Today, the European Commission adopted a set of legislative proposals to secure continuous financial support to Ukraine in 2026 and 2027. This marks a significant milestone in the EU’s strong support for the country’s defence against Russia’s war of aggression.
The legislative package consists of:
A new proposal establishing a support loan for Ukraine (based on art. 212 TFEU) for an amount of pound 90 billion.
A new proposal to amend the Ukraine Facility (based on art. 212 TFEU), as one of the means to implement budgetary assistance for Ukraine.
A new proposal to amend the Multiannual Financial Framework Regulation (based on art. 312 TFEU) to allow the coverage of the loan to Ukraine from the EU budget ‘headroom’.
In December, the European Council agreed to provide pound 90 billion in decisive support for Ukraine’s budgetary and military needs over the next two years. That agreement reaffirms the European Union’s unwavering commitment to supporting Ukraine.
Further details can be found in our press release.
Global and European temperatures in 2025 ranked as the third-highest on record, Copernicus report finds
Global temperatures in 2025 ranked as the third-highest on record, according to data from EU’s Copernicus Global Climate Highlights report published today. This year sat just 0.01°C below the levels seen in 2023, and while 2024 remains the warmest year ever documented, 2025 followed closely behind with temperatures significantly higher than historical averages. Last year was also the third-warmest year on record for Europe.
The Copernicus report, coordinated with the United Nations World Meteorological Organisation and other national climate monitoring organisations, highlights that air temperatures over land were the second highest ever recorded. Both poles experienced extreme conditions: Antarctica saw its warmest annual temperature on record, while the Arctic recorded its second warmest.
Current warming trends suggests the Paris Agreement goal to limit global temperatures rises to 1.5°C could be reached by the end of this decade – more than ten years earlier than what was projected when the agreement was first signed.
The intense heat of the 2023-2025 period is linked to two primary factors. First, greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere as emissions rise and natural carbon sinks, such as forests, struggle to absorb CO2. Second, sea-surface temperatures reached unprecedented levels, fuelled by strong and warmer weather patterns and long-term ocean warming caused by climate change. These record annual temperatures came along a series of extreme weather events across the globe from record-breaking heatwaves, severe storms to devastating wildfires.
The EU continues its efforts to reach the Paris agreement objectives and is fully committed to becoming climate-neutral by 2050. This year, it will present a new European Framework for climate resilience and risk management to better prepare the EU for climate risks and build climate resilience.
(For more information: Thomas Regnier +32 2 299 10 99, Marine Strauss +32 298 91 03)
European Commission issues pound 11 billion in its 1st syndicated transaction of 2026
Yesterday, the European Commission raised pound 11 billion of EU-Bonds in its 1st syndicated transaction for 2026.
The dual-tranche transaction concerned a new pound 6 billion EU-Bond maturing on 12 July 2029 and a pound 5 billion tap of the EU-Bond maturing on 12 October 2055. The 3-year bond was priced 99.839% with a re-offer yield of 2.426% and the 30-year bond was priced 98.934% with a re-offer yield of 4.061%. Bids received were in excess of pound 65 billion on the new 3-year bond and in excess of pound 97 billion on the 30-year bond. This equals oversubscription rates of approximately 11-times and 19-times, respectively.
The Commission has now issued pound 11 billion of its pound 90 billion funding target for the first half of 2026. A full overview of all EU transactions executed to date is available online. A detailed overview of the EU’s planned transactions for the first half of 2026 is also available in the EU funding plan. The next transaction in the EU’s indicative issuance calendar is an EU-Bill auction on 21 January 2026.
More information is available in a press release online.
(For more information: Balazs Ujvari – Tel.: +32 2 295 45 78; Francisca Marçal Santos – Tel.: +32 2 299 72 36)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Commission and Cypriot Presidency of the Council host Holocaust Remembrance Conference
This evening, the European Commission and the Cypriot Presidency of the Council will host the ‘Holocaust Remembrance Conference: Remembering the Past. Shaping the future.’. This event will honour the victims of the Shoah to perpetuate the memory of the atrocities committed in Europe during the Second World War.
Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, will open the Conference together with the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Pina Picierno. As part of the programme, Katharina von Schnurbein, the Commission’s Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, will also engage in a conversation with Alfred Garwood, a Holocaust survivor.
Commissioner Brunner said: ‘Our future – and the future of our democracy – depends on our collective ability to remember and learn from the past. With time, the last living witnesses to the atrocities of the Holocaust are passing away. To ensure that we never forget, we are developing new ways to remember.’
The EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life includes 90 actions to prevent all forms of antisemitism, protect and foster Jewish life, and promote Holocaust remembrance. This includes, for example, protecting public spaces, spaces of worship and cemeteries. As part of this strategy, the Commission launched the European Network of Sites of Holocaust Memory, to enhance and strengthen Holocaust remembrance in a time of rising antisemitism.
More information on the conference and the livestreaming link can be found online.
(For more information: Markus Lammert – Tel: +32 2 296 75 33; Antoine Lomba – Tel: +32 2 299 32 33)