European finance ministers agreed to crucial reforms of the eurozone’s bailout fund, which had been put aside for a year amid reluctance from Italy and the coronavirus crisis. The fund, known as the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), will become the bloc’s lender of last resort as soon as 2022. It will also see its financial firepower strengthened, and its authority to supervise countries in difficulty will be increased. Created in 2012 in the heat of the eurozone debt crisis, the ESM was used to stop countries including Greece from going…
Read MoreDay: December 3, 2020
Brussels start-up has its finger in the dyke of water loss
The Brussels-based tech start-up Shaype has raised €1.9 million euros in fresh investment capital for a system to tackle huge water losses in buildings. Shaype was set up in 2017 by three partners to work on a system to use technology to tackle the problem of major water losses in large buildings, whether industrial or residential, including apartment blocks. According to the company, one in three large buildings suffers from water leaks, 95% of which go undetected. In 3% of buildings, leaks will lead to water damage. In the rest,…
Read MorePortugal refuses to reopen EU budget negotiations
Portugal refuses to reopen negotiations on the EU budget and recovery fund agreed by EU leaders in July, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa said on Wednesday. His comments came as the European Commission is assessing options to circumvent Hungary and Poland’s veto of the budget and fund, and could come up with a proposal early next year if their blockade remains, a senior EU official confirmed to Leuropeennedebruxelles.com.
Read MoreBelgium reveals coronavirus vaccination strategy
Belgium’s public health ministers announced the country’s coronavirus vaccination strategy, including the order of priority groups to receive the vaccine, during a press conference on Thursday. This article will be updated as the press conference develops. For the latest information, make sure to refresh the page regularly. “We have a view on not one, but several working vaccines, and there are more in the pipeline,” said Wouter Beke, president of the Interministerial Conference on Public Health. “The process is supervised entirely, because safety is essential.” “It seems that 2021 will…
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