Belgium will host Europe’s biggest sportainment park
The facility will be located in Hasselt and is set to welcome its first visitors this spring
70 million kronor complement huge allocations for the sector
The Swedish government has presented a rescue package worth 70 million kronor (EUR 6 775 396) to help the country's ailing tourism industry which is being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Presenting the details at a press conference on Thursday, Ibrahim Baylan, the Minister for Industry, Business and Innovation, pointed out that the SEK 70 million in regional support funding were meant for the survival of small and medium-sized businesses in the country’s rural areas which had coped fairly well before the pandemic. The package needs prior EC approval.
Asked why the rescue package is so small, the Minister responded by saying that it is an additional support measure, coming on top of SEK 270 billion allocated directly and SEK 600 billion indirectly (in guarantees and liquidity) to the tourism business sector.
The number of infections in Sweden is decreasing yet international criticism for the country’s approach to the pandemic is far from subsiding. Commenting on this, Ibrahim Baylan said that contrary to the misconception that the government has prioritized the economy, control of the pandemic in Sweden has always come first.
“We have flattened the curve, in this we have been successful; we have educated our population, here we have also been successful. Where we have not been quite successful, is the coronavirus getting into our elderly homes, which is a tragedy. But compared to other parts of the world, I can say we have done the right thing,” the Minister told Radio Sweden.
He added that we are still in the middle of the pandemic and nobody knows how it will unfold and what the fallout will be, therefore the Swedish government is constantly watching and evaluating the situation.
Meanwhile, the government has extended until 31 August the non-essential travel ban to Sweden from countries outside the EU with the exception of Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and the UK. The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs advises Swedes against non-essential travel to several EU countries until 29 July, and to countries outside the EU, EEA or Schengen until 31 August.
Citing concerns about humaneness, the legislation aims to discourage the proliferation of the so-called designer pet breeds
Naturally, many aren’t happy - not because of the reduced possibility for prayers, but because they felt it was an attack on welfare
The facility will be located in Hasselt and is set to welcome its first visitors this spring
Some autonomous shuttles in France are now doing their rounds without a human supervisor inside
Europe is striving to cut the costs of operating wind turbines on water
38,000 of these fellas help to purify the city air, so why not become friends with them?
2020 and 2021 were zero years for these types of events, but the break has not diminished its reputation
As Europe strives to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, Turku and Dijon are among a group of cities seeking to reach this goal two decades earlier
Some autonomous shuttles in France are now doing their rounds without a human supervisor inside
2020 and 2021 were zero years for these types of events, but the break has not diminished its reputation
Citing concerns about humaneness, the legislation aims to discourage the proliferation of the so-called designer pet breeds
The facility will be located in Hasselt and is set to welcome its first visitors this spring
The European Commission has published its first progress report charting the achievements of the socio-cultural movement that combines beauty, inclusion and sustainability
The 2023 edition of the creative initiative promises to be bigger, bolder and more inclusive
This initiative seeks to integrate the values of the New European Bauhaus into the European Commission’s 100 Cities Mission
Veni Markovski’s take on dealing with disinformation in the European Union's poorest country – Bulgaria
A conversation with the mayor of Utrecht on the occasion of her mission to COP27
A conversation with the President of the European Committee of the Regions, about energy, climate change and the underrated importance of cohesion policy