EU-ASEAN commemorative summit, 14 December 2022

The first-ever summit between the leaders of EU and ASEAN member states marks 45 years of diplomatic relations. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the 2022 ASEAN Chair, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, co-chaired the EU-ASEAN commemorative summit. The EU and the ASEAN became strategic partners in 2020. At the summit, EU and ASEAN leaders reaffirmed their partnership based on shared values and principles such as the rules-based international order, the respect of territorial integrity and effective and sustainable multilateralism. Leaders discussed past achievements and future endeavours in a wide range of areas of the strategic partnership, including:

• peace and security

• connectivity and digital transition

• clean and just energy transition

• economic cooperation and trade

• sustainable development, climate change and energy

• the COVID-19 pandemic

• regional and international issues

EU recovery plan: Provisional agreement reached on REPowerEU

The EU is accelerating the end of its dependence on Russian fossil fuel imports. Negotiators of the Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on the REPowerEU proposal which aims to strengthen the strategic autonomy of the Union by diversifying energy supplies and boosting the independence and security of the Union’s energy supply. The agreed text is subject to approval by the Council and the European Parliament before undergoing the formal adoption procedure. In practical terms, member states will be able to add a new REPowerEU chapter to their national recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) under NextGenerationEU, in order to finance key investments and reforms which will help achieve the REPowerEU objectives.

Council approves fishing opportunities for 2023 in EU and non-EU waters

Following two days of negotiations, ministers agreed on fishing opportunities in the Atlantic, the North Sea, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea for 2023, as well as for certain deep-sea stocks for 2023 and 2024. Overall, the agreement includes catch limits, also known as ‘total allowable catches’ (TACs), for over 200 commercial fish stocks. More than 100 of these stocks in the Atlantic and North Sea are co-managed with the United Kingdom. As discussions on bilateral EU-UK and EU-NO consultations on shared fish stocks are still on-going, ministers agreed on provisional catch limits for the first three months of 2023, pending final agreement. These provisional catch limits include a temporary roll-over of the existing fishing opportunities for the first three months with a 25% ratio to the TAC levels of this year, to cover the first quarter of 2023.

European Green Deal: Agreement reached on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

The Commission welcomes the political agreement reached this morning between the European Parliament and the Council on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The CBAM is the EU's landmark tool to put a fair price on the carbon emitted during the production of carbon intensive goods that are entering the EU, and to encourage cleaner industrial production in non-EU countries. Today's agreement will be complemented by the revision of the Emissions Trading System (ETS), with negotiations taking place later this week, and that will align the phase-out of the allocation of free allowances with the introduction of CBAM to support the decarbonisation of EU industry.

EU adopts global minimum 15% tax on multinationals 

The European Union on Thursday adopted a plan for a global minimum 15% tax on multinational businesses after leaders gave final approval following months of wrangling.  The landmark agreement between nearly 140 countries is intended to stop governments racing to cut taxes to lure the world's richest firms to their territory. "Today the European Union has taken a crucial step towards tax fairness and social justice," EU economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said. "Minimum taxation is key to addressing the challenges a globalised economy creates." The plan was drawn up under the guidance of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and already had the backing of Washington and several major EU economies.