President of the European Council Charles Michel on Friday said that the European Union has made a political decision to impose additional sanctions on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.

"We took a political decision to add an additional package of mass sanction which will be painful for the Russian regime," Michel said after the extraordinary EU Summit.

The EU ministers responsible for the environment and climate change issues will meet in Brussels on 20 December to discuss the EU’s climate package (Fit for 55 package), the Battery Regulation and the Soil Strategy. State Secretary Terhi Lehtonen will represent Finland at the meeting.

The EU ministers responsible for the environment and climate change issues will meet in Brussels on 17 March to discuss the EU’s Fit for 55 package, the Battery Regulation and the Deforestation Regulation. Finland’s representative at the meeting will be Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Emma Kari.

On 6 October, the EU environment and climate ministers will meet in Luxembourg to discuss the EU climate package (Fit for 55), the EU Forest Strategy and the negotiating objectives of the EU for the Glasgow Climate Change Conference. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Krista Mikkonen.

The European Union (EU) has fined five-car manufactures, including BMW and Volkswagen, USD 1 billion for breaking antitrust rules on emissions.

"Today, the commission took a decision against five car manufacturers: Daimler, BMW, as well as Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche, which are part of the Volkswagen group. The commission imposed a total fine of 875 million euros.

The leaders of the European Union countries discussed on Tuesday updating the EU-NATO declaration on counteracting mutual threats as well as the alliance's new strategic concept, an EU official said.

The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, has died in Italy due to a dysfunction of his immune system, according to a tweet from his spokesman early Tuesday (local time), reported CNN.

The European Union is studying the retaliatory sanctions of Belarus and considers them to be non-transparent with an incomprehensible challenge mechanism, EU External Action Service lead spokesman Peter Stano told Sputnik.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed structural inequalities in healthcare capacity across EU Member States threatening convergence in healthcare - where central and eastern Member States with lower health indicators had been catching up with more affluent Member States in a number of areas.

The European Union will invest 1 trillion euros ($1.1 trillion) in sustainable energy by 2030, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday said the bloc will increase its humanitarian aid for Afghanistan by extra 100 million euros to avert the humanitarian disaster in the country.

The French Presidency of the Council of the European Union will hold an informal video conference of transport ministers on 8 April 2022. Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka will represent Finland at the meeting.

The European Union will not recognize the Taliban regime, imposed through violence, said European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on Saturday.

The European Union is ready to impose more sanctions on Russia if it acts aggressively toward Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has warned.

The EU boss told Le Journal du Dimanche in an interview published Saturday that "any act of aggression against Ukraine will lead to sanctions and massive consequences. They have been prepared."

The Government welcomes the European Commission's proposal to establish a common charging solution for mobile phones and similar radio devices using wire charging. These include tablets, headphones, headphones with microphones and handheld videogame consoles. The standard port for the common charger would be USB-C.

The European Commission said on Tuesday it proposed to create a legal framework in the EU to counter the use of migrants for political purposes.

The European Parliament on Wednesday ratified the agreement on trade and cooperation between the European Union and the United Kingdom in a 660-5 vote.

The document must now be approved by EU member states to enter into force officially.

The European Union on Tuesday said that it will continue to coordinate with the UN and its agencies on the stabilisation of Afghanistan, ensure that humanitarian aid reaches vulnerable populations and for this purpose, will also step up financial support.

Acceptance of Rule of Law “compromise” gives Fidesz more than a year to change Hungarian laws, constitution and to channel public funds into private foundations “controlled by his [Orbán’s] cronies”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has, it appears, “caved to Hungarian and Polish extortion” by brokering a compromise on rule of law at the EU summit that “constitutes the worst of all possible worlds”, according to philanthropist and financier, George Soros.