The European Commission took the first step towards cutting greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry. It proposed legislation which will require owners of large ships using EU ports to monitor and report the ships' annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The European Council agreed on a comprehensive approach to combat youth unemployment. It also endorsed country-specific recommendations to guide Member States' policies and budgets, thus concluding the 2013 European semester. In addition, the European Council assessed progress towards the banking union. It also warmly welcomed Croatia as a member of the European Union as of 1 July 2013.
The European Commission has acted to speed up the reform of Europe's air traffic control system. The Commission is looking to head off a capacity crunch as the number of flights is forecast to increase by 50% over the next 10-20 years.
Advancing global trade, fighting tax evasion and tax avoidance, and increasing transparency were the main themes at the 39th G8 summit held in Lough Erne (UK) on 17 and 18 June.
EU trade ministers mandated the Commission to negotiate a sweeping EU–US trade and investment pact. The talks are expected to be formally launched at the G8 on 17 June.
The negotiations will cover three main components: market access, regulatory issues including non-tariff barriers, and the agreement's rules.
Following their meeting this morning at the Commission headquarters, President Barroso, President Schulz and Irish Taoiseach Kenny announced a political agreement on the European Union's future budget 2014-2020.
In June the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) improved markedly, continuing last month's increase. Sentiment increased by 1.8 points in both the euro area (to 91.3) and the EU (to 92.6). The Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area increased by 0.07 points to ‑0.68.
Parliament agreed on a common asylum system for the EU and backed a higher budget for a European fund to help the poorest.
The Council adopted stricter capital requirements for banks and investment firms (the "CRD 4 package"). The new rules will be published in the Official Journal before 1 July 2013 and will apply from 1 January 2014.
The Council set out its position on a draft framework for bank recovery and resolution with a view to negotiations with the European Parliament. The Council also approved draft amending budget no. 1 for 2013 providing the EU's 2013 budget with the necessary resources for the accession of Croatia to the EU on 1 July.
The European Commission has proposed a draft directive on e-invoicing in public procurement, accompanied by a communication setting out its vision for the full digitisation of the public procurement process, so-called 'end-to-end e-procurement'.
More emphasis on environmental protection, mandatory top-ups for young farmers in all member states, stronger farmers' organisations and less red tape when spending EU funds. These are the main lines of the agreement on farm policy struck on Wednesday by Parliament, Council and the Commission. Decisions still need to be taken on capping direct payments to bigger farms and distributing funds between farmers.
As regards agriculture, the Council held a debate on the outcome of the trilogues on the proposals for the direct payments regulation, the single common market organisation (CMO) regulation, the rural development regulation and the horizontal regulation within the framework of reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP).
In June the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) improved markedly, continuing last month's increase. Sentiment increased by 1.8 points in both the euro area (to 91.3) and the EU (to 92.6). The Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area increased by 0.07 points to ‑0.68.
The Environment Council adopted conclusions on a strategy on adaptation to climate change. The conclusions are a response to the Commission's communication "An EU strategy on adaptation to climate change".
The call follows the Commission's progress report released which shows that Member States need to do better in implementing their national Roma integration strategies submitted under the EU Framework for national Roma integration strategies.
Under the proposal, dividends, capital gains, all other forms of financial income and account balances, would be added to the list of categories which are subject to automatic information exchange within the EU.
The Council has reached political agreement on a package of measures aimed at combating VAT fraud more effectively.
On the 1 July 2013, Croatia became the 28th member of the EU after a decade of carrying out all the reforms needed to bring it into line with EU laws and standards.
