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Press material Friday 16 June 2023

● Council of the EU   16/06/2023 15:13 | Press release | Firefighting planes and helicopters: Council agrees position to guarantee financing   Today the Council adopted its position on a draft law that extends the deadline that will allow the Commission to provide financing of firefighting planes and helicopters to support member states in fighting forest fires. "Forest fires caused by drought and heat affect the whole EU. With today's decision, we want to secure EU funding for firefighting aeroplanes and helicopters." Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Swedish Minister for Civil Defence rescEU In 2019, rescEU was created as a reserve of European civil protection capacities which would step in to help member states protect citizens when disasters – such as wildfires – occur. These capacities will include a fleet of firefighting planes and helicopters. To ensure a smooth transition until the full availability of the rescEU firefighting fleet, the Commission can, for a transitional period until 31 December 2024, provide financing to member states to ensure rapid access to their national aerial firefighting capacities. Because the purchase of highly-specialised aircrafts cannot be completed before the end of 2024, the transition period to lease forest fire planes and helicopters has to be extended until end of 2027. Quick adoption The Council is concerned about the increasing wildfire risk and the development that wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense. This requires the swift prolongation of the transition period – to ensure that sufficient aerial firefighting capacities will continue to be rapidly available also beyond the 2024 wildfire season. Therefore the Council decided to align its position with that of the Commission’s and calls on the European Parliament to cooperate in view of a swift adoption.

Press material Friday 16 June 2023

● Council of the EU   16/06/2023 14:33 | Press release | Council sets its stance on waste from electrical and electronic equipment to align with Court ruling   Today, the Council agreed on its negotiating mandate on proposed amendments to EU law on the collection and management of waste from electrical and electronic equipment which includes a range of products such as computers, fridges and photovoltaic panels. The amendments aim to bring the waste electronic and electronic equipment (WEEE) directive in line with an EU Court of Justice judgment on the unjustified retroactive application of extended producer responsibility to waste from photovoltaic panels placed on the market between 13 August 2005 and 13 August 2012.

Press material Friday 16 June 2023

● Council of the EU   16/06/2023 15:15 | Press release | The EU and NATO have further deepened their strategic partnership by jointly responding to common threats and challenges   Today the Council took note of the eighth progress report on the implementation of the 74 common proposals endorsed by the EU and NATO Councils on 6 December 2016 and 5 December 2017. The report highlights and elaborates on the tangible progress achieved between June 2022 and May 2023, across all areas of cooperation. Whilst tackling the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades - Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine – the longstanding EU-NATO strategic partnership is more robust and relevant than ever. The report underlines in particular that: the EU and NATO have ensured unity, coherence and complementarity of efforts in responding to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and in particular in supporting Ukraine’s inherent right to self-defence, including through the establishment of a dedicated EU-NATO Staff Coordination on Ukraine cooperation on resilience has continued to expand through the EU-NATO Structured Dialogue on Resilience, including in the framework of the joint Task Force on the resilience of critical infrastructure the two organisations have stepped up their efforts and close interaction in the field of crisis management exercises coordination has been further strengthened on security and defence capacity building for partner countries, notably Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia, Jordan, and Mauritania Furthermore, the EU and NATO remain firmly committed to further strengthen, deepen and expand their mutually reinforcing and beneficial cooperation by exploring avenues for further collaboration across all existing work strands, as well as in new areas such as climate and defence, space, and emerging and disruptive technologies, in full respect of the agreed guiding principles (mutual openness and transparency, inclusiveness and reciprocity, and decision-making autonomy of both organisations). Background In 2022 the EU’s Strategic Compass and NATO’s Strategic Concept confirmed the importance of transatlantic unity, and provided new impetus to EU-NATO strategic partnership by calling for closer cooperation. This resolve was further reinforced by the third Joint Declaration on EU-NATO cooperation signed on 10 January 2023 by the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the Secretary General of NATO. 8th EU-NATO progress report

Press material Friday 16 June 2023

● Council of the EU   16/06/2023 14:19 | Press release | European Semester 2023: country-specific recommendations agreed   Today, the Council agreed its country-specific recommendations on the member states' national reform programmes of 2023 and its opinions on their updated stability or convergence programmes. This step is part of the 2023 European Semester process , which enables the coordination of member states’ economic, employment and fiscal policies. "I am very pleased that we agreed on country-specific recommendations today. This will further our overall objective to increase growth and strengthen our resilience. Given Russia’s war in Ukraine and the difficult economic situation, securing the resilience of our economies and pursuing responsible fiscal policies is fundamental." Elisabeth Svantesson, Minister for Finance of Sweden Next steps The European Council is expected to endorse the country-specific recommendations at its meeting on 29-30 June. After that, the Council can proceed with the formal adoptions, which conclude the final stage of the 2023 European Semester process. Background Introduced in 2011, the European Semester enables the EU member states to coordinate their economic, fiscal and employment policies throughout the year and address the economic challenges facing the EU. The Commission assesses EU member states’ national economic policies and budgetary strategies, based on national reform programmes and stability or convergence programmes prepared each year in April. On this basis, the Commission presents each country with a set of draft country-specific recommendations (CSRs) providing policy guidance on how to boost jobs and growth, while maintaining sound public finances. On this basis, the Council then adopts country-specific recommendations (CSRs) and opinions. It provides explanations in cases where it does not follow the Commission’s recommendations. The Council recommendations on the national reform programmes of 2023 and the Council opinions on the updated stability or convergence programmes can be found in the following documents: Belgium Bulgaria Czechia Denmark Germany Estonia Ireland Greece Spain France Croatia Italy Cyprus Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Hungary Hungary - Addendum 1 Hungary - Addendum 2 Malta The Netherlands Austria Poland Portugal Council recommendations on the National Reform Programmes 2023 to each member state, delivering Council opinions on the updated Stability or Convergence Programmes Council explanatory note accompanying document to Council recommendations to member states under the European Semester 2023 Commission recommendations European Semester in 2023 (timeline) European Semester (background information) Press material Friday 16 June 2023   ● Council of the EU   16/06/2023 13:56 | Press release | Recovery fund: Council gives green light to Estonia’s amended national plan   The Council today adopted an amending implementing decision as regards the recovery and resilience plan of Estonia. Estonia’s plan is now the first national plan which includes a REPowerEU chapter. This will contribute to accelerating Estonia’s transition towards clean energy, diversifying its energy supplies and improving its energy efficiency. Additional amendments were made to reflect the updated maximum financial contribution which the European Commission published on 30 June 2022 to take into account changes in real gross domestic product (GDP) over time. It now also reflects changes in some of the projects since Estonia’s plan was first approved in October 2021 and which are due to objective circumstances. According to the Commission, this modification put forward by Estonia does not affect the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and coherence of the Estonian recovery and resilience plan. During 2023, it is expected that gradually each of the 27 member states will request implementing decisions concerning amendments to their national recovery and resilience plans at least once, to access the new REPowerEU grants, to request available loans, or to take into account the updated RRF allocation. Background The Recovery and Resilience Facility is the EU’s programme of large-scale financial support in response to the challenges the pandemic has posed to the European economy. The facility’s €744 billion (in current prices) are used to support the reforms and investments set out in the member states’ recovery and resilience plans. Article 11(2) of the RRF regulation says that the maximum financial contribution for non-repayable financial support of each member state shall be updated by the Commission by 30 June 2022 on the basis of Eurostat outturn data on the change in real GDP growth over 2020 and the aggregate change in real GDP for the period 2020-2021. As a consequence, the maximum financial contribution for Estonia decreased from €969 million to €863 million. On 9 March 2023, Estonia submitted a modified national RRP including a REPowerEU chapter to the Commission amounting to €83.4 million in grants. The modified RRP also takes into account the updated maximum financial contribution and includes a reasoned request to the Commission to amend the Council Implementing Decision of October 2021 considering the RRP to be partially no longer achievable due to objective circumstances such as high inflation, increases in cost since 2021 and supply chain disruptions. Estonia also requested to transfer €6.6 million from the Brexit adjustment reserve, making the modified plan worth €953 million. Under the new plan, the measures supporting climate objectives account for an amount which represents 59,4% of the RRP’s total allocation whereas the measures supporting digital objectives account for 24,1%. Council implementing decision amending the recovery and resilience plan for Estonia RRF - note by the Commission services on update of the maximum financial contribution of 30 June 2022 Recovery fund: ministers welcome assessment of Estonia’s, Finland’s and Romania’s plans (press release, 28 October 2021) A recovery plan for Europe (background information)

Meetings Friday 16 June 2023

● Council of the EU   16/06/2023 15:16 | MEETING | Main results - Economic and Financial Affairs Council, 16 June 2023   Ministers discussed the ‘VAT in the digital age’ package, the retail investment package, and the proposed reform of the economic governance framework. The Council adopted an implementing decision approving an amended recovery and resilience plan of Estonia. Taking work forward on the European Semester, the Council approved its recommendations on the 2023 national reform programmes and delivered its opinions on the updated stability or convergence programmes. Meetings Friday 16 June 2023   ● Council of the EU   16/06/2023 12:41 | MEETING | Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (Energy), 19 June 2023   Background brief - Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (Energy) of 19/06/2023

Meetings Friday 16 June 2023

● Council of the EU   16/06/2023 12:39 | MEETING | Environment Council, 20 June 2023   Background brief - Environment Council of 20 June 2023 Meetings Thursday 15 June 2023   ● Council of the EU   15/06/2023 20:27 | MEETING | Main results - Supporting the future of Syria and the region - Brussels seventh Conference, 15 June 2023   The EU organised the seventh Brussels conference on "Supporting the future of Syria and the region" on 15 June 2023.