The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) will launch the 2025/2026 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction on 19 May 2026 at 09:00 EAT/08:00 CEST/06:00 GMT. The 10th edition of this flagship report evaluates whether the global buildings sector is on track to meet a 2050 net-zero pathway. It examines progress in energy eff...
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Good morning, everybody. So, today we have the FAC Development, and we are discussing first the future of external action, especially since development aid is really on decline, but we see that Europe is still the largest donor in the world of humanitarian aid and development aid. But if we want to be a geopolitical actor, we have to be more strategic about this. Which means that we have to mat...
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216 000 people took part in Brussels Pride on Saturday 16 May, with the streets of the capital awash with the colours of the rainbow. This year’s event marked the 30th anniversary of this celebration of diversity in Brussels. Three decades of advocacy and raising the profile of the LGBTQIA+ community. This year, RainbowHouse Brussels chose the theme ‘When Times Get Darker, We Shine Brighter’, a po...
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The Cyprus Presidency has decided to activate the Council’s IPCR (Integrated Political Crisis Response) arrangements in information sharing mode to actively monitor the ongoing hantavirus outbreak. The activation of the IPCR arrangements will facilitate exchange of information among member states and EU institutions. It will serve as a platform bringing together all relevant information and all...
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The EU warmly welcomes today’s announcement by Türkiye on initiation of bilateral trade with Armenia. This is a remarkable development in their normalisation process, also illustrated by the recent meeting of the bilateral working group to advance the restoration of rail connections between the two countries on 28 April 2026, which we welcomed. This significant step has the potential to boos...
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BRF: Brussels dives back into its history for eight weeks The Brussels Renaissance Festival (BRF) kicks off on Sunday 17 May. For eight weeks, our capital will be celebrating European heritage and Brussels’ history during the Renaissance. A whole host of events and activities are planned, including Bart Van taking the plunge for a historic stroll through Brussels. Read the press release
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Good afternoon. Good to see you again. We just concluded a meeting of the Defence Ministers, which began this morning with the European Defence Agency’s (EDA) Steering Bboard. Following from the tasking that we got from the European leaders, Ministers today agreed to strengthen the EDA with the dedicated structures for innovation and experimentation. Work will continue to strengthen the Agency ...
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The second edition of the Shireen Abu Akleh Prize has been awarded to Palestinian journalist Zareefa Abou Qoura in a ceremony held in Brussels, Belgium, on 11 May. Launched by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the International Francophone Press Union (UPF), the prize recognises the courage and professional commitment of Quora, who continues to report and docume...
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The Cyprus presidency of the EU Council has reached a provisional agreement with the European Parliament on a new regulation that seeks to strengthen the EU’s resilience in addressing ongoing challenges to security of supply of critical medicines in Europe. The critical medicines act (CMA) aims to tackle shortages of key medicines such as antibiotics, insulin and painkillers by improving securi...
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Good afternoon, We had a productive meeting, and we have two more productive meetings coming up. First, Western Balkans. The Western Balkans is a strategic priority for the EU and this morning we met with our counterparts from the Western Balkans to discuss different issues. Ministers gave their political endorsement to deepen cooperation with our Western Balkans partners on foreign, securit...
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