blocs

Air pollution linked to road transport is responsible for 70,000 deaths each year, according to the EU. Eight EU member states including France, Italy and Poland urged Brussels to scrap its planned vehicle emissions limits, warning they risked hurting investment in a document seen by AFP Monday.…

The European Union has approved Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard. The ruling accepted that the deal won’t stifle competition for popular console titles like Call of Duty and the US tech company’s remedies to boost competition in cloud gaming. The acquisition, sweetened by Microsoft's promises to automatically license Activision games to cloud gaming platforms, “would no longer raise competition concerns and would ultimately unlock significant benefits for competition and consumers,”…

EU member states reached a provisional agreement on Tuesday for a €43 billion plan to bolster domestic production of semiconductor chips — essential components in everything from phones to cars and refrigerators. The EU Chips Act, proposed by the Commission in February of last year, looks to double the bloc’s global market share in semiconductors from 10% to 20% by 2030.  The act also seeks to build resilience in Europe’s semiconductor supply chain, which is highly dependent on a limited…

EU industry chief Thierry Breton on Tuesday told Twitter owner Elon Musk to do more to fully comply with the bloc's online content rules. "I welcome the effort that Twitter is making to be in line with Europe's objectives, while acknowledging that the next months will be crucial," Breton said after a video call with Musk. "We need to see more progress towards full compliance with the DSA. My team will follow closely the work made by Twitter and by all other online platforms," according to a readout of the call.…