In view of the changing business environment, the Commission adopted on Tuesday a Communication on Business Taxation for the 21st century to promote a robust, efficient and fair business tax system in the EU. It is part of a wider EU tax reform agenda for the coming years.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved more flexible storage conditions for the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, which is expected to help with the roll-out of vaccination in Ireland and other EU countries.

The EU’s blue economy is vital for the Green Deal and for the post-pandemic economic recovery, so the Commission suggested in a Communication on Monday a new approach for making it sustainable for all industries and sectors related to oceans, seas and coasts and that could create new green jobs and businesses.

Croatia and Lithuania submitted to the Commission their official recovery and resilience plans, which  set out the reforms and public investment projects that each of them plans to implement with the support of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) grants and loans.

With modification of three operational programmes under REACT-EU, the Commission has approved to provide extra €75.9m to Bulgaria and €57.5m to Sweden to help tackle the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tax advantages given only to selected multinational companies harm fair competition in the EU, commented Margrethe Vestager, EU Executive Vice-President for a Europe fit for the Digital Age, following the EU General Court judgments of Wednesday on the Amazon and Engie tax state aid cases in Luxembourg.

The Commission calls on EU Member States to take coordinated action to further restrict travel from India on a temporary basis, with a view to limiting the spread of the B.1.617.2 variant first detected in India.

The Commission received on Wednesday an official recovery and resilience plan from Hungary. It sets out the reforms and investment projects that country intends to implement with the support of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

Reducing pollution to levels that are no longer harmful to health and nature is the main target of the EU Action Plan “Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil”, adopted by the Commission on Wednesday. It is a key component of the EU Green Deal and sets out an integrated vision for 2050.

Today, for the first time since the pandemic hit, we see optimism prevailing over uncertainty, Paolo Gentiloni, EU Commissioner for Economy while presenting to the press on Wednesday the Spring 2021 Economic Forecast.