Safeguarding an EU's economic recovery from the pandemic that is green, digital and resilient through more accessible financing for small businesses and bigger companies in Europe is at the core of the Action Plan to boost the EU's Capital Markets Union (CMU), released by the Commission on Thursday.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Thursday published its updated risk assessment regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside a set of guidelines for non-pharmaceutical interventions (such as hand hygiene, physical distancing, cleaning and ventilation), EC Press service reported.

Pre-entry screening of all arrivals, fair and faster procedures, successful integration of refugees and return of those with no right to stay, foresees the new Pact on Migration and Asylum, adopted by the College of Commissioners on Wednesday, in an attempt to move from the clumsy “Dublin” rules.

The Commission on Tuesday made an ambitious move that can shrink up to 10% of air transport emissions, putting forward a proposal to reform the Single European Sky initiative. It concretely deals with modernising the management of European airspace and shortcutting flightpaths. 

The Commission adopted on Monday revised EU Emission Trading System State aid Guidelines in the context of the system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading post-2021. The revamped rules will enter into force on 1 January 2021 with the start of the new ETS trading period, and replace those of 2012. 

The Commission has made available an additional €23.8 million to Greece, under the Internal Security Fund, to support border management. This top up will support the deployment of border guards to improve border surveillance, address the need to enhance the reception and identification service in the Aegean islands, and support the deployment of additional staff.

On Friday, a second contract with a pharmaceutical company entered into force following the formal signature between Sanofi-GSK and the Commission. It will allow all EU Member States to purchase up to 300 million doses of the Sanofi-GSK vaccine.

The Commission has proposed a new Regulation for the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking to maintain and advance Europe's leading role in supercomputing and quantum computing. It is the next pace in the Digital Decade agenda to strengthen Europe's digital sovereignty, as announced by EC President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union address.

The EC made a strong move in stepping up the work to fight racism in the EU. In her State of the Union Address 2020, EC President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new EU anti-racism Action Plan that sets out a series of measures for the next five years.

The Commission has set out strategic guidance for the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility in its 2021 Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy (ASGS). The Facility is the key recovery instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU which will help the EU emerge stronger and more resilient from the current crisis.