EUROGROUP,COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,update

 

Meetings Thursday, 12 February 2026

● Eurogroup   12/02/2026 18:55 | Meetings | Agenda highlights - Eurogroup, 16 February 2026   The Eurogroup will discuss the Council’s draft euro area recommendation for 2026. Ministers will also exchange views on the economic outlook and possible policy actions to strengthen the international role of the euro. The Eurogroup is also expected to reappoint Mr Tuomas Saarenheimo as President of the Eurogroup Working Group. Ministers will hold an exchange of views on global imbalances in the context of current geo-economic risks.   View meeting page

Press material Wednesday, 11 February 2026

● Council of the EU   11/02/2026 17:00 | Press release | EPPO: Council appoints new prosecutors for Belgium and Czechia   The Council today appointed two new prosecutors to the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO): Jennifer Vanderputten for Belgium and Pavel Zeman for Czechia.  Role and mandate European prosecutors supervise investigations and prosecutions. Together with the European Chief Prosecutor, they form the EPPO College. The Council appoints a European prosecutor for each participating member state. The two new prosecutors are appointed for a non-renewable term of six years, from July 2026. The appointments take place in the context of the scheduled expiry of the mandates of the current European Prosecutors for Belgium and Czechia. These appointments form part of a partial renewal of the EPPO College, which amount to the replacement of seven European Prosecutors, whose mandates expire. Selection process Each member state nominates three candidates for the position of European prosecutor. Following the nomination phase, a selection panel draws up reasoned opinions and ranks the nominated candidates for each member state who fulfilled the conditions. The Council then selects and appoints one of the candidates to be the European prosecutor for their member state. Background The EPPO is an independent body of the EU responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing crimes against the financial interests of the Union (e.g. fraud, corruption, cross-border VAT fraud above €10 million) to judgment. By the end of 2024, EPPO had 2 666 active investigations, for a total estimated damage of over €24.8 billion. The EPPO carries out acts of prosecution and exercises the functions of prosecutor in the competent courts of the member states. Laura Kövesi has been the European chief prosecutor since 2019. Currently 24 member states participate in the EPPO: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden. The EPPO started operations at the end of 2020. The office is based in Luxembourg. European Public Prosecutor's Office (background information)   Visit the website

● European Council

12/02/2026 10:42 | Statements and remarks | Remarks by President António Costa at the doorstep ahead of the informal EU leaders' retreat of 12 February 2026   Welcome to Alden Biesen for this Leaders' retreat with the participation of Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta. Today, our retreat is on competitiveness. We have a clear priority – to strengthen economic growth in Europe. This is essential for our prosperity, to create quality jobs, and to sustain our economic social model.  Four main priorities.  First of all, we need to deepen and complete our single market. We need to remove internal barriers and also bureaucratic barriers.  Second priority, we need to scale up our companies. For this, we need to have one vibrant capital markets to support our SMEs and our startups, to scale up, to invest in innovation and to modernise our economy. We need also to scale up our big companies, because we need to have strong companies to compete in the global market.  Third priority, in this geoeconomic context, we need to continue our very proactive trade policy and protect our companies from unfair competition, from economic coercion, and to allow them to continue to work and to tackle the issue of the energy costs.  And finally, we need to invest more and better. Of course, public and private investment. About public investment, we will have the opportunity to discuss this later this year, around the next multi-annual budget for the European Union. Today, our priority is to unlock private investment, mobilise our savings to invest in our companies and to create a more dynamic, and vibrant ecosystem for investment.   Visit the website

● Συμβούλιο της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης   11/02/2026 16:53 | Δελτίο τύπου | Δασμοί στα μικρά δέματα: Τελικό πράσινο φως του Συμβουλίου για νέους κανόνες   Το Συμβούλιο ενέκρινε σήμερα και τυπικά νέους κανόνες για την επιβολή τελωνειακών δασμών στα είδη που εισέρχονται στην ΕΕ σε μικρά δέματα, κυρίως μέσω του ηλεκτρονικού εμπορίου. Με τους νέους κανόνες αντιμετωπίζεται το σημερινό φαινόμενο της αδασμολόγητης εισόδου των δεμάτων αυτών στην ΕΕ, το οποίο οδηγεί σε αθέμιτο ανταγωνισμό έναντι των πωλητών της ΕΕ. “Με τη ραγδαία αύξηση του παγκόσμιου ηλεκτρονικού εμπορίου, οι τελωνειακοί κανόνες της ΕΕ οφείλουν να συμβαδίζουν με την εποχή που διανύουμε. Η κατάργηση της παρωχημένης πλέον απαλλαγής από δασμούς για τα μικρά δέματα θα συμβάλει στη στήριξη των επιχειρήσεων της ΕΕ και στην εξάλειψη των μεθόδων που μετέρχονται ασύδοτοι πωλητές. Τώρα, πρέπει να προχωρήσουμε αποφασιστικά στη συνολική τελωνειακή μεταρρύθμιση, η οποία αποτελεί βασικό κομμάτι του παζλ για να γίνει η ΕΕ πιο ανταγωνιστική και πιο ασφαλής. ” — Μάκης Κεραυνός, Υπουργός Οικονομικών της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας Η σημερινή συμφωνία καταργεί την απαλλαγή από δασμούς βάσει ορίου για δέματα αξίας κάτω των 150 ευρώ που εισέρχονται στην ΕΕ. Αυτό σημαίνει ότι θα αρχίσουν να επιβάλλονται δασμοί σε όλα τα εμπορεύματα που εισέρχονται στην ΕΕ, μόλις τεθεί σε λειτουργία ο τελωνειακός κόμβος δεδομένων της ΕΕ —ο οποίος είναι υπό συζήτηση στο πλαίσιο ευρύτερης θεμελιώδους μεταρρύθμισης του τελωνειακού πλαισίου. Προς το παρόν, αυτό αναμένεται να συμβεί το 2028. Μέχρι τότε, τα κράτη μέλη της ΕΕ συμφώνησαν να θεσπίσουν προσωρινό πάγιο δασμό ύψους 3 ευρώ για είδη αξίας κάτω των 150 ευρώ που περιέχονται σε μικρά δέματα και αποστέλλονται απευθείας σε καταναλωτές στην ΕΕ. Από την 1η Ιουλίου 2026, ο δασμός θα επιβάλλεται σε κάθε διαφορετική κατηγορία ειδών, η οποία θα προσδιορίζεται σύμφωνα με τις δασμολογικές διακρίσεις των ειδών που περιέχονται σε ένα δέμα. Παράδειγμα: Ένα δέμα περιέχει 1 μεταξωτή μπλούζα και 2 μάλλινες. Καθώς τα προϊόντα υπάγονται σε διαφορετικές δασμολογικές διακρίσεις, το δέμα περιέχει δύο διακριτά είδη και θα πρέπει να καταβληθεί τελωνειακός δασμός ύψους 6 ευρώ. Το νέο σύστημα θα έχει θετικό αντίκτυπο τόσο στον προϋπολογισμό της ΕΕ όσο και στα εθνικά δημόσια οικονομικά, δεδομένου ότι οι τελωνειακοί δασμοί αποτελούν παραδοσιακό ίδιο πόρο της Ένωσης και τα κράτη μέλη παρακρατούν μέρος των ποσών αυτών ως έξοδα είσπραξης. Το μέτρο είναι διακριτό από το προτεινόμενο «τέλος διεκπεραίωσης», το οποίο συζητείται επί του παρόντος στο πλαίσιο της δέσμης για την τελωνειακή μεταρρύθμιση. Επόμενα βήματα Ο προσωρινός πάγιος δασμός ύψους 3 ευρώ θα επιβάλλεται σε κάθε κατηγορία ειδών που περιέχονται σε μικρά δέματα τα οποία εισέρχονται στην ΕΕ από την 1η Ιουλίου 2026 έως την 1η Ιουλίου 2028 και μπορεί να παραταθεί, εάν κριθεί σκόπιμο. Μόλις τεθεί σε λειτουργία ο νέος τελωνειακός κόμβος δεδομένων της ΕΕ, αυτός ο προσωρινός δασμός θα αντικατασταθεί από τους κανονικούς τελωνειακούς δασμούς. Γενικές πληροφορίες Σύμφωνα με την Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή, από το 2022 και μετά, ο όγκος των μικρών δεμάτων που εισέρχονται στην ΕΕ διπλασιάζεται κάθε χρόνο. Το 2024 εισήλθαν στην αγορά της ΕΕ 4,6 δισεκατομμύρια δέματα τέτοιου είδους. Το 91% από αυτά φθάνει από την Κίνα. Σε ευρύτερο πλαίσιο, η ΕΕ επεξεργάζεται επί του παρόντος τη μεταρρύθμιση του τελωνειακού της συστήματος, ώστε να είναι σε θέση να αντιμετωπίσει τη σημαντική πίεση που προκύπτει από την αύξηση των εμπορικών ροών, τον κατακερματισμό των εθνικών συστημάτων, την ταχεία αύξηση του ηλεκτρονικού εμπορίου και τη μεταβαλλόμενη γεωπολιτική πραγματικότητα. Επί του παρόντος, πραγματοποιούνται διαπραγματεύσεις μεταξύ του Συμβουλίου και του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου σχετικά με τη μεταρρύθμιση —που περιλαμβάνει τη δημιουργία του τελωνειακού κόμβου δεδομένων, υπό την εποπτεία νέας τελωνειακής αρχής της ΕΕ. Τελωνεία: Συμφωνία του Συμβουλίου για την επιβολή δασμού στα μικρά δέματα από την 1η Ιουλίου 2026 (δελτίο Τύπου, 12 Δεκεμβρίου 2025) Τελωνεία της ΕΕ: Το Συμβούλιο καθορίζει τη θέση του σχετικά με τα βασικά χαρακτηριστικά ενός πιο σύγχρονου, αποτελεσματικού και ασφαλούς πλαισίου (δελτίο Τύπου, 27 Ιουνίου 2025) Η τελωνειακή ένωση της ΕΕ εκσυγχρονίζεται (γενικές πληροφορίες) Η τελωνειακή ένωση της ΕΕ (γενικές πληροφορίες)   Επισκεφτείτε τον ιστοχώρο

● Council of the EU

11/02/2026 16:48 | Press release | EU Special Representatives: Council extends the mandates of the EUSRs for Human Rights and the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue   The Council has today adopted decisions extending the mandates of two EU Special Representatives (EUSRs): Mr Peter Sørensen had his mandate as EUSR for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue extended for two years, until 29 February 2028. Mr Sørensen was first appointed in January 2025. Ms Kajsa Ollongren had her mandate as EUSR for Human Rights extended for two years, until 29 February 2028. Ms Ollongren was first appointed in June 2025. The EU Special Representatives are proposed by the High Representative and appointed by the Council to promote the EU's policies and interests in specific regions and countries, as well as issues of particular concern or interest for the EU. They play an active role in efforts to consolidate reforms, stability and the rule of law. Currently, eleven EUSRs support the work of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas. EU Special Representatives (EEAS website)   Visit the website

● Council of the EU

11/02/2026 16:44 | Press release | SAFE: Council clears path for financial assistance to eight member states and concluding the Canada agreement   The Council today adopted a set of implementing decisions making financial assistance under SAFE available to eight EU member states: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Spain, Croatia, Portugal, and Romania. A second batch of Council implementing decisions concerning financial assistance for Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Finland has been cleared by EU ambassadors and is expected to be formally adopted by the Council on 17 February. “Today’s decisions show that the EU is not only talking about defence – we are delivering. Through SAFE, we are strengthening our security where it matters the most.” — Vasilis Palmas, Minister of Defence of Cyprus Today’s decision follows the European Commission’s positive assessment of the member states' National Defence Investment Plans. It paves the way for the first wave of affordable, long-term loans to be released by the Commission, which enables the participating countries to acquire modern defence equipment and boost their defence readiness. SAFE is an EU financial instrument supporting member states that wish to invest in defence industrial production through common procurement, focusing on priority capabilities. Financial assistance under the first wave of SAFE Country Maximum loan amount Pre-financing payment BE € 8,340,027,698.00 € 1,251,004,154.70 BG € 3,261,700,000.00 € 489,255,000.00 CY € 1,181,503,924.00 € 177,225,588.60 DK € 46,796,822.00 € 7,019,523.30 ES € 1,000,000,000.00 - HR € 1,700,000,000.00 € 255,000,000.00 PT € 5,841,179,332.00 € 876,176,899.80 RO € 16,680,055,394.00 € 2,502,008,309.10   Financial assistance under the second wave of SAFE (to be adopted on 17 February) Country Maximum loan amount Pre-financing payment EE € 2,343,897,000.00 € 351,584,550.00 EL € 787,669,283.00 € 118,150,392.45 FI € 1,000,000,000.00 - IT € 14,900,000,000.00 - PL € 43,734,100,805.00 € 6,560,115,120.75 LT € 6,375,487,000.00 € 956,323,050.00 LV € 3,497,870,000.00 € 524,680,500.00 SK € 2,316,674,361.00 € 347,501,154.15   Agreement with Canada In addition, the Council today adopted a decision authorising the EU to sign the bilateral agreement between the EU and Canada on the participation of Canadian companies and products originating from Canada in procurement under the SAFE Instrument. Canada will be the first non-European country to participate in the SAFE instrument. After negotiations between the parties, the agreement had been preliminarily endorsed by the member states’ representatives in Coreper on 19 December 2025. Following the signature, the agreement can be provisionally applied. The agreement will only be formally concluded once the European Parliament has given its consent. The text of the agreement will be soon available in the Official Journal of the EU. Next steps Following the adoption of the implementing decisions, the Commission will conclude loan agreements with the member states concerned and proceed with the disbursement of the pre-financing payments. Background The SAFE regulation was adopted on 27 May 2025, as part of ‘Readiness 2030’, an ambitious defence package designed to provide EU member states with financial levers to drive a surge in defence investments. SAFE is an EU financial instrument supporting member states that wish to invest in defence industrial production through common procurement, focusing on priority capabilities. It will finance urgent and large-scale investments in the European defence technological and industrial base (EDTIB), with the aim of boosting production capacity, ensuring the timely availability of defence equipment, and addressing existing capability gaps. Ukraine and EFTA/EEA countries will be able to participate in common procurement under SAFE, and it will be possible to buy from their industries. The same applies to Canda, which has concluded an agreement under Article17 of the SAFE regulation. Acceding countries, candidate countries, potential candidates and countries which have signed Security and Defence Partnerships with the EU may also take part in common procurement and contribute to aggregated demand. Following the adoption of SAFE, the Commission launched a call for expression of interest to receive financial assistance under the instrument, inviting member states to indicate minimum and maximum loan amounts. By 29 August 2025, 19 member states had expressed interest. The Commission approved the first wave of defence funding for eight member states on 15 January, and a second wave on 26 January. Council regulation establishing the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) through the Reinforcement of the European Defence Industry Instrument SAFE: member states endorse agreement on the participation of Canada (press release, 19 December 2025) Common defence procurement (background information) Security and defence (background information) European defence readiness (background information) Defence in numbers (background information)   Visit the website ● Eurogroup   11/02/2026 14:53 | Media advisory | Press briefing - Eurogroup meeting of 16 February 2026   The press briefing ahead of the Eurogroup meeting will take place on Friday, 13 February at 10.30. The briefing will be "off the record" and will be given by Tuomas Saarenheimo, President of the Eurogroup Working Group. The press briefing will take place in a hybrid format: EU accredited journalists will be able to participate and ask questions either remotely or in person at the Justus Lipsius building main press room. If you haven't registered for one of the previous Eurogroup press events, please use the link below to do so and have the possibility to ask questions remotely. Deadline for registration: Friday, 13 February at 09.30 Further instructions will be sent to all registered participants shortly after the deadline. Registration page Media accreditation for journalists   Visit the website