Negotiators of the European Parliament and representatives of the member states reached an agreement on the 2023 EU budget on the 14 of November with the Parliament demanding additional means to address the fallout of the war in Ukraine.

In total, the EU will spend €186.6 billion in 2023, with the biggest chunks destined for the cohesion policy, agricultural policy, supporting its neighbouring states, and international development.

Key negotiators from the parliament praised the agreement, underlining that they were able to secure around €1 billion more funding than what was initially proposed by the European Commission.

The additional financial means will be used, among other things, to increase the ERASMUS+ programme, top up humanitarian aid, and restore means for health expenditure that member states wanted to reduce.

Furthermore, spending on the EU’s southern and eastern neighbourhoods was increased by €280 million compared to the initial proposal.

Read more here.

Second Meeting of the Equality Platform for the Energy Sector
 

The EC established in 2021 an ‘Equality platform for the energy sector’ aimed at offering a space for discussion of issues relating to equality, facilitating exchanges of experiences and highlighting best practices.

The second networking event for the Equality Platform for the energy sector takes place on the 25th of November in Brussels, Belgium and invites all its Members and Signatories and welcome all those that joined the platform since the first meeting on 7 April 2022.

During the meeting, there will a discussion on how to make the energy sector more inclusive and equal, in particular how one can make an organisation or company able to support people with disabilities.
The meeting will conclude with a brainstorming session on collaborative work in the platform’s wiki environment.