.hr/

Online shopping has numerous advantages, but also disadvantages, the trend of online shopping is growing, and today the majority of young people do their shopping online. Taking into account that the Easter holiday is approaching, and consequently the consumption is increasing both in stores and in online stores.

Europe Direct Karlovac and the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the European Consumer Center of Croatia are organizing a workshop on the topic of "Traps of online shopping", which will be held on Thursday, April 6, 2023, starting at 11 a.m., in the hall of the Karlovac Chamber of Crafts, Jurja Haulika Street 14, Karlovac.

The aim of the workshop is to inform consumers about their rights and challenges when shopping online, and Danijela Marković Krstić, head of the European Consumer Center Croatia at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, will present useful tips and novelties related to the Consumer Protection Act.

You can apply until April 4, 2023 via the link: https://forms.gle/B9sx2DS79NxRyZPw5

What is exactly HAWaton, who organizes it, and what is the result of HAWaton?
HAWaton is a competition that promotes information literacy and digital skills of young people with an emphasis on preserving Croatian digital heritage, which took place on March 21, 2023 at the Gymnasium Karlovac. The competition was created in cooperation between the National and University Library in Zagreb and the "Ivan Goran Kovačić" City Library Karlovac on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of the Croatian author Ivan Goran Kovačić. Thus, this competition is an opportunity for the City Library "Ivan Goran Kovačić" to celebrate 60 years since it was named after this famous author. The National and University Library in Zagreb participates in the organization through the departments of the Croatian Web Archive (abbreviated as HAW), User Services, and the European Documentation Center NSK, with partners Europe direct Karlovac, Gymnasium Karlovac and European Commission Representation in Croatia.
The main theme of HAWaton is "Ivan Goran Kovačić", and the contestants will collect online content that describes the character and work of the aforementioned writer. The final product of HAWaton is the creation and publication of a digital thematic collection on the Croatian web archive of the National and University Library in Zagreb. The content of the collection will refer to the character and work of the aforementioned writer, and it was the participants of HAWaton who were the main creators of the content. The thematic collection will be published in open access and available to all future researchers who will be interested in the life of Ivan Goran Kovačić.
Students from three classes of Gymnasium Karlovac competed in HAWaton, and the winners were those who collected the largest number of the most accurate online content about Ivan Goran Kovačić within the given time limit. Its winners pointed out that the competition was an educational but also a fun experience for them, and they also received valuable prizes, while the other contestants received consolation prizes.

On the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of the Croatian author Ivan Goran Kovačić, the City Library “Ivan Goran Kovačić” Karlovac in cooperation with the National and University Library in Zagreb on 21 March 2023 is organising HAWaton — a competition of high school students in collecting online content. The competition will be held in Karlovac High School, and the task of participants will be to search, evaluate and select web pages related to the character and work of Ivan Goran Kovačić. Participants will, for a limited period of time, collect links to the web pages using computers, while respecting the selection criteria for cataloguing and archiving in the Croatian Web Archives.

This participative way of learning and gathering information in which the general public is involved, which is overseen by experts, is called civic science, represents the level of crowdsourcing, i.e. the work of the crowd.

The objectives of HAWaton are:

• • Information literacy of young people
• • Fostering the development of digital skills
• • Developing Critical Thinking
• • Popularisation of digital library services
• • Promoting concepts of mass support in the context of civic science.

Three classes of Karlovac Gymnasium will participate in HAWaton, and each class will receive one winner, i.e. the person who has collected the largest number of the most accurate online content about Ivan Goran Kovačić in due time. The winners of HAWaton expect valuable prizes that will be awarded at the school library of Karlovac Gymnasium the same day after classes.

The final product of HAWaton will be the production and publication of the thematic collection “Ivan Goran Kovačić” on the Croatian Web Archives. The content of the collection will refer to the character and work of the aforementioned writer, and it is the participants of the HAWaton that will be the main creators of the content. The thematic collection will be published in open access and available to all future researchers interested in the life of Ivan Goran Kovačić.

The National and University Library in Zagreb participates in the organisation through the departments of the Croatian Web Archives (abbreviated by HAW), the Customer Service and the European Documentation Centre. Partners organised by HAWaton are the Karlovac Gymnasium, the Representation of the European Commission in the Republic of Croatia and Europe Direct Karlovac.

This is an event and an opportunity for the Ivan Goran Kovačić City Library to celebrate 60 years since it was named after this famous author.

An upgraded Schengen Information System (SIS) has started to operate today. SIS is Europe’s largest information exchange system for security and border management. It contains information on wanted or missing persons, third-country nationals who do not have a legal right to stay in the Union and lost or stolen objects (e.g. cars, firearms, vessels and identity documents).

The upgraded SIS is the cornerstone of the world’s most advanced border management system. Together with the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), SIS is part of an interoperable architecture.

The improved SIS is being improved to include new alert categories, biometric data such as palm prints, fingerprints and DNA records for missing persons, as well as additional tools to fight crime and terrorism. Improvements are important as they provide preventive warnings to protect vulnerable people and deter irregular migration. These improvements aim to provide more complete and reliable information to improve security and border management.

Enhanced Features:

• • Improved information exchange and cooperation:New alert categories and more data will be shared through SIS, ensuring that more complete and reliable information is available. Clearer rules and improved structures for the exchange of information through national contact points (the SIRENE Bureaux) have been introduced.
• • New possibilities for locating and identifying wanted persons and strengthening external border controls:In addition to photographs and fingerprints, SIS will also contain new types of biometric data (palm prints, fingerprints and palm prints and DNA records for missing persons) and other information to locate and identify persons registered in the system.
• • Additional tools to fight crime and terrorism:New alerts on inquiry checks will allow national authorities to collect targeted information on suspects of serious crime or terrorism. For example, identification documents and car information used by suspects will be stored in SIS. There will be alerts on “unknown wanted persons” containing only fingerprints of unknown perpetrators from the locations of terrorist offences or serious crime.
• • Additional tools to protect missing and vulnerable persons:National authorities will be able to issue preventive alerts in the system to protect certain categories of vulnerable persons (children at risk of abduction or potential victims of terrorism, trafficking in human beings, gender-based violence or armed conflicts/crimes), in addition to existing alerts on missing persons.
• • Additional tools to prevent and deter irregular migrationReturn decisions will be part of the information exchanged in the system in order to improve the effective implementation of those decisions. Member States will have to enter an alert in SIS whenever they issue a return decision to third-country nationals who do not have a legal right to stay in the EU, allowing them to actively monitor whether the returnee leaves the territory of the EU effectively, paving the way for the mutual recognition of return decisions among Member States, as proposed by President von der Leyen ahead of the February European Council.
• • Increased use of SIS by EU agencies:Europol and national immigration authorities now have access to all alert categories in SIS. Operational teams of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) have been granted access to SIS (implementation is still ongoing).

 

SIS has strict data quality and protection requirements. The system only contains data on persons and objects sought by EU countries and Schengen Associated Countries. National authorities monitor the application of data protection rules in their respective countries, while the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) monitors how data protection rules apply in the Central System managed by eu-LISA.

REPowerEU: deal on energy measures in national recovery plans
Measures to save energy, produce clean energy and diversify supplies
•Member states to allocate more funds to cross-border and multi-country energy projects
•Support for vulnerable households, SMEs and micro-enterprises

MEPs struck a deal with Council on the inclusion of REPowerEU measures in national recovery plans to support independence from Russian fossil fuels and the green transition.

Negotiators from the Budgets and Economic and Monetary Affairs committees reached a provisional agreement with the Council on Wednesday morning. The deal provides that EU countries applying to receive additional funds through an amended recovery and resilience plan will be required, after the entry into force of this proposal, to include measures to save energy, produce clean energy and diversify energy supplies, as foreseen in the EU’s REPowerEU plan..

Boost independence and fight energy poverty

Negotiators agreed that the new rules will cover measures retroactively from 1 February 2022, with some limited exceptions. MEPs made sure that these measures are designed to support investments to tackle energy poverty for vulnerable households, SMEs and micro-enterprises.

Cross border measures, climate and transparency

MEPs convinced EU countries to allocate at least 30% of their spending under REPowerEU to multi-country measures, addressing existing bottlenecks in energy transmission, distribution and storage as well as increasing cross-border flows, even if carried out by one EU country.

The Commission can grant a derogation from this rule under specific circumstances

The “do no significant harm” principle should apply to the REPowerEU chapters, with exemptions granted to measures that safeguard the EU’s immediate energy security concerns, minimise the potential environmental harm and do not jeopardise EU climate targets. Such measures should be in operation by 31 December 2026. EP negotiators also strengthened the existing provisions concerning the input from regional authorities, NGOs and social partners in defining REPowerEU measures. Finally, they introduced new transparency rules concerning final recipients receiving the highest amount of funding. These rules will apply to the whole of the recovery and resilience plans.

Funding

Parliament negotiators ensured that from the additional 20 billion euro in grants proposed by the Commission, 8 billion will come from an earlier auctioning of national emission allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System ETS), while 12 billion will be taken from the Innovation FundIn addition, no revenue raised through the ETS can be used for investments in fossil fuel.

More information here..

The reports confirm that the Single Market remains an essential tool to address the current challenges facing Europe and stress the importance of continuously improving its functioning, as well as the importance of its impact.

As part of the anniversary of the Single Market, the Commission published today the The 2023 Annual Single Market Report highlights Scoreboard. The reports confirm that the Single Market remains an essential tool to address the current challenges facing Europe and stress the importance of continuously improving its functioning, as well as the importance of its impact in terms of increased added value for the EU economy.

Both reports will serve as a basis for discussions with Member States on strengthening the Single Market and for the Commission’s future work to ensure that the Single Market reaches its full potential by supporting the resilience and competitiveness of the European economy.

The 2023 Annual Single Market Report analyses the integration of the Single Market and its help to overcome current geopolitical tensions, improve the EU’s competitiveness and support the green and digital transitions of our economy.

The 2022 Single Market Scoreboard shows the benefits of the Single Market for the EU economy. It provides a detailed overview of the application of EU single market rules across the European Economic Area, with a view to identifying ways to improve the Single Market. The review focuses on progress in implementing EU law, general business conditions, integration of the single market and other key policy objectives such as growth and jobs, resilience, digital and green economy.

The main findings of the report are as follows:

• A strong single market strengthens Europe’s ability to face its biggest challenges:: The 2023 Annual Single Market Report highlightsthe need to harness the strength of the Single Market to ensure the availability of the essential goods, services, skills and capital needed for Europe’s parallel transition. It sets out that progress is needed in strengthening the resilience of supply chains, addressing strategic dependencies, in particular on critical raw materials, improving integration into the services market and ensuring that Europe has the technologies and skills to address these challenges. The Single Market Scoreboard provides further evidence of the results achieved so far in terms of competitiveness, trade, economic resilience and parallel transitions, highlighting areas for improvement. This includes, for example, reducing occupational barriers (e.g. providing legal services) or cross-border recognition of professional qualifications (e.g. tourist guides), improving public and private investment, supporting SMEs and making efforts at national level to support the twin transition.
• Strong potential of digital tools and data to improve Single Market governancethis Annual Single Market Report highlights the fact that new approaches, including better use of digital technology and eGovernment systems, such as, inter alia, the Single Digital Gateway and the ‘once-only technical system’, will lead to increased trust among competent authorities and reduced burdens for businesses and administrations.
• The Single Market brings increasing added value to the EU economy:the Annual Single Market Report and the Single Market Scoreboard assess the benefits and increased trade between Member States that the Single Market has enabled since its creation. The Scoreboard shows increasing trade integration in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic: in June 2022, intra-EU trade represented 60 % of total EU trade.
• • Companies benefit from better enforcement of rules and general conditions, but difficulties remain:the Scoreboard showsthat the implementation and enforcement of single market rules is improving. This is reflected in the lower number of infringement procedures against Member States in 2021, which is the first time in four years. The Scoreboard also shows better use and application of several important Single Market tools such as the Internal Market Information System,, the Single Market Transparency Directive,as well as the increased use of SOLVIT,helping to prevent or remove barriers in the Single Market. In addition, businesses in most Member States considered that the regulatory burden decreased in 2021, but are facing increasing problems with late payments by public authorities, in particular due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Context

The accompanying analyses in the annual reports will serve as a basis for the Communication “The Single Market after 30 years” to be published by the Commission in the coming weeks.

The Annual Single Market Report was published for the first time together with the updated Industrial Strategy in May 2021. It analyses the state of play of the European economy and assesses progress in implementing the 2020 European Industrial Strategy. The Commission is today publishing the third edition of the Annual Single Market Report, which also marks the 30th anniversary of the Single Market.

The Single Market Scoreboard was first published in 1997. The 2022 edition of the Single Market Scoreboard contains, in addition to traditional indicators, new indicators of the business environment in terms of administrative response capacity and regulatory burden, as well as information on access to services and services markets, labour mobility and access to finance. It also reports on other results achieved in the Single Market relating to growth indicators, employment and social indicators, integration of goods and services, economic resilience and the digital and green transitions.

More information

Annual Single Market Report 2023: thirty Years of the Single Market

Single Market Scoreboard 2022