Highlights

Central counterparties (CCPs) make financial markets safer and more efficient by acting as circuit breakers when defaults occur. The study requested by ECON committee looks at the impact of CCPs on financial stability and economic growth and at the consequences of their location. The study concludes that CCPs should be located in the EU to fully support their financial stability mission and identifies ways to make the EU more attractive to them.

The global rolling stock market is set to increase until 2030. The EU market is projected to grow annually by 2-3%. The study provides an assessment of the foreseeable demand and supply of rolling stock up to the year 2030 and highlights the obstacles to the provision of rolling stock that may potentially hinder the attainment of EU goals in rail transport.

The political and legal debate on EU and Member State media competences is a major obstacle for progress towards a common set of rules for media freedom and media pluralism. This study for the LIBE Committee analyses the European Media Freedom Act proposal. It provides a political and historical overview of relevant EU media policies, taking into account the EU debate on media pluralism and media freedom, and assesses the proposal using academic literature, policy documents and empirical data.

This in-depth analysis: - gives an overview of the Commission’s debt issuance and rising interest rates since the launch of SURE and NGEU; - suggests ways to reduce borrowing costs, which could be twice as high as initially estimated; - discusses institutional developments to reap the full benefits of EU borrowing.

China’s footprint in European critical assets poses specific challenges to the EU in terms of foreign interference, technology transfer and protection of EU infrastructure. This paper requested by SEDE analyses the involvement of China in selected critical sectors to identify threats to the EU’s strategic sovereignty. It shows that traditional approaches to infrastructure protection must be re-evaluated to be able to scrutinise the risks that China poses to the EU’s critical infrastructure.

Human rights clauses reflect the EU’s obligations to respect and promote human rights norms in external action. The EP has often called for the clauses to be used effectively. The in-depth analysis requested by the DROI committee maps trends since 2014 in the design and use of human rights and democracy clauses in the EU's agreements with third countries. The authors' recommendations include tailored benchmarks, a monitoring role for domestic advisory groups and additional reporting mechanisms.