At the end of the fourth quarter of 2018, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area (EA19) stood at 85.1%, compared with 86.4% at the end of the third quarter of 2018. In the EU28, the ratio decreased from 81.0% to 80.0%. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2017, the government debt to GDP ratio fell in both the euro area (from 87.1% to 85.1%) and the EU28 (from 81.7% to 80.0%).

Full text available on EUROSTAT website

EFSA, the EU Member States and the European Commission are jointly launching a campaign called #EUandMyFood. Our aim is to remind EU citizens how we all benefit from the European food safety system that was created in 2002 under the General Food Law.

We all love food. It contributes to the health of our families, our culture and traditions and our fondest memories. Food is part of our identity.

On the launch of the campaign, EFSA Executive Director Bernhard Url said: “I’m a passionate believer in the European integration project. As we head into the European elections in May, it’s timely to remind ourselves how the EU makes a positive impact on our daily lives, often without us realising it. For EFSA and our partners in the EU Member States and at the European Commission, our contribution is food safety.

“EUandMyFood is about having safe and nutritious food in Europe that we can trust,” stated Dr Url. “It’s about having respect for the health of our animals and how we treat them. And it’s about being responsible for our environment – the soil, water and air – which sustain the food and feed crops that we and our animals, respectively, eat.”

An EU-wide campaign

The EUandMyFood campaign is being jointly promoted by EFSA and national food safety authorities in the EU Member States with the support of the European Commission’s Health and Food Safety Directorate General. Together, we’ve created a series of short films, animations and a special website – in all 24 official EU languages – that recap how EU citizens benefit from the highest food safety standards in the world.

Marking today’s launch, we are happy to share with you our new video called “Food is essential to life – the EU and my food”.

We’re with you every step of the way – EFSA, Member States, the European Commission and other EU agencies, working together to keep your food safe.

Background

The next European elections take place on 23-26 May 2019 giving all adult EU citizens the opportunity to select who will represent them in the European Parliament. #EUandMyFood is one of several initiatives by EU institutions and agencies to highlight the value the EU brings to citizens’ everyday lives. For more information in all 24 official EU languages see: thistimeimvoting.eu, EUandMe, EU Together We Protect.

Code of practice against disinformation: Commission welcomes the commitment of online platforms ahead of the European elections

Today, the European Commission published the latest reports by Facebook, Google and Twitter covering the progress made in March 2019 to fight disinformation. The three online platforms are signatories to the Code of Practice against disinformation and have committed to report monthly on their actions ahead of the European Parliament elections in May 2019. Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová, Commissioner for the Security Union Julian King, and Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel welcomed the progress made in a joint statement: “We appreciate the efforts made by Facebook, Google and Twitter to increase transparency ahead of the European elections. We welcome that the three platforms have taken further action to fulfil their commitments under the Code. All of them have started labelling political advertisements on their platforms. In particular, Facebook and Twitter have made political advertisement libraries publicly accessible, while Google’s library has entered a testing phase. This provides the public with more transparency around political ads. However, further technical improvements as well as sharing of methodology and data sets for fake accounts are necessary to allow third-party experts, fact-checkers and researchers to carry out independent evaluation. At the same time, it is regrettable that Google and Twitter have not yet reported further progress regarding transparency of issue-based advertising, meaning issues that are sources of important debate during elections. We are pleased to see that the collaboration under the Code of Practice has encouraged Facebook, Google and Twitter to take further action to ensure the integrity of their services and fight against malicious bots and fake accounts. In particular, we welcome Google increasing cooperation with fact-checking organisations and networks. Furthermore, all three platforms have been carrying out initiatives to promote media literacy and provide training to journalists and campaign staff. The voluntary actions taken by the platforms are a step forward to support transparent and inclusive elections and better protect our democratic processes from manipulation, but a lot still remains to be done. We look forward to the next reports from April showing further progress ahead of the European elections.” More information on the latest reports by online platforms can be found here. (For more information: Johannes Bahrke – Tel.: +32 229 58615; Inga Höglund – Tel.: +32 229 50698)

La politique de cohésion investit dans la compétitivité des start-ups croates

La Commission salue la signature d’un accord entre le groupe Banque européenne d’investissement (BEI) et la société d’investissement privée Fil Rouge Capital, portant sur le lancement d’un fonds de capital-risque soutenu par la politique de cohésion. Grâce aux 32,5 millions d’euros provenant de la politique de cohésion, le fonds investira dans de jeunes entreprises innovantes à fort potentiel de croissance dans le pays. Le fonds de capital-risque contribuera à développer un écosystème dynamique pour les start-ups locales. Plus de 100 start-ups devraient bénéficier d’un meilleur accès au financement grâce à cet accord. La commissaire européenne en charge de la politique régionale, Corina Crețu, a déclaré: « C’est une très bonne nouvelle et un exemple de la politique de cohésion à l’œuvre. Le lancement de ce fonds représente un nouveau financement pour les start-ups croates. C’est souvent ce dont elles ont besoin pour lancer de nouveaux produits, intégrer des processus innovants, créer de nouveaux emplois et étendre leurs activités au-delà de leur marché local. » Il s’agit du premier fonds de capital-risque créé en Croatie avec un financement de la politique de cohésion. Au total, 250 millions d’euros provenant des fonds de la politique de cohésion sont investis dans des instruments financiers destinés à soutenir la compétitivité des petites et moyennes entreprises croates au cours de la période budgétaire 2014-2020, conformément aux objectifs du plan d’investissement pour l’Europe, le Plan Juncker. (Pour plus d’informations: Christian Spahr – Tél.: +32 2 295 00 55; Sophie Dupin de Saint-Cyr – Tél.: +32 229 56169)

Eurostat: Déficit public de la zone euro et de l’UE28 respectivement de 0,5% et 0,6% du PIB, dette publique à 85,1% et 80,0% (Transmission des données du déficit et de la dette pour 2018 – 1ère notification)

Le déficit ainsi que la dette publique se sont réduits en termes relatifs en 2018 par rapport à 2017, tant dans la zone euro (ZE19) que dans l’UE28. Le ratio du déficit public par rapport au PIB a baissé dans la zone euro, passant de 1,0% en 2017 à 0,5% en 2018, ainsi que dans l’UE28, de 1,0% à 0,6%. Le ratio de la dette publique par rapport au PIB a reculé dans la zone euro, passant de 87,1% à la fin de l’année 2017 à 85,1% à la fin de l’année 2018, ainsi que dans l’UE28, de 81,7% à 80,0%. Dans ce communiqué de presse, Eurostat, l’office statistique de l’Union européenne, fournit les données relatives au déficit et à la dette des administrations publiques, sur la base des chiffres déclarés par les États membres dans le cadre de la première notification de 2019 pour les années 2015 à 2018, dans le cadre de l’application de la procédure concernant les déficits excessifs (PDE). Cette notification est fondée sur le système des comptes nationaux SEC 2010. Ce communiqué de presse inclut également des données sur les dépenses et recettes des administrations publiques. Un communiqué de presse Eurostat est à votre disposition en ligne. (Pour plus d’informations: Annika Breidthardt – Tél.: +32 229 56153; Enda McNamara – Tél.: +32 229 64976)

State aid: Commission approves € 706 000 investment aid for CO₂ capture technology in The Netherlands

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, Dutch plans to grant € 706 000of public support to the company De Meerlanden Holding NV (“Meerlanden”) for the installation of CO₂ capture technology in its biomass digester located in Rijsenhout, in the province of Noord-Holland. The captured CO₂ will be then fed into a pipeline network owned by the company OCAP CO₂ B.V. and transported by OCAP to greenhouses situated in the horticultural area of PrimA4a in the Greenport of Aalsmeer. The measure is expected to reduce emissions by 2.4 kiloton of CO₂ per year. Currently, the greenhouses in the horticultural PrimA4A area produce their own CO₂ using heating systems such as cogeneration systems or gas fired boilers. In summer, when heating is not needed, the greenhouses nevertheless use their heating systems for the sole purpose of CO₂ generation. Thanks to this measure, these greenhouses will be able to use excess waste CO₂ instead. This will benefit the environment by reducing the use of primary energy sources that produce CO₂, with an annual energy saving of 65 000 m3 of natural gas, as well as by disposing of the waste CO₂ from Meerlanden. The Commission assessed the measure under EU State aid rules, in particular the Guidelines on State aid for Environmental protection and Energy. It found that the measure will contribute to the EU’s environmental and climate goals, without unduly distorting competition. More information on today’s decision will be available on the Commission’s competition website, in the public case register under the case number SA.52663. (For more information: Lucía Caudet – Tel.: +32 229 56182; Giulia Astuti – Tel.: +32 229 55344)

State aid: Commission approves €385 million support for production of electricity from renewable sources in Lithuania

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, an aid scheme to support installations generating electricity from renewable sources such as wind, solar or hydropower in Lithuania. The scheme will help Lithuania reach its national target share of renewable energy sources in gross final energy consumption, which has been set at 38% by 2025. The renewable energy scheme will be applicable until 1 July 2025 or, alternatively, until the 38% target is reached. The scheme, with an overall budget of €385 million, will be open to all renewable installations. The installations benefitting from the scheme will receive support in the form of a premium, which will be set through a competitive bidding process for all types of installations, irrespective of the size of the installation and the renewable technology used. However, the final premium will not be set at a level greater than the difference between: (i) the electricity market price in Lithuania (“reference price”); and (ii) the average production costs of the most cost-efficient renewable energy technology in Lithuania (“maximum price”). This has been defined by the Lithuanian authorities as onshore wind power generation. The Commission assessed the scheme under EU State aid rules, in particular under the 2014 Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy. It found that the aid has an incentive effect, as the market price does not fully cover the costs of generating electricity from renewable energy sources and the beneficiaries will have to apply for the aid before the generating installations start operating. The aid is also proportionate and limited to the minimum necessary, as it only covers the difference between the production costs and the market price of electricity. Therefore, the Commission concluded that the Lithuanian measure is in line with EU State aid rules, as it promotes the generation of electricity from renewable sources, in line with the environmental objectives of the EU, without unduly distorting competition. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “The scheme will contribute to Lithuania’s transition to low carbon and environmentally sustainable energy supply, in line with the EU environmental objectives and our state aid rules.” The full press release is available online in EN, FR, DE, LT. (For more information: Lucía Caudet – Tel.: +32 229 56182; Giulia Astuti – Tel.: +32 229 55344)

Mergers: Commission approves Liberty House Group purchase of ArcelorMittal’s divestment businesses

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, Liberty House Group as a suitable purchaser of several ArcelorMittal steel plants, sold under commitments made by ArcelorMittal in order to buy Ilva. The Commission has also approved the transaction itself under EU merger rules. In May 2018, the Commission approved the acquisition of Ilva by ArcelorMittal, subject to conditions. In particular, ArcelorMittal was required to sell a large package of steel plant assets to a suitable purchaser. The package of assets that ArcelorMittal chose and committed to divest consists of a number of production sites throughout Europe. These include: (a) an integrated steelworks in Galati, Romania; (b) an integrated steelworks in Ostrava, Czechia; and (c) finishing plants in Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and North Macedonia. The divested production sites cover the whole value chain, from liquid steel manufacturing to the production of finished flat carbon steel products, including hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanised steel. ArcelorMittal notified to the Commission its choice of Liberty House to purchase the assets. The Commission’s purchaser review exercise has been extensive, listening to the views of multiple stakeholders and scrutinising the proposal very closely. The Commission initially had serious prima facie concerns about the proposal. In particular, in ArcelorMittal’s initial submissions the acquisition was highly dependent on borrowed money, including from ArcelorMittal, and part of the purchase price was contingent on the assets’ performance. Furthermore, certain assets that had to be divested under the Commitments had been carved out. Based on the Commission’s investigation and feedback, ArcelorMittal made significant improvementsduring the review process that allowed the Commission to conclude that the sale would comply with the commitments ArcelorMittal gave to the Commission as a condition for approval to acquire Ilva. The full press release is available online in EN, DE, FR. (For more information: Lucía Caudet – Tel.: +32 229 56182; Giulia Astuti – Tel.: +32 229 55344)

Mergers: Commission clears acquisition of joint control over InterGen by Sev.en Energy and Huaneng

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control over the whole of InterGen N.V. of the Netherlands, whereby Sev.en Energy AG of Liechtenstein replaces Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan Board of Canada as one of the two shareholders jointly controlling InterGen. China Huaneng Group Co., Ltd. (“Huaneng”) of China remains in place as the other controlling shareholder. InterGen is active in the generation and wholesale supply of electricity, electricity trading and carbon emission trading, among other activities. Sev.en Energy is active in lignite supply, generation and wholesale supply of electricity and trading with CO2 emission allowances, among other activities. Huaneng is involved in the development, investment, construction, operation and management of power generation assets, among other activities. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns given the companies’ moderate combined market position resulting from the transaction. 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.9305. (For more information: Lucía Caudet – Tel.: +32 229 56182; Giulia Astuti – Tel.: +32 229 55344)

Mergers: Commission clears acquisition of control over a joint venture by Daimler and Geely

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of control over a newly created joint venture by Daimler AG of Germany and Geely Technology Group Co., Ltd. (“Geely”) of China. The joint venture will be active exclusively in China in the field of ride-hailing services, starting in the premium segment with a small fleet of luxury cars serving commercial customers, public entities and private customers. Daimler is globally active in the development, manufacturing and distribution of automotive products, mainly passenger cars, trucks, vans and buses. Geely is an automobile manufacturer engaged in the production and sales of passenger vehicles worldwide. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, because the joint venture will be active in China and has no foreseen activities in the European Economic Area. 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.9295. (For more information: Lucía Caudet – Tel.: +32 229 56182; Giulia Astuti – Tel.: +32 229 55344)

STATEMENT

Déclaration de Jean-Claude Juncker, président de la Commission européenne, suite au décès de Son Altesse Royale le Grand-Duc Jean de Luxembourg

“C’est avec une grande émotion et une profonde tristesse que j’ai appris le décès de son Altesse Royale le Grand-Duc Jean. Comme tout le peuple Luxembourgeois, j’avais une très grande estime pour cet homme d’engagement, de bonté et de courage qui tout au long de son règne, et en toutes circonstances, a donné le meilleur de lui-même à son pays qui lui doit tant. Sa disparation est une grande perte pour le Grand-Duché et pour l’Europe. Le Grand-Duc Jean a toujours été proche des Luxembourgeois qui sont aujourd’hui unis dans la même tristesse. En ce moment douloureux, mes pensées vont à la famille grand-ducale à laquelle je tiens à exprimer mes très sincères condoléances.” La déclaration est disponible en ligne. (Pour plus d’informations: Mina Andreeva – Tél.: +32 229 91382; Natasha Bertaud – Tél.: +32 229 67456)

ANNOUNCEMENT

Vice-President Šefčovič to hold live broadcast conversation with young climate activists 

European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič has invited 6 youth climate activists from across Europe for a live broadcast conversation inside an autonomous e-bus, driving around the Berlaymont building – the headquarters of the European Commission. The autonomous electric vehicle is part of the EU-funded AVENUE Project (funded under the framework research programme Horizon 2020). “We would like to engage, listen, and exchange with young climate defenders from across Europe. I have invited these young Europeans because I believe their compelling message about climate action must be heard by decision makers, business leaders and fellow citizens alike. We will meet a couple of weeks after the European Commission presented its most recent State of The Energy Union Report showing its achievements in the fight against climate change and in promoting clean energy solutions for all Europeans. These solutions are essential for the EU to become a climate neutral economy by mid-century whilst ensuring jobs, growth and opportunities for all Europeans in line with our Clean Planet for All vision. I intend to debate these solutions with these young Europeans, listen to their views and encourage them to get involved and support our action ahead of the upcoming elections to the European Parliament.” said Vice-President Šefčovič ahead of the event. Watch their conversations live today at 16:30 CET on the Commission’s main Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts. (For more information: Anca Paduraru – Tel.: +32 229 91269; Lynn Rietdorf – Tel.: +32 229 74959)

Upcoming events of the European Commission (ex-Top News)

Today, the European Commission published the latest reports by Facebook, Google and Twitter covering the progress made in March 2019 to fight disinformation. The three online platforms are signatories to the Code of Practice against disinformation and have committed to report monthly on their actions ahead of the European Parliament elections in May 2019.

Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová, Commissioner for the Security Union Julian King, and Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society Mariya Gabriel welcomed the progress made in a joint statement:

“We appreciate the efforts made by Facebook, Google and Twitter to increase transparency ahead of the European elections. We welcome that the three platforms have taken further action to fulfil their commitments under the Code.

All of them have started labelling political advertisements on their platforms. In particular, Facebook and Twitter have made political advertisement libraries publicly accessible, while Google’s library has entered a testing phase. This provides the public with more transparency around political ads.

However, further technical improvements as well as sharing of methodology and data sets for fake accounts are necessary to allow third-party experts, fact-checkers and researchers to carry out independent evaluation. At the same time, it is regrettable that Google and Twitter have not yet reported further progress regarding transparency of issue-based advertising, meaning issues that are sources of important debate during elections.

We are pleased to see that the collaboration under the Code of Practice has encouraged Facebook, Google and Twitter to take further action to ensure the integrity of their services and fight against malicious bots and fake accounts. In particular, we welcome Google increasing cooperation with fact-checking organisations and networks. Furthermore, all three platforms have been carrying out initiatives to promote media literacy and provide training to journalists and campaign staff.

The voluntary actions taken by the platforms are a step forward to support transparent and inclusive elections and better protect our democratic processes from manipulation, but a lot still remains to be done. We look forward to the next reports from April showing further progress ahead of the European elections.”

Main outcome of the reports:

• Google reported on specific actions taken to improve scrutiny of ad placements in the EU, including a breakdown per Member State. It gave an update on its election ads policy, which it started enforcing on 21 March 2019, and announced the launch of its EU Elections Ads Transparency Report and its searchable ad library available in April. Google has not reported further progress regarding the definition of issue-based advertising. Similarly to the last report, global data was provided on the removal of a significant number of YouTube channels for violation of its policies on spam, deceptive practices and scams, and impersonation.
• Facebook reported on actions taken against the ads that violated its policies for containing low quality, disruptive, misleading or false content or circumvented its systems. It provided further information on its political ads policy, which will apply also to Instagram. The company noted the launch of a new, publicly available Ad Library globally on 28 March 2019, covering Facebook and Instagram, and highlighted the expansion of access to its Ad Library application programming interface. Facebook reported on the number of fake accounts disabled globally in Q1 of 2019 and on the takedown of eight coordinated inauthentic behaviour networks, originating in North Macedonia, Kosovo and Russia. The report did not state whether these networks also affected users in the EU.
• Twitter reported an update to its political campaigning ads policy and provided further details on the public disclosure of political ads in Twitter’s Ad Transparency Centre. Twitter provided figures on actions undertaken against spam and fake accounts, but did not provide further insights on these actions and how they relate to activity in the EU. Twitter did not report on any actions to improve the scrutiny of ad placements or provide any metrics with respect to its commitments in this area.

As part of the implementation of the Code of Practice, the platforms met with national regulatory authorities, part of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA) on 16 April 2019 to discuss the functionality of their political ads repositories.

Today’s reports cover measures taken by online platforms in March 2019. They allow the Commission to verify that effective policies to ensure integrity of the electoral processes are in place before the European elections in May 2019.

The Commission will carry out a comprehensive assessment of the Code’s initial 12-month period by the end of 2019. Should the results prove unsatisfactory, the Commission may propose further actions, including of a regulatory nature.

The monthly reporting cycle builds on the Code of Practice, and is part of the Action Plan against disinformation that the European Union adopted last December to build up capabilities and strengthen cooperation between Member States and EU institutions to proactively address the threats posed by disinformation.

The reporting signatories committed to the Code of Practice in October 2018 on a voluntary basis. The Code aims to reach the objectives set out by the Commission’s Communication presented in April 2018 by setting a wide range of commitments:

• Disrupt advertising revenue for accounts and websites misrepresenting information and provide advertisers with adequate safety tools and information about websites purveying disinformation.
• Enable public disclosure of political advertising and make effort towards disclosing issue-based advertising.
• Have a clear and publicly available policy on identity and online bots and take measures to close fake accounts.
• Offer information and tools to help people make informed decisions, and facilitate access to diverse perspectives about topics of public interest, while giving prominence to reliable sources.
• Provide privacy-compliant access to data to researchers to track and better understand the spread and impact of disinformation.

Ahead of the European elections in May 2019, the Commission is monitoring the progress of the platforms towards meeting the commitments that are most relevant and urgent ahead of the election campaign: scrutiny of ad placements; political and issue-based advertising; and integrity of services.

The Code of Practice also goes hand-in-hand with the Recommendation included in the election package announced by President Juncker in the 2018 State of the Union Address to ensure free, fair and secure European Parliament elections. The measures include greater transparency in online political advertisements and the possibility to impose sanctions for the illegal use of personal data to deliberately influence the outcome of the European elections. Member States were also advised to set up a national election cooperation network of relevant authorities – such as electoral, cybersecurity, data protection and law enforcement authorities – and to appoint a contact point to participate in a European-level election cooperation network. The first meeting at the European level took place on 21 January 2019, the second one on 27 February, and the third on 4 April.

For More Information

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “The scheme will contribute to Lithuania’s transition to low carbon and environmentally sustainable energy supply, in line with the EU environmental objectives and our state aid rules.”

On 1 May 2019, Lithuania will introduce a new aid scheme to support installations generating electricity from renewable sources such as wind, solar or hydropower. The scheme will help Lithuania reach its national target share of renewable energy sources in gross final energy consumption, which has been set at 38% by 2025. The renewable energy scheme will be applicable until 1 July 2025 or, alternatively, until the 38% target is reached.

The scheme, with an overall budget of €385 million, will be open to all renewable installations.

The installations benefitting from the scheme will receive support in the form of a premium, which will be set through a competitive bidding process for all types of installations, irrespective of the size of the installation and the renewable technology used.

However, the final premium will not be set at a level greater than the difference between:

• the electricity market price in Lithuania (“reference price”); and
• the average production costs of the most cost-efficient renewable energy technology in Lithuania (“maximum price”). This has been defined by the Lithuanian authorities as onshore wind power generation.

Both the reference price and the maximum price will be set by the Lithuanian national energy regulator for each auction.

The Commission assessed the scheme under EU State aid rules, in particular under the 2014 Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy.

The Commission found that the aid has an incentive effect, as the market price does not fully cover the costs of generating electricity from renewable energy sources and the beneficiaries will have to apply for the aid before the generating installations start operating. The aid is also proportionate and limited to the minimum necessary, as it only covers the difference between the production costs and the market price of electricity.

Therefore, the Commission concluded that the Lithuanian measure is in line with EU State aid rules, as it promotes the generation of electricity from renewable sources, in line with the environmental objectives of the EU, without unduly distorting competition.

Background

The Commission’s 2014 Guidelines on State Aid for Environmental Protection and Energy allow Member States to support the production of electricity from renewable energy sources, subject to certain conditions. These rules aim to help Member States meet the EU’s ambitious energy and climate targets at the least possible cost for taxpayers and without undue distortions of competition in the Single Market. The Renewable Energy Directive established targets for all Member States’ shares of renewable energy sources in gross final energy consumption by 2030. For Lithuania, the target is 32% by 2030.

The non-confidential version of the decisions will be made available under the case numbers SA.50199 in the State aid register on the Commission’s Competition website once any confidentiality issues have been resolved. New publications of State aid decisions on the internet and in the Official Journal are listed in the State Aid Weekly e-News.