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In June 2025, EU Member States that are members of NATO committed to a significant increase in spending on defence to 5% of GDP to be reached withing a decade. 3.5% of GDP would be spent on core defence items, 1.5% on defence-related items. Obviously, such commitments come on top of already tight public finances in most of the economies concerned. Against this background, in autumn 2025, the ECON Committee requested external expertise to better understand the potential synergies and tensions between ...

According to international standards, children without parental care should grow up in a setting as close as possible to a family or in a small group. After serious concerns had been raised about residential care for children and youths, several EU countries started to transition from institutional to family-based care. In parallel, residential care in small units may still be seen as part of a continuum of services for children and youths with varying needs. In the EU, care for children and youths ...

This study explores the competitiveness gap faced by the EU’s seafood sector. Five case studies illustrate how high input costs and relatively low productivity mean that imports, now supply over 80% of the EU’s consumption of fisheries and aquaculture products (FAPs). The policy recommendations provided aim to help secure a more self-sufficient, sustainable, and resilient seafood system. This document was prepared at the request of the Committee on Fisheries (PECH).

Timely, cost-efficient expansion and modernisation of the European energy infrastructure is one of the key challenges in the EU's ongoing energy transition. Grid development is needed to ensure energy supply security, increase the resilience of Europe's energy system and integrate the rapid roll-out of renewable energy sources. Cross border infrastructure plays a vital role in connecting national energy networks. Meeting the 2030 interconnection targets is particularly important for completing the ...

Expansion and modernisation of the energy infrastructure in Member States is one of the key challenges of the ongoing energy transition in the EU. The electricity grids need to develop in order to ensure the security of energy supply, increase the resilience of Europe's energy system, and integrate the rapid roll-out of renewable energy sources, particularly at the distribution level. Given the peristent challenges relating to permit-granting procedures and delays in grid connection approvals at ...

The highlight of the first plenary session of 2026 was the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Spain and Portugal's accession to the European Union, marked with a formal sitting addressed by His Majesty Felipe VI, King of Spain, and His Excellency Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Republic of Portugal. Members debated with the European Council and European Commission on the conclusions of the European Council meeting of 18 December 2025 and the geopolitical tensions currently facing Europe ...