Daily News 09 / 02 / 2023

Earthquake: Commissioner Lenarčič visits Türkiye as EU makes available in-kind assistance for Syria

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes that struck Türkiye and Syria earlier this week, the EU is running one of its largest search and rescue operations through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to help save as many lives as possible.

Today, Commissioner Janez Lenarčič in his role as crisis coordinator of the EU's response arrived in Gaziantep and will be meeting with the Vice-President of Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management and with the cross-border humanitarian partners from Northwest Syria. Together with the EU Civil Protection Team and the EU's Humanitarian Aid Office in Gaziantep, he will be visiting the disaster site and ongoing rescue operations.

EU support to Syria: After yesterday's activation of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for Syria, the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre is closely coordinating with EU Member States and the Mechanism's Participating States to channel emergency assistance to the Syrian people as rapidly as possible. Italy and Romania have already made first offers including, family tents, sleeping bags, mattresses, beds, food items, winter clothing, and more. Today, on 9 February, the World Food Programme has requested assistance via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to support the affected people in Syria. This will allow further EU aid to be channeled.

The EU and its Member States are together the largest donors of humanitarian aid for Syria, having provided over €27 billion since 2011. In Syria, the EU has provided €3.5 million in emergency funding to help humanitarian partners address urgent needs which include cash for shelter and non-food items, water and sanitation, health, and search and rescue following the earthquake.

EU support to Türkiye: Latest support includes, the mobilisation of the rescEU strategic reserves to deliver 500 temporary accommodation units, 2,000 tents, and 10,500 beds to Türkiye from its emergency stockpiles hosted by Sweden and Romania. The tents can provide rapid relief, hosting 4 people each, while the prefabricated temporary housing units can host up to 5 people each and are designed to offer emergency shelter to people who lost their homes in the earthquake for a longer period. The financial value of the rescEU assistance is nearly €5 million.

This comes on top of the 21 EU Member States together with Albania, Montenegro and Serbia that have offered in total 38 rescue and medical teams via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. More than 1,650 rescuers and 104 search dogs have been deployed to the most affected areas in Türkiye. So far, 36 people have been rescued by the search and rescue teams deployed via the Mechanism.

(For more information: Balazs Ujvari - Tel.: +32 2 295 45 78; Daniel Puglisi - Tel.: +32 2 296 91 40)

Code of Practice on Disinformation: New Transparency Centre provides insights and data on online disinformation for the first time

Today, the signatories of the 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation, including all major online platforms (Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, Twitter), launched the novel Transparency Centre and published for the first time the baseline reports on how they turn the commitments from the Code into practice. The new Transparency Centre will ensure visibility and accountability of signatories' efforts to fight disinformation and the implementation of commitments taken under the Code by having a single repository where EU citizens, researchers and NGOs can access and download online information.

For the first time with these baseline reports, platforms are providing insight and extensive initial data such as: how much advertising revenue flowing to disinformation actors was prevented; number or value of political ads accepted and labelled or rejected; instances of manipulative behaviours detected (i.e. creation and use of fake accounts); and information about the impact of fact-checking; and on Member States level.

Věra Jourová, Vice-President for Values and Transparency, said: “The publication of the first reports of the revamped anti-disinformation Code is an important milestone in the fight against disinformation and I am pleased to see how most signatories, big and small, are engaging. I'm glad to see for the first time reporting on the country-level, but more work is needed when it comes to providing access to data for researchers. We must have more transparency and cannot rely on the online platforms alone for the quality of information. They need to be independently verifiable. I am disappointed to see that Twitter report lags behind others and I expect a more serious commitment to their obligations stemming from the Code. Russia is engaged also in a full-blown disinformation war and the platforms need to live up to their responsibilities.”

Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market, said: “Today's reports mark a step in the battle against online disinformation. It comes as no surprise that the degree of quality vary greatly according to the resources companies have allocated to this project. It is in the interest of all signatories to abide by their commitment to fully implement the Code of practice against disinformation, in anticipation of the obligations under the Digital Services Act. By providing full access to today's reports, the Transparency Centre gives the opportunity to everyone – including researchers and NGOs – to delve into the available data and push for ongoing improvement and accountability.”

All signatories have submitted their reports on time, using an agreed harmonised reporting template aiming to address all commitments and measures they signed onto. This is however not fully the case for Twitter, whose report is short of data, with no information on commitments to empower the fact-checking community. The next set of reports from major online platform signatories is due in July, providing further insight on the Code's implementation and more stable data covering 6 months.

(For more information: Johannes Bahrke - Tel: +32 2 295 86 15; Charles Manoury - Tel: +32 2 291 33 91)

InvestEU : la Commission et la Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement ont signé un accord de 60 millions d'euros sur un soutien consultatif pour des projets d'investissement

La Commission a signé aujourd'hui un accord avec la Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement (BERD) en vue de fournir jusqu'à 60 millions d'euros de soutien consultatif sur les projets des infrastructures, de la numérisation et de l'innovation dans les pays de l'UE. Cet accord relatif au « InvestEU Advisory Hub » fait suite à un accord de garantie antérieur signé avec la BERD pour le Fonds InvestEU, qui vise à mobiliser 2,1 milliards d'euros en faveur des infrastructures durables, de l'économie verte et de la numérisation.

Dans le cadre du « InvestEU Advisory Hub », la BERD fournira un soutien consultatif sur des projets, un soutien au renforcement des capacités et au développement du marché aux promoteurs de projets et aux intermédiaires financiers. En total, la fourniture de services consultatifs s'élèvera à 60,2 millions d'euros. Sur cette somme, 38,7 millions d'euros proviennent du compartiment de l'UE par l'intermédiaire du budget du « InvestEU Advisory Hub », qui couvre des initiatives consultatives qui seront disponibles dans tous les États membres de l'UE dans lesquels la BERD est active. L'autre partie est couverte par deux compartiments d'États membres consacrés à la Roumanie (11 millions d'euros) et à la Grèce (10,5 millions d'euros). Cette aide est financée par les ressources de la facilité pour la reprise et la résilience des pays concernés.

Le soutien consultatif fourni par la BERD contribuera au développement de projets d'investissement de qualité concernant les infrastructures durables et sociales, les compétences et l'emploi, l'innovation et les petites entreprises, ainsi que les technologies vertes et innovantes. Enfin, il contribuera à l'élaboration de projets destinés à aider les personnes fuyant l'invasion de l'Ukraine par la Russie.

Le vice-président exécutif pour une économie au service des personnes, Valdis Dombrovskis, a déclaré : « Cet accord fera avancer le programme de l'UE visant à promouvoir des projets d'investissement de qualité qui reflètent nos priorités communes, en particulier pour les transitions écologique et numérique, ainsi que pour l'innovation et la recherche. Elle tire parti de l'expertise et de l'expérience de la BERD en matière d'assistance technique et consultative, et d'orientation des investissements là où ils sont le plus nécessaires. J'espère que les pays de l'UE où la BERD est active tireront le plus grand profit de cet accord, y compris dans la mise en œuvre des réformes et investissements indispensables prévus dans leurs plans nationaux de relance. »

Paolo Gentiloni, commissaire à l'économie, a déclaré : « La BERD dirige depuis longtemps les investissements vers les régions où ils sont le plus nécessaires. C'est pourquoi je me réjouis qu'ils soient un partenaire dans la mise en œuvre d'InvestEU. Grâce à cet accord, nous renforçons encore notre coopération afin que les projets InvestEU puissent bénéficier de l'expertise et de l'expérience de la BERD. Cela contribuera à faire en sorte que ces grands projets d'investissement réalisent pleinement leur potentiel. »

(Pour plus d'informations : Veerle Nuyts – Tél.: +32 2 299 63 02; Flora Matthaes – Tél.: +32 2 298 39 51)

Le concours des jeunes traducteurs de l'UE dévoile les 27 lauréats de l'année

La Commission européenne félicite les 27 jeunes lauréats de la 16e édition de son concours de traduction « Juvenes Translatores », destiné aux écoles secondaires.

Cette année, 2 883 participants ont mis leurs compétences linguistiques à l'épreuve en choisissant de traduire un texte dans deux des 24 langues officielles de l'UE. Sur les 552 combinaisons linguistiques disponibles, les élèves de 681 écoles ont utilisé 141 combinaisons, dont l'Espagnol vers le Slovène et le Polonais vers le Danois. Les résultats sont tombés aujourd'hui !

Le commissaire au budget et à l'administration, Johannes Hahn, a applaudi les élèves : « Félicitations aux 27 lauréats du concours Juvenes Translatores 2022 de l'UE ! Et félicitations à l'ensemble des 2 883 jeunes traducteurs qui ont participé - vous êtes tous gagnants ! Vous mettez en avant la capacité de permettre aux gens de se comprendre mutuellement. Mieux comprendre les cultures et les points de vue des autres est plus important que jamais aujourd'hui, compte tenu de la montée des ‘fake news' (fausses informations) et des conflits. Grâce à ces compétences, vous apprenez à trouver du sens et à aider les gens à combler les clivages. Le thème du concours de cette année était ‘La jeunesse', en écho à l'Année européenne de la jeunesse 2022. L'UE souhaite que les jeunes fassent entendre leur voix en Europe et les textes ont été choisis pour donner aux élèves la possibilité de réfléchir au rôle des jeunes dans la construction de l'Europe, ainsi qu'à des thèmes clés tels que l'unité, la paix et un avenir plus vert. La maitrise de langues ouvre la porte à davantage de possibilités d'emploi et d'entraide aux personnes. Je tiens à féliciter tous les élèves et leurs enseignants qui insufflent à leurs élèves l'amour des langues et des cultures. »

Les traducteurs de la Commission européenne ont sélectionné 27 lauréats, un pour chaque pays de l'UE, ainsi que 287 étudiants qui ont reçu des mentions spéciales pour leurs traductions exceptionnelles.

La cérémonie de remise des prix aux 27 lauréats aura lieu à Bruxelles, le 31 mars.

Depuis 2007, la direction générale de la traduction de la Commission européenne organise chaque année le concours « Juvenes Translatores » (en latin, « jeunes traducteurs »). De plus amples détails sont disponibles ici.

(Pour plus d'informations : Balazs Ujvari – Tél.: +32 2 295 45 78; Claire Joawn – Tél.: +32 2 295 68 59)

Mergers: Commission clears the acquisition of MBCC by Sika, subject to conditions

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of MBCC by Sika. The approval is conditional on the divestiture of MBCC's global chemical admixture business.

The Commission's preliminary investigation showed that the transaction, as initially notified, would have substantially reduced competition and led to higher prices and less innovation in the European Economic Area (‘EEA') in the markets for chemical admixtures and concrete admixtures.

To address the Commission's concerns Sika offered to divest MBCC's chemical admixture business in the EEA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, the UK and US, including global research and development facilities. The commitments consist of the structural divestiture of a stand-alone business, which fully removes the horizontal overlaps between the parties in chemical admixture markets in the EEA.

The Commission concluded that the proposed transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns.

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, said: "Sika and MBCC are important suppliers of green products to the concrete and cement industry in Europe. Their products are essential for the EU's green transition policy. We were concerned that the combined entity could foreclose competitors. Following the remedies offered by Sika, customers in Europe will continue to have a competitive choice of chemical admixtures suppliers."

A press release is available online.

(For more information: Arianna Podesta – Tel.: +32 2 298 70 24; Maria Tsoni – Tel.: +32 2 299 05 26)

State aid: Commission approves €5.8 million Bulgarian measure to support Burgas and Varna airports in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine

The European Commission has approved a €5.8 million Bulgarian measure to support the Burgas and Varna airports in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine. The measure was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis Framework, adopted by the Commission on 23 March 2022 and amended on 20 July 2022 and on 28 October 2022, based on  Article 107(3)(b) TFEU, recognizing that the EU economy is experiencing a serious disturbance.

Under the measure, the aid will take the form of a deferral of the payment of the concession fees due by Fraport Twin Star Airport Management AD, the company managing the two airports, to the Bulgarian government, which owns the airports' infrastructures. The purpose of the measure is to help the two airports address the liquidity shortages that they are facing due to a decrease in operations following the closure of the Ukrainian airspace, as well as of the European airspace to Russian aircraft, by reducing the costs borne by the airport operator.

The Commission found that the Bulgarian measure is in line with the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis Framework. In particular, the payment deferral (i) will be granted no later than 31 December 2023; (ii) will have a duration of two years; and (iii) the interest rate respects the minimum levels set out in the Temporary Crisis Framework. The Commission therefore concluded that the measure is necessary, appropriate and proportionate to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State, in line with Article 107(3)(b) TFEU and the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis Framework. On this basis, the Commission approved the Bulgarian measure under EU State aid rules.

More information on the Temporary Crisis Framework and other actions taken by the Commission to address the economic impact of the Russia's war against Ukraine can be found here. The non-confidential version of the decision will be made available under the case number SA.105987 in the State aid register on the Commission's competition website once any confidentiality issues have been resolved.

(For more information: Arianna Podesta – Tel.: +32 2 298 70 24; Nina Ferreira - Tel.: +32 2 29 9 81 63; Maria Tsoni – Tel.: +32 2 299 05 26)

ANNOUNCEMENT

Commissioner Johansson in Berlin to discuss the fight against child sexual abuse

Today, Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, is travelling to Berlin for a two-day official visit to address the fight against child sexual abuse.

The Commissioner will meet with the Independent Commissioner for child sexual abuse from Germany, Kerstin Claus, to discuss the implementation of the EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse.

Commissioner Johansson will meet tomorrow with Federal Minister of Interior, Nancy Faeser; the Federal Minister of Justice, Marco Buschman; the leader of the German Socialist Party, Saskia Esken; and members of the Federal Parliament. The meetings with her counterparts will focus on the cooperation in the fight against child sexual abuse.

85 million pictures and videos of child sexual abuse were detected online worldwide in 2021 alone, mostly originating from online exchanges. The scale of the crime and the severity of the crime require us to act. The Commission is committed to make progress on the fight against child sexual abuse.

The Commission proposed legislation in May 2022 to prevent and combat child sexual abuse, with certain obligations for online service providers to detect, report and remove child sexual abuse, an independent EU Centre on Child Sexual Abuse, support and prevention actions.

(For more information: Anitta Hipper - Tel.: +32 2 298 56 91; Fiorella Belciu -Tel.: +32 2 299 37 34)

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.

Prochains événements de la Commission européenne

Eurostat: communiqués de presse