European Commission - Daily News Daily News 23 / 06 / 2026 Brussels, 23 June 2026 Commission disburses €2.25 billion to Romania under NextGenerationEU Today, the European Commission disbursed €2.25 billion in grants to Romania, marking the fourth payment under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The RRF, the centerpiece of NextGenerationEU , is the Commission's post-pandemic programme to support Member States...
European Commission - Daily News Daily News 23 / 06 / 2026 Brussels, 23 June 2026 Commission disburses €2.25 billion to Romania under NextGenerationEU Today, the European Commission disbursed €2.25 billion in grants to Romania, marking the fourth payment under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The RRF, the centerpiece of NextGenerationEU , is the Commission's post-pandemic programme to support Member States' recovery, economic growth, and competitiveness. Measures linked to this payment request improve sustainable forest management, contribute to decarbonisation of the transport and energy sectors and refine tax administration. They also enhance the sustainability, adequacy and fairness of Romania's public pension system, upgrade healthcare infrastructure and roll-out of medical equipment for infection prevention and control in public hospitals and improve social infrastructure for persons with disabilities. Lastly, they aim to strengthen government decision-making, advance digitalisation, improve the efficiency of the justice system, reinforce the fight against corruption and support the overarching reform of the education system. Today's disbursement follows Romania's fourth payment request, submitted on 19 December 2025. This request includes 38 milestones and 24 targets, corresponding to important steps in the delivery of reforms and investments that will drive positive change for citizens and businesses in Romania. The Commission greenlighted Romania' fourth payment request of €2.62 billion on 14 May 2026. Today's disbursement of €2.25 billion (net of pre-financing) follows the favourable opinion of the Economic and Financial Committee of the Council. Romania's recovery and resilience plan (RRP) is financed by €21.41 billion, of which €13.57 billion in grants and €7.84 billion in loans. With this fourth payment, the funds disbursed to Romania reach 60.6% of its total allocation. As with all Member States, payments under the RRF are performance-based, contingent upon the successful implementation of national plans. With a view to the closure of the Facility at the end of 2026, Member States must implement all outstanding milestones and targets by 31 August 2026 and submit their last payment requests by the end of September 2026. An interactive map showcasing examples of reforms and investments supported by the RRF is available online. Further details on the RRF payment claim process can be found online. (For more information: Maciej Berestecki - Tel: +32 229-66483; Isabel Arriaga e Cunha – Tel: +32 229-52117) EU launches Connectivity Agenda Platform to strengthen links between Europe and Central Asia through the Black Sea region and the South Caucasus Today, the European Commission launched the Connectivity Agenda Platform and concluded agreements with international financial institutions expected to mobilise up to €2 billion for strategic connectivity investments in the Black Sea region and the South Caucasus. The Platform was unveiled at a high-level ministerial meeting hosted by Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos , Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela , and Commissioner for Sustainable Transport Apostolos Tzitzikostas . The meeting brought together ministers of transport and senior representatives from EU Member States, Armenia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, alongside representatives of the G7 and international financial institutions, to advance the Cross- regional Connectivity Agenda under the Global Gateway strategy . More information is available in our press release . (For more information: Guillaume Mercier - Tel.: +32 2 298 05 64; Yuliya Matsyk - Tel.: +32 2 296 27 16) European Research Council awards €838 million to 319 top scientists to deliver groundbreaking discoveries The European Research Council (ERC) has unveiled the winners of its 2025 Advanced Grants , awarding €838 million to 319 leading researchers across Europe. These prestigious grants empower senior scientists to pursue high-risk, high-reward research with the potential to deliver groundbreaking discoveries. Funded under the EU's multi-billion research programme Horizon Europe , the grants support ambitious and curiosity-driven projects spanning diverse fields, from medicine and neuroscience to mathematics and quantum physics. The new grantees' work will cover a wide range of subjects, such as vulnerability to drug addiction, women's fertility and health, and stuttering. Other fields of research include the development of new mathematical and algorithmic tools to tackle the growing complexity of large-scale networks, from transport systems to the internet, as well as magnets and quantum materials. A press release is available online. (For more information: Maciej Berestecki - Tel: +32 229-66483; Isabel Arriaga e Cunha – Tel: +32 229-52117) New Commission guidance will make it easier to transfer ownership of SMEs The European Commission published a new Recommendation on business transfers . Facilitating the transfer of ownership of small and medium enterprises (SME) responds to a pressing demographic challenge: a growing number of small business owners across the EU are approaching retirement without a designated successor. This has the potential to impact millions of companies over the next decade. Where a transfer fails, jobs, know-how and economic value may be lost. Furthermore, in the absence of European buyers, strategic European businesses may increasingly be acquired by foreign competitors and investors. The Recommendation builds on the 1994 Recommendation on business transfers . While maintaining many of its core principles, the updated Recommendation places greater emphasis on awareness- raising, legal and tax measures, digital matchmaking platforms for buyers and sellers, and coordinated EU-level cooperation to preserve business continuity and jobs within the EU. For example, it encourages Member States to reduce administrative, legal and tax barriers to cross-border business transfers, helping businesses make full use of the opportunities offered by the Single Market. It also recommends developing dedicated financing and training programmes to broaden the pool of potential successors and entrepreneurs, including women and other under-represented groups in entrepreneurship. This new guidance is already in today's agenda of the meeting of the SME Envoys Network with EU Member States and SME associations. (For more information: Siobhan McGarry - Tel.: +32 2 296 47 98; Rüya Perincek - Tel.: +32 2 299 49 03) Commission funds first Regional Cable Hubs and launches €40 million call for cable repair capacity The European Commission will grant €5.8 million to establish the first two Regional Cable Hubs, in the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. It is also launching today a €40 million call to increase European capacity to repair submarine communication cables. These two actions contribute to the delivery of the EU Action Plan on Cable Security , supporting the security and resilience of Europe's critical submarine data and energy cables, and enhancing our collective capacity to monitor, detect and respond to threats targeting critical undersea infrastructure. Receiving €2.5 million, a Baltic Sea Regional Hub will reinforce regional surveillance and response mechanisms. The project will strengthen national and cross-border security operations centres, enhance information-sharing platforms, and improve the capacity to detect and prevent threats to critical marine infrastructure in this particularly sensitive area. Finland will coordinate the hub alongside Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Latvia and Sweden. In the Mediterranean region, a Hub backed by €3.3 million in funding will combine shared procedures and decision-making structures with a federated technological platform, enabling near real-time information exchange, anomaly detection, and coordinated incident response across borders. Italy will coordinate the hub alongside Greece, Cyprus and Malta. Funded by the Connecting Europe Facility - CEF Digital , the objective of the new €40 million call launched today is to ensure a swift and effective response to major submarine cable disruptions in emergency situations. Focused on the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and other sea basins, it funds adaptable modules, which will be strategically positioned to serve these sea basins. The modules can be rapidly installed and deployed by existing repair vessels, at the request of the new Regional Surveillance Hubs or other competent authorities. You can find more information in the press release . (For more information: Thomas Regnier — Tel.: + 32 2 299 10 99; Nika Blazevic — Tel.: + 32 2 299 27 17) Commission welcomes political agreement on criminal law rules to fight child sexual abuse The Commission welcomes yesterday's political agreement with the European Parliament and Council on the Directive updating the criminal law rules on child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. Worrisome trends like the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated abuse material make today's agreement even more timely. This Directive addresses new challenges, improves investigation and prosecution, strengthens prevention and assistance to victims and promotes better coordination in the fight against child sexual abuse. The key points of the new common rules are: updated definitions, new offences reflecting modern realities, reinforced rules on prevention and stronger support for victims. The digital threat of child sexual abuse has evolved significantly over the past years. The current EU rules in this area were agreed in 2011, and had to be adapted to address the revolution in the digital world that took place since. Reports of child sexual abuse online increased from one million in 2010 to more than 23 million in 2025. These reports contained 61.8 million files, including 29.4 million images and 26.3 million videos. Data also show an exponential increase of online solicitation of children (grooming), with the number of reports increasing by more than 30 times in the last 5 years. This Directive represents a significant achievement. However, it will only be effective if we are able to identify offenders. Today, up to 80% of criminal investigations into child sexual abuse are launched because of reports of images and videos of such abuse from online service providers. It is therefore essential that the co-legislators urgently reach an agreement on rules for such reports that effectively prevent and combat child sexual abuse online. More information is available in the press release online. (For more information: Markus Lammert – Tel.: +32 2 296 75 33; Elettra Di Massa – Tel.: +32 2 298 21 61) Commission approves €76 million German State aid for first-of-a-kind semiconductor testing equipment facility The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €76 million German measure to support QuantumDiamonds GmbH to set up a new facility for the production of semiconductor testing equipment in Munich. The measure will contribute to strengthening the EU's position and autonomy in the semiconductor value chain, in line with the objectives set out in the European Chips Act and the Commission's 2024-2029 Political Guidelines . It will be the first production site for novel semiconductor metrology and inspection systems based on quantum sensing in the EU. The aid will take the form of a direct grant of €76 million. The Commission found that the measure facilitates the development of economic activity , with the facility being first-of-a-kind in Europe. The Commission also concluded the aid is necessary and appropriate , has an ‘ incentive effect ' and limited impact on competition and trade within the EU. Finally, the measure has wider positive effects for the European semiconductor ecosystem and contribute to strengthening Europe's security of supply. The beneficiary will collaborate with start-ups, SMEs and research institutions. QuantumDiamonds is also applying for its facility to be recognised as a so-called Integrated Production Facility under the EU Chips Act Regulation and therefore commit to comply with all obligations linked to this status. A press release is available online. (For more information: Ricardo Cardoso – Tel.: +32 2 298 01 00; Paula Clara Ritter-Moschütz – Tel.: +32 2 296 40 83) Commission clears acquisition of i3 Broadband by T-Mobile USA and KIA The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control of WH i3B BidCo, LLC (‘i3 Broadband') by T-Mobile USA, Inc., both of the US, and Kuwait Investment Authority (‘KIA') of Kuwait. The transaction relates primarily to broadband telecommunication services. The Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given the limited impact on the European Economic Area. The notified transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission's competition website , in the public case register under the case number M.12477 . (For more information: Ricardo Cardoso – Tel.: +32 2 298 01 00; Paula Clara Ritter-Moschütz – Tel.: +32 2 296 40 83) Commission clears creation of joint venture by Airtelis and Segula The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the creation of a joint venture by Airtelis SAS and Segula Global Services SAS (‘Segula'), both of France. The transaction relates primarily to helicopter maintenance services. The Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given that the joint venture has negligible activities in the European Economic Area and the companies' limited market positions resulting from the proposed transaction. The notified transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission's competition website , in the public case register under the case number M.12420 . (For more information: Ricardo Cardoso – Tel.: +32 2 298 01 00; Paula Clara Ritter-Moschütz – Tel.: +32 2 296 40 83) ANNOUNCEMENTS Commissioner Micallef launches 2026 #BeActive campaign and hosts an Implementation Dialogue on the European Week of Sport Today, as the international Olympic Day is being celebrated, the European Commission launches its 2026 #BeActive campaign. The aim is to motivate people of all ages and backgrounds to pursue a more active lifestyle, underlining the physical, mental and social value of sport and physical activity. Under the theme ‘ #BeActive your way ', this year's campaign stresses that every movement matters for health. In that context, Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport Glenn Micallef will participate later today in the #BeActive EU Sport Awards ceremony in Brussels, in the presence of Athena Michaelidou, Minister of Education, Sport and Youth of the Republic of Cyprus. These Awards recognise outstanding initiatives, organisations and individuals that promote sport and physical activity and help strengthen European communities and values. Winners will be recognised in five categories: Physical Activity , Inclusion , Volunteering , Across Generations and Peace . The event will be web-streamed . Today, Commissioner Micallef will also host an Implementation Dialogue on the European Week of Sport , bringing together sport organisations, public authorities and other stakeholders to discuss how to further strengthen this flagship sport initiative. This year, the European Week of Sport will take place from 23 to 30 September, bringing together millions of participants in around 40 countries through activities that promote healthy, active lifestyles. Since its launch in 2015, the European Week of Sport has reached more than 137 million participants through over 416,000 events across Europe and beyond. Applications for the next edition of the #BeActive EU Sport Awards will open in the coming days. More information will be available on the EU Sport website . (For more information: Eva Hrncirova - Tel.: +32 2 298 8433; Eirini Zarkadoula - Tel.: +32 2 295 70 65) Tentative agendas for forthcoming Commission meetings Note that these items can be subject to changes. Upcoming events of the European Commission Eurostat press releases Calendar items of the President and Commissioners Individual calendars of the President and Commissioners MEX/26/1431
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