European Commission

Lithuania plans to appeal Hungary's decision to simplify entry for Russian and Belarusian citizens in the EU. The Lithuanian Foreign Minister believes that this poses a threat to the security of the Schengen area.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister suggested that the EU could have asked Ukraine to stop the transit of Lukoil's oil. He accused the European Commission of inaction in protecting the interests of Hungary and Slovakia.

The European Commission is going to clarify with Hungary the issue of Budapest's simplification of visa procedures for citizens of Belarus and Russia, emphasizing that all instruments should guarantee the security of the EU and the Schengen area.

The EU plans to offer the US a quick trade deal if Trump wins. If he imposes punitive tariffs, the EU is ready to respond with its own duties of up to 50% on American goods.

The Minister of Finance of Ukraine announced that he expects financial assistance from the US and the EU in the near future. These funds will help Ukraine to look to the future with confidence until the end of the year.

Meta Platforms is expecting a fine from the EU for the unfair advantage of Facebook Marketplace. The penalty could reach $13.4 billion, with a decision expected in September-October.

The EU countries have rejected a call by Hungary and Slovakia to lift sanctions against Lukoil in order to resume oil transit through Ukraine. The European Commission said that additional time was needed to assess the situation.

Most EU countries have already nominated candidates for the new European Commission. Among them are both new names and current commissioners. The key issues will be EU enlargement and negotiations with Ukraine.

The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine held consultations on the approximation of Ukrainian legislation to the European one in trade, labor and procurement. They discussed free access of goods to EU markets, updating labor legislation and public procurement reform.

EU ambassadors approve the first disbursement to Ukraine under the Ukraine Facility program in the amount of EUR 4. 2 billion. The decision must be approved by the EU Council.

The G7+ Coordination Group has prioritized assistance to Ukraine's energy sector. Attention will be paid to equipment, backup power supply and distributed generation to strengthen the power system.

The European Commission is investigating a possible violation of EU competition rules by Delivery Hero and Glovo. The suspected violations include market allocation, exchange of commercial information, and personnel arrangements.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister announced the blocking of payments from the European Peace Fund to compensate for the supply of weapons to Ukraine. The reason for this was Ukraine's tightening of sanctions against Lukoil, which led to the suspension of Russian oil transit.

Ukraine fulfilled the conditions for receiving a tranche from the EU in September. The government is also attracting a grant from the US for salaries and social programs through the World Bank.

Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Ihor Zhovkva emphasized the importance of using the next 5 years effectively in negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU. Bilateral screening, which is a more technical stage of the process, has begun.

The head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen presented her plans for the next 5 years and called on the European Parliament to approve her for a second term. She outlined the goal of building a strong Europe, ready for any challenges.

The European Commission has agreed to provide Ukraine with about EUR 4. 2 billion, which will strengthen Ukraine's macro-financial stability in the face of the ongoing war.

Chinese company ByteDance, which owns TikTok, has lost its appeal against the European Union's decision to recognize the digital company as a “gatekeeper” - a platform with special influence - under the EU's new law on digital markets.

Due to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's uncoordinated visits to Moscow and Beijing during Hungary's presidency of the EU Council, some countries are considering boycotting ministerial meetings or handing over the presidency to another country.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is planning a surprise visit to Belgrade on Friday to attend the signing of a cooperation agreement between the EU and Serbia on lithium imports, essential for the EU's digital and green transition.

Ukraine has fulfilled all 9 indicators for the second quarter of 2024 under the EU's Ukraine Fund program, allowing it to request EUR 4. 1 billion from the European Commission, including EUR 1.5 billion in grant funding.

Hungary cannot be stripped of its EU Council presidency, despite Orban's controversial visits to China and Russia, but EU countries can publicly boycott his policies.

Roberta Mecola was re-elected as President of the European Parliament for another two and a half years until 2027, receiving 562 votes in the first round.

In the EU today, EU ministers will discuss $50 billion in loans to Ukraine from seized Russian assets, ahead of the upcoming G7 ministerial meeting.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen canceled the visit of the EC board to Budapest due to recent events related to Hungary's presidency of the EU Council, and the EC will be represented at informal meetings of the Council only at the level of senior civil servants.

Starting July 16, 2024, cars with Belarusian license plates will be banned from entering the European Union through Latvia's border crossings with Belarus and Russia as part of the eighth package of EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus for their participation in the aggression against Ukraine.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas resigned along with her entire government after an extraordinary meeting, as she is expected to replace Josep Borrell as the EU's top diplomat.

Poland has offered to supply Ukraine with electricity from its thermal power plants without paying for emissions, seeking approval from the European Commission.

Social network X (formerly Twitter) is facing a fine of up to 6% of its global turnover from the European Commission for allegedly deceiving users with its paid account verification policy and violating the EU Digital Services Act.

Elon Musk's Platform X violates EU rules on access to researcher data, advertising transparency and deceives users with a blue check mark verification system, the EU Commission says in a preliminary assessment.