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During the April plenary session, as part of the discharge procedure for the 2024 financial year, Parliament is due to vote on the discharge for 33 EU decentralised agencies and 11 joint undertakings (JUs). The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) recommends granting discharge to all the decentralised agencies, bodies and JUs concerned.

This infographic provides an at-a-glance overview of maternity and paternity leave provisions across the 27 EU Member States. It compares the length of leave, payment levels and mandatory elements, highlighting the significant diversity of national systems. While EU law sets minimum standards – 14 weeks of maternity leave under the Pregnant Workers Directive and two weeks of paternity leave under the Work-Life Balance Directive – Member States go well beyond these thresholds in different ways. The ...

During the April plenary session, the European Parliament is to decide on granting discharge for the 2024 financial year to the different institutions and bodies of the EU. The vote on the discharge for the European Commission is the most important one, as its budget covers around 95 % of the whole EU budget. Since 2021, the discharge procedure includes the grant component of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Separate discharge is granted to the Commission concerning the management of the ...

During its April 2026 plenary session, Parliament is set to vote on the provisional text of the revised Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Regulation, agreed in interinstitutional negotiations on 1 December 2025. Among other changes, the co-legislators have added several international human rights and environmental conventions to the list of international treaties that participating countries must ratify to benefit from trade preferences. MEPs also negotiated stricter criteria that must be met ...

During the April 2026 plenary session, the European Parliament is expected to vote on its mandate for negotiations with the Council regarding the proposal for a regulation to simplify rules for chemicals, cosmetics and fertilisers, also known as the chemicals omnibus (Omnibus VI).

On 3 February 2026, the European Commission adopted the first delegated regulation supplementing the Union certification framework for permanent carbon removals, carbon farming and carbon storage in products with its first methodology for certification. Covering permanent carbon removals, the methodology paves the way for three types of removal activities to become EU certified: direct air capture with carbon storage (DACCS); biogenic emissions capture with carbon storage (BioCCS); and biochar carbon ...

This briefing aims to discuss how the current legal framework applies to Territorial Supply Constraints (TSCs). Firstly, it will briefly discuss what TSCs are and how they might manifest themselves in practice. Secondly, it will illustrate the ways in which competition law has been applied and can be applied to TSCs. Thirdly, it will offer a perspective on tackling TSCs emanating from the Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) legislation in the agri-food supply chain. Finally, it will summarise and offer ...

Several EU countries possess islands and insular territories. Various EU islands constitute world famous tourist destinations as they are home to considerable natural, heritage and cultural wealth. Certain islands also produce renowned agricultural products and handcrafts. However, islands also face considerable challenges. They struggle for adequate transport links with the nearest mainland. Their ecosystems are vulnerable, and natural resources are often scarce. Some of them are small and mountainous ...

This briefing examines how effectively existing EU and national rules can address unjustified TSCs in practice, identifies the remaining gaps, and draws lessons for the design of any EU legislative response. It was prepared to inform the workshop on Territorial Supply Constraints which took place in the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection on 15 April 2026.

Obstacles to businesses' cross-border operations and expansion constitute a major hurdle to an effective single market. The International Monetary Fund estimates that persistent barriers to the single market represent the equivalent of a 44 % and 110 % tariff on goods and services, respectively. The Letta report emphasised that a single business code would be a 'game-changer', making all business procedures – from establishment to end of activity – smoother and more transparent. To address this issue ...