EC Report

Through the projects selected this year, 2,500 higher education stakeholders from almost 130 EU countries and across the world will work together to modernise and internationalise higher education. The overall 2023 budget of €115.3 million will for example advance the professionalisation of maths in Central Africa; university studies in equity and equality law for vulnerable groups in Latin America; curricula for a sustainable blue economy in the Southern Mediterranean; and courses for transformative change in health education in South-East Asia. Projects in other regions focus on entrepreneurship skills for Central Asian women, digital education readiness in the Western Balkans, developing universities' international relations offices in the Middle East, and food and nutrition resilience curricula in Western Africa.

This year, the EU has also earmarked €5 million of additional support for Ukraine to support a large-scale Erasmus+ project for universities to strengthen the digital environment for higher education in Ukraine. The four-year project called “DigiUni” will develop a high-performance digital platform for Ukraine's universities that will particularly benefit those students who had to flee the country or are internally displaced. It will ensure educational continuity for students enrolled at Ukrainian higher education institutions in the Ukrainian language and according to the Ukrainian curriculum.

The Commission's plan includes a 7% increase in fishing opportunities for salmon in the Gulf of Finland, a 15% reduction in salmon fishing in the main basin, and a 20% decrease in herring catches in the Gulf of Riga.

The Commission is awaiting further information from the International Council on the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) for the other Baltic stocks (western cod, eastern cod, western herring, Bothnian herring, central herring, sprat, and plaice), given the interconnected nature of cod and flatfish, and herring and sprat catches.

Stock assessments reveal that the central Baltic herring has remained at or below minimum levels since the early 1990s. Bothnian herring stock has diminished due to reduced young fish and smaller older fish. As a response, the Commission proposes closing targeted fisheries for both stocks and maintaining closures for cod stocks, western herring, and salmon in most of the main basin.

The Commission will propose by-catch TACs for several stocks (western cod, eastern cod, western herring, Bothnian herring, and central herring) based on additional data expected in autumn. This would allow vessels to land unavoidable catches of these weaker stocks when fishing for other species like plaice or sprat.

Proposed TACs are grounded in ICES scientific advice and adhere to the Baltic multiannual management plan adopted in 2016. For cod, the Commission suggests measures to address poor status and for herring, TACs are set for unavoidable by-catches while exemptions are removed. The proposal also covers adjustments for plaice, sprat, and salmon based on varying stock conditions.

Final decisions on fishing quantities will be made by EU countries. The Commission's proposal will be reviewed by the Council for potential adoption during a Ministerial meeting on October 23-24.

The preliminary examination suggests that the merger could harm competition in these areas, particularly due to Figma's market leadership and competitive strength. The investigation will delve deeper to ascertain if these concerns are substantiated. 

The Commission will collaborate with other competition authorities during the process. The proposed acquisition was submitted on June 30, 2023, and the Commission has until December 14, 2023, to reach a decision.

The report covers events in 2022, which marked the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China and the second anniversary of the National Security Law (NSL) imposition. The report underscores the continuous erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy, democratic principles, and freedoms, raising concerns about China's commitment to the 'one country, two systems' principle.

Throughout 2022, law enforcement arrested individuals on national security grounds, resulting in 236 arrests under the NSL and related laws, with a 100% conviction rate. Several prominent figures were awaiting trial, including pro-democracy activists, members of the disbanded Hong Kong Alliance, and media figure Jimmy Lai. The colonial-era sedition law was frequently invoked, accounting for a significant portion of arrests. A European national was arrested under this law on November 1.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee, during the fourth periodic review, called on Hong Kong to repeal the current National Security Law, citing concerns about potential transfers of cases to mainland China for investigation, prosecution, trial, and sentencing. Freedom of the press deteriorated notably in 2022, with arrests of journalists and closures of independent media outlets. Hong Kong ranked 148th in the 2022 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

The report also highlights EU-Hong Kong commercial ties, emphasizing the EU's status as the largest foreign business community with 1,600 companies. The EU ranked as Hong Kong's third-largest goods trading partner, experiencing a 25.1% growth in bilateral trade in services. Despite economic challenges, Hong Kong maintained its position as the world's third-largest investment destination and fifth-largest trading economy.

They also call on the Commission to propose new legislation to preserve Ukrainian culture, language, traditions and heritage, as well as to establish a pan-European structure of integration centres.

The decision to register is of a legal nature and it does not prejudge the final legal and political conclusions of the Commission on this initiative and the action it will intend to take, if any, in case the initiative obtains the necessary support.

As the European Citizens' Initiative fulfils the formal conditions established in the relevant legislation, the Commission considers that it is legally admissible. The Commission has not analysed the substance of the proposal at this stage.

Following the registration, the organisers have six months to open the signature collection. If a European Citizens' Initiative receives one million statements of support within one year from at least seven different Member States, the Commission will have to react. The Commission will have to decide whether to take action in response to the request or not, and will be required to explain its reasoning.

The report shows a growing focus on national security that bears the risk of undermining fundamental freedoms in Macao and eroding the ‘one country, two systems' principle and Macao's high degree of autonomy.

On 15 December, the Legislative Assembly passed a bill to amend the 2009 national security law. The expressed aim of the bill is to enable the law to safeguard national security to the same extent as the laws of mainland China and of Hong Kong. The amended law expands the scope of the existing offences to include non-violent actions under subversion, and further widens the definition of sedition. The scope of the charge of collusion has been broadened to include any organisation, association, and individual outside of Macao. The amended law ultimately became effective on 30 May 2023.

The year was marked by stringent COVID‑19 related social and travel restrictions. It implemented mainland China's ‘dynamic zero-COVID strategy'. The related travel restrictions, including a two-week hotel quarantine, continued as in 2021 to prevent officials from the EU Office from visiting Macao or holding events there for much of the year. This hindered the Office's work and limited contacts with SAR government officials.

In the first 11 months of 2022, the EU overtook mainland China to become Macao's largest trading partner in goods, accounting for 30% of the SAR's total trade in that period. The EU remained Macao's fourth-largest source of foreign investment in 2021 (excluding offshore centres), after Hong Kong, mainland China and the US. According to Macao's official statistics, the EU accounted for 5.8% of the total foreign direct investment stock in 2021.

The Implementing Regulation details the transitional reporting obligations for EU importers of CBAM goods, as well as the transitional methodology for calculating embedded emissions released during the production process of CBAM goods.

In the CBAM's transitional phase, traders will only have to report on the emissions embedded in their imports subject to the mechanism without paying any financial adjustment. This will give adequate time for businesses to prepare in a predictable manner, while also allowing for the definitive methodology to be fine-tuned by 2026.

To help both importers and third country producers, the Commission also published today guidance for EU importers and non-EU installations on the practical implementation of the new rules. At the same time, dedicated IT tools to help importers perform and report these calculations are currently being developed, as well as training materials, webinars and tutorials to support businesses when the transitional mechanism begins. While importers will be asked to collect fourth quarter data as of 1 October 2023, their first report will only have to be submitted by 31 January 2024.