EC

The Portuguese Presidency of the Council and EP representatives reached a provisional agreement on new rules for the entry and residence of highly skilled workers from outside the EU under the revised Blue Card Directive. This EU-wide admission system aims to attract and retain highly qualified specialists, mainly in sectors facing skills shortages.

The European Commission will take further legal action against AstraZeneca over delayed shipments of its Covid-19 jabs earlier this year, a spokesperson for the EU's executive branch has said.

Yesterday, the spokesperson for EC told at news briefing that the case against AstraZeneca on the merits [of the proposed lawsuit] will be introduced before the Belgian court today.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev will meet today at EU Headquarters in Brussels with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President David Sassoli, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, EC Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans and with EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Oliver Varhei.

The Commission tabled on Wednesday a regulation on a digital green certificate, a "temporary" measure supposed to facilitate safe free movement inside the EU during the Covid-19 pandemic. It will verify that a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from the virus infection.

The European Commission has announced that it is launching a European biosecurity program to combat pandemics and other potential biological threats. This was stated by EC President Ursula von der Leyen.

She spoke online at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Investment promotion remains a priority for Romania, and particular importance will be attached to using European funds, Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare stated during a discussion held today with European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, the Finance Ministry said in a release.

Namely, as that portal writes, Switzerland and Serbia have already started that process before the EU.
Switzerland became the first country in continental Europe to start vaccination with the BioNTech / Pfizer company on Wednesday, and the first to receive the vaccine was a 90-year-old woman from Lucerne.

Greece and the European Union have agreed to a timeline for the construction of a new up-to-standard center for the reception and identification of migrants on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos, the European Commission announced on Thursday.

The European Commission has presented a report on the progress of non-Eurozone countries towards the adoption of the euro.   EC Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said there was encouraging progress in some countries.

The European Commission has recommended Romania to pursue fiscal policies in line with the Council's recommendation of 3 April 2020 that Romania should put an end to the present excessive deficit situation by 2022 at the latest, according to the recommendations in the European Semester Spring package released on Wednesday.