Commission greenlights Austria’s third payment request of pound 515.5 million under NextGenerationEU
Today, the Commission positively assessed Austria’s third payment request of pound 515.5 million under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU.
The Commission found that Austria has satisfactorily completed the 14 milestones and targets set out in the Council Implementing Decision.
The payment request covers important steps in the delivery of seven reforms and thirteen investments that will drive positive change for citizens and businesses in Austria in the areas of renewable energy, circular economy, sustainable mobility, health, and education.
The Commission shared its preliminary assessment with the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC). The EFC has now four weeks to deliver its opinion. Once the EFC gives its positive opinion, the Commission can officially approve the payment to Austria.
More information is available in a press release online.
(For more information: Maciej Berestecki – Tel.: + 32 229-96302; Anna Wartberger – Tel: +32 2 28 20 54)
EU strengthens tax cooperation with Switzerland
Today, the Commission signed an amending protocol enhancing the existing tax cooperation agreement with Switzerland. This marks a significant step in the fight against tax fraud and evasion. This update is a necessary step to ensure further alignment with the EU Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC) and with OECD standards.
It expands the automatic exchange of financial account information between the EU and Switzerland to include electronic money products and digital currencies,while providing for strengthened due diligence and reporting requirements. The amending protocol establishes a new framework for cooperation between the EU and Switzerland on the recovery of claims in the field of value-added tax and commits the parties to explore mutual assistance in recovering other tax claims.
Since 2015, the EU has engaged in these exchanges, which are based on the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard, further promoting transparency and international tax cooperation. Recent updates to this standard necessitated the new amendments, which received unanimous Council approval. In addition, as requested by the Council, the existing agreement was further enhanced with the inclusion of provisions on the recovery of tax claimed.
Similar amending protocols with Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino were signed last week. Adoption of those five protocols reinforces the EU’s leadership in ensuring fair and transparent tax practices globally.
Further information on the amended tax cooperation agreements is available online.
(For more information: Anna-Kaisa Itkonen – Tel.: +32 2 295 75 01; Saul Louis Goulding – Tel.: +32 2 296 47 35)
Road safety statistics for 2024 show progress continues amid challenges
In 2024, 19,940 people lost their lives in road crashes across the EU, according to statistics released by the European Commission last Friday. This represents a 2% decrease compared to 2023 and marks continued, but slow, progress toward the EU’s Vision Zero goal of halving road deaths and serious injuries by 2030 and getting close to eliminating them by 2050.
The overall ranking of countries’ fatality rates has not changed significantly: Sweden (20 deaths per million inhabitants) and Denmark (24/million) continue to have the safest roads in the EU, while Romania (78/million) and Bulgaria (74/million) reported the highest fatality rates in 2024.
Provisional data for the first six months of 2025 shows mixed trends across Member States. While some countries like Greece, Czechia, Romania, and Slovakia are giving positive signals with declining fatalities, others face renewed challenges. These early indicators underscore that road safety requires constant vigilance and sustained effort. The Commission will continue to monitor these trends closely and support Member States in addressing emerging concerns.
Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, stated: ‘While these figures show continued progress, we must always remember that behind every statistic there are families and communities in pain. The fact that nearly 20,000 people lost their lives in road crashes last year is unacceptable. The European Commission will keep supporting all Member States in making roads safer. But this is a shared effort: governments, the industry, and every road user have a role to play in ensuring every trip ends safely.’
In this context, the Excellence in Road Safety Award winners were revealed. Their innovative road safety initiatives contribute to the common goal of improving road safety across Europe.
More information on the 2024 road safety statistics and the award winners is available online.
Statement by Commissioner Várhelyi on occasion of the 30th anniversary of EU medicines approval
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the first medicine approved by the Commission through the centralised EU authorisation procedure. Over the past three decades, around 2,000 medicines have been approved for the EU market, following a rigorous, science-based assessment process. To mark this occasion, Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, Olivér Várhelyi made the following statement:
‘Medicines are essential for strong health systems. This is why, thirty years ago, the European Union took a decisive step to strengthen public health, support innovation and reinforce the competitiveness of EU’s pharmaceutical industry by creating a centralised system for approving medicines. Ever since, this system – built on scientific excellence and rigorous safety standards – has been central to EU health policy, bringing patients and healthcare workers almost 2,000 medicines.
Under this process, companies can bring safe and innovative medicines to patients in all Member States through a single, streamlined authorisation system. Industry has enjoyed much needed predictability and efficiency, and European citizens have had faster and more equitable access to treatments for conditions such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, hepatitis C, HIV, multiple sclerosis and several rare diseases. Europe’s pharmaceutical sector is one of our most dynamic and innovative industries, employing hundreds of thousands of people. [.]
As we mark 30 years of centralised EU medicines approval, we are more committed than ever to a strong, competitive, and innovative European pharmaceutical sector – one that brings the best treatment to patients more quickly, upholds the highest standards of safety and trust and drives economic growth. Our aim is to ensure, together, that Europe remains a leader in health innovation for the next generation.’
President von der Leyen travels to Slovenia for the Summit of Southern European Union countries (MED-9)
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is in Portorož, Slovenia today to participate in the MED-9 Summit. This Summit comes days after the European Commission and the High Representative laid out a new ambitious strategy to strengthen EU relations with its Southern Mediterranean partners, the Pact for the Mediterranean, and ahead of the meeting of the European Council this Thursday.
President von der Leyen participates in a working session with MED-9 leaders devoted to European competitiveness and the next Multiannual Financial Framework. This will be followed by a working luncheon with MED-9 leaders and His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, focusing on the situation in the Middle East.
The MED-9 group brings together the nine EU Member States on Europe’s southern coast: Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain, to coordinate action and priorities between them.
(For more information: Olof Gill – Tel.: +32 2 296 59 66)
Commissioner Hansen in Brazil with a delegation of EU agri-food businesses
This week, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen will be in São Paulo, Brazil, with a delegation of EU agri-food businesses to promote European products and seize new export opportunities. Through a range of working sessions and visits, the trip will help EU agri-food exporters build business links and expand their presence in the Brazilian market, which holds strong growth potential as a destination for EU exports.
The Commissioner will be accompanied by more than 77 agri-food businesses from 19 Member States – representing sectors ranging from meat products, wine and spirits, fruits and vegetables, to processed agricultural products.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, a seminar on market access, retail site visits and exchanges with the Commissioner will take place, in order to facilitate the expanding presence of EU businesses in Brazil.
On Thursday, the Commissioner will meet Brazilian Secretary of Commerce and International relations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Luis Rua. Following this, he will deliver a speech on the importance of trade agreements to support EU exports at the Business Forum. In between the forum’s sessions, the Commissioner will participate in interviews with EU-based and Brazilian journalists. The Commissioner will then exchange with representatives of the Brazilian agricultural sector at the Federation of Industries and Agriculture.
The visit will close with a dinner hosted by the Commissioner assembling the business delegation, Brazilian importers, chambers of commerce, and other actors in the agri-food supply chain.