Daily News 10 / 08 / 2021

EU strengthens support to speed up vaccination in the Eastern Partnership region

As part of the European Union's efforts to support vaccination in partner countries, the Commission today increased from €40 million to €75 million its assistance package to deploy safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines and speed up the vaccination campaigns in the six Eastern Partnership countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. With this new €35 million assistance package the EU seeks to substantially increase access to vaccines in the Eastern Partnership region amid the global vaccine shortage, facilitating the vaccine sharing by the EU Member States and reimbursing the cost. This assistance complements the EU's support to the COVAX initiative, the world's facility to ensure fair and universal access to COVID-19 vaccines, and work towards an equitable and transparent distribution of vaccines over the Eastern Partner countries. It comes in addition to the first package of support worth €40 million, launched in February to immediately strengthen preparedness and local readiness for safe and effective vaccination of the population, in partnership with the World Health Organization. EU support included training of health managers and medical staff involved in the vaccination campaign, key logistical support for the delivery and handling of the vaccines and supplies, vaccination data and safety monitoring, communication and community engagement, as well as support for the development of a digital COVID certificate. Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, said: “The devastating COVID-19 pandemic has put an unprecedented strain on people, health systems and economies worldwide. The Eastern Partnership is unfortunately no exception. The EU is determined to support our Eastern neighbours to speed up vaccination as this will be decisive for ending the pandemic and launching the socio-economic recovery of the region. We care for our partners.” A press release is available online. (For more information: Ana Pisonero – Tel.: +32 229 54320)

EU Cohesion policy: over €1.8 billion to support the recovery in Italy and Spain

The Commission has approved the modification of seven Operational Programmes (OP) for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF) in Italy and Spain under REACT-EU for a total of over €1.8 billion. In Spain, the ERDF Operational Programme for the Region of Murcia will be topped up with an additional €218 million. These resources will be mainly invested to strengthen the health system by, for example, the purchase of respirators, protective equipment and IT devices to reinforce the capacity to respond to the crisis.  Resources will also support digitalisation of the administration. The region of Navarra will receive an additional amount of €95 million ERDF funds. In addition to supporting the health system to fight the pandemic, these resources will be used to increase digital connectivity and the digitalisation of the public administration. Moreover, the money will be invested to increase energy efficiency and climate risk prevention and management. The ESF OP in the Balearic Islands will receive an additional €67 million to help the most vulnerable people at risk of exclusion, the unemployed, young people and women in finding jobs through personalised support. This will include job-orientation counselling and tailored opportunities for skills development. The region of Ceuta will receive additional resources of almost €14 million ERDF funds. This money will contribute to the transition to a digital economy with actions to upgrade technology infrastructures in the public sector and support SMEs in the form of working capital and investment support in sectors with high job creation potential. The ESF OP in Cantabria will receive an additional €4.5 million to help the self-employed maintain their activity. In Italy, the National Operational Programme ‘Research and Innovation' will receive additional resources of € 1.1 billion of ESF funding. These resources help to reinforce the resilience and the capacity of the health system, improve access to tertiary education and improve human capital. Concrete measures include specialised trainings for doctors in medicine, support for scholarships to students from low-income families, reduction of university fees and provision of specialised trainings in the fields of innovation as well as the green and digital transition. The National Operational Programme for Networks and Infrastructures will receive an additional amount of € 322 million of ERDF funds. These resources will foster environmental sustainability by reducing losses in the water distribution network in Southern Italy. REACT-EU is part of NextGenerationEU and provides €50.6 billion additional funding (in current prices) over the course of 2021 and 2022 to Cohesion policy programmes. (For more information: Vivian Loonela – Tel.: +32 229 66712; Daniel Ferrie – Tel.: +32 229 86500; Thérèse Lerebours – Tel.: +32 229 63303; Flora Matthaes – Tel.: +32 229 83951)

Politique de Cohésion de l'UE: 223 millions d'euros pour soutenir la relance à Chypre, en Belgique, en France et en Allemagne

La Commission a approuvé la modification de quatre programmes opérationnels (PO) pour le Fonds européen de développement régional (FEDER) et le Fonds social européen (FSE) à Chypre, en Belgique, en France et en Allemagne au titre de REACT-EU, pour un montant total de 223 millions d'euros. À Chypre, le PO du FSE « Emploi, capital humain et cohésion sociale » recevra 65 millions d'euros supplémentaires pour financer des programmes de travail à court terme visant à faire face aux conséquences économiques de la pandémie. Ces fonds aideront 50 000 personnes à maintenir leur salaire et leur emploi. En Allemagne, le PO du FSE dans le Brandebourg recevra 20.1 millions d'euros supplémentaires pour soutenir la formation en apprentissage interentreprises, le développement des compétences et les projets visant à obtenir une qualification en entreprise. Les fonds renforceront le soutien existant à la formation et permettront aux entreprises d'offrir aux travailleurs un développement de compétences spécifiques leur permettant d'améliorer leurs perspectives de carrière. En France, la région ultrapériphérique de Mayotte recevra des ressources supplémentaires de plus de 105 millions d'euros du FEDER et du FSE pour des investissements dans six domaines prioritaires: La résilience du système de santé, le soutien aux investissements privés et publics, une économie plus résiliente et durable, la numérisation des services et le soutien à la reprise après la pandémie de COVID-19. Enfin, le programme opérationnel pour la Flandre, en Belgique, sera augmenté de 33 millions d'euros supplémentaires provenant du FEDER pour soutenir la transition numérique, verte et innovante. Cela comprendra des investissements dans la numérisation des collections de musées, des investissements dans les réseaux de chaleur et l'économie circulaire, ainsi que des investissements dans des projets de démonstration en faveur de l'innovation et des laboratoires vivants. REACT-UE fait partie de NextGenerationEU et fournit un financement supplémentaire de 50.6 milliards d'euros (en prix courants) aux programmes de la politique de cohésion au cours des années 2021 et 2022. (Pour plus d'informations: Vivian Loonela – Tél.: +32 229 66712; Daniel Ferrie – Tél.: +32 229 86500; Thérèse Lerebours – Tél.: +32 229 63303; Flora Matthaes – Tél.: +32 229 83951)

Mergers: Commission clears transaction by which Carsales Holdings acquires joint control over Open Road together with Goldman Sachs and Eurazeo

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control over Open Road Parent, LLC (“Open Road”) of the United States by carsales.com Limited (“Carsales”) of Australia. Open Road, which is currently jointly controlled by Goldman Sachs Group of the United States and Eurazeo SE of France, is a provider of online marketplaces and related digital marketing solutions in the United States for the sale of vehicles and equipment. Carsales is an online automotive, motorcycle and marine classifieds business based in Australia with operations across the Asia Pacific region. Goldman Sachs is a provider of global investment banking, securities and investment management services. Eurazeo is a financial investor that focuses on private equity, private debt and real estate. The Commission concluded that the proposed transaction would raise no competition concerns, given that the current and expected future activities of Open Road in the European Economic Area are very marginal. Furthermore, the proposed transaction will not give rise to any horizontal overlap or vertical link between the activities of Open Road and Carsales. The transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.10359. (For more information: Arianna Podesta – Tel.: +32 229 87024; Giulia Astuti – Tel.: +32 229 55344)

Liste des points prévus à l'ordre du jour des prochaines réunions de la Commission

Veuillez noter que ces informations sont données sous réserve de modifications.

Eurostat: communiqués de presse

The Spokesperson's Service has re-opened the Berlaymont press room to a limited number of journalists. For more information, please see here.