Category: English

Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

by Marie-Lucile KubackiJakarta (Fides News Agency) –True Christian hope is not built upon grand institutional programs, but upon a quiet, attentive awareness of God’s gentle action in the ordinary moments of daily life. This central message formed the core of the spiritual retreat led by Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle for the bishops and delegates gathered in Jakarta for the 12th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC). Addressing Church leaders from across the continent, the Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization invited the assembly into a deep conversion of the eyes, learning to recognize the extraordinary action of God in the ordinary things.Seeing God in the ordinaryReflecting on the Gospel of John, Cardinal Tagle underscored that pastoral leadership must begin with a contemplative gaze capable of perceiving how God operates through humble, unpretentious means. Rather than burdening the Church with the pressure of self-generated success, discipleship asks for a quiet spirit that knows how to pause, observe, and marvel at what Christ is already accomplishing in silence.Highlighting Jesus’ promise to Nathanael, the Cardinal clarified the authentic nature of the Christian mission: “Scripture does not say, ‘You will do greater things.’ Jesus says, ‘You will see greater things.’ It is Jesus who does the great works. Our task is to see them.”Throughout the Gospel narrative, the divine presence consistently reveals itself not in spectacular displays, but through unassuming everyday realities. « At the wedding feast at Cana, the disciples witnessed Jesus’ first sign when He transformed water into wine after what appeared to be an ordinary social embarrassment. Likewise, the Samaritan woman encountered the Messiah during a simple conversation at a well, Mary Magdalene initially mistook the risen Christ for a gardener, and the disciples on the road to Emmaus recognized Him only in the breaking of the bread », he explained. “The great works of Jesus come through ordinary things,” Cardinal Tagle reminded the assembly, adding that “part of our conversion is recovering our sense of wonder at God’s work.”Illustrating this truth with personal encounters, the Cardinal recounted a moment on the streets of Manila when a traffic vendor unexpectedly offered him food purely as a gift as well as a poignant meeting in Lebanon where a young refugee child expressed a spontaneous desire to know Jesus after receiving simple acts of charity. Such moments, he noted, reveal that the Gospel spreads not through complex strategies, but through genuine, unadorned gestures of love.Recognizing today’s Mary MagdalenesThis theme of divine simplicity found its fullest expression during the concluding Eucharistic celebration on the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene. Honored as the “Apostle to the Apostles,” Mary Magdalene exemplifies how God turns to those whom human society often disregards or deems insignificant.Recalling her journey from suffering to restored dignity, Cardinal Tagle noted: “Mary Magdalene had a beautiful story. She suffered greatly, yet she was seen by Jesus. She was named, recognized, and transformed by His love.” Even at the foot of the Cross, when fear had dispersed many, her unwavering presence bore silent witness to her devotion. “Those women stood there as if declaring to the world: ‘We know Him. We cannot deny Him. Our commitment will not waver,'” he observed.It was precisely in the simplicity of hearing her own name spoken by the Risen Lord that Mary Magdalene’s grief turned into joyful recognition. As the Cardinal emphasized, “a very simple act made her see the greatest event.” Entrusted with the first announcement of the Resurrection, her message contained a pure, direct testimony: “I have seen the Lord.” By selecting her as the initial testimony of Resurrection,”the risen Lord made sure that the greatest news would be witnessed by people the world would not easily embrace,” Cardinal Tagle reflected, highlighting that “she was the bridge to the other disciples.”Concluding his reflection, Cardinal Tagle urged Asian Church leaders to cultivate this same evangelical simplicity in their local communities, learning to identify the overlooked witnesses of grace who walk among them. “In our parishes and dioceses, there are many Marys of Magdala. It is important to see them,” he insisted, highlighting the divine virtue of simplicity.(Fides News Agency, 23/7/2026)
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Source: European Asylum Support Office

The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has published four new Medical Country of Origin Information (MedCOI) topical reports focusing on the provision of paediatric, hepatitis, diabetes mellitus, and gastroenterological treatments in Georgia. These reports complement previously published MedCOI products on healthcare provision and selected medical specialties, further expanding the knowledge base on access to specialised medical treatment in the country.

The MedCOI topical reports on paediatric care, hepatitis, diabetes mellitus and gastroenterology provide a comparative overview of access to specialised medical care in Georgia, highlighting both common structural features and sector-specific differences.

The reports indicate that, despite the expansion of public health coverage in recent years, effective access to specialised care in Georgia remains uneven. Across all four areas, relevant care services are predominantly delivered in tertiary-level / specialised hospitals, concentrated in major urban centres, and are largely provided by private healthcare institutions. Access to specialised care in rural areas remains limited.

In the context of treating gastrointestinal diseases, diabetes mellitus and hepatitis, the findings on human resource availability show an imbalance in the distribution of medical staff in Georgia. There are an excess of physicians and a shortage of nurses. Indeed, most physicians are concentrated in cities, with Tbilisi having three times more doctors than other regions. For diabetes mellitus care, the topical report further finds that the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals in remote and rural areas are challenging. Similarly, the report on hepatitis points out that while the number of registered infectiologists and hepatologists has grown in response to the demands of the elimination programme, most hepatology expertise remains concentrated in Tbilisi. The report on paediatric care additionally presents an overall lack of paediatric sub-specialists in the country, with the available subspecialists being heavily concentrated in Tbilisi.

Public insurance schemes cover a defined package of diagnostic and treatment services, but continued out-of-pocket expenditures may affect patients requiring long-term, high-cost, or advanced interventions. The reports indicate variations in levels of access, with comparatively broader coverage available for acute care services, whereas limited coverage and restricted access are observed in the management of chronic or complex conditions and/or high-cost interventions.

Overall, the reports underline that insurance coverage is central to real access to care, yet financial protection remains insufficient for patients with complex or long-term needs. Even with expanded coverage for diagnostics, hospitalisation, and treatment, patients frequently face additional costs for long-term management, advanced therapies, or services exceeding coverage limits.

Source: European Banking Authority

Source: European Union 2

HaDEA has published the EU4Health call for tenders HADEA/2026/OP/0020: Capacity reservation for personal protective equipment pilot (EU FAB+ PPE pilot)

The purpose of this call is to advance the EU FAB+ PPE pilot, an initiative designed to strengthen the EU’s capacity to ensure rapid availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the event of future public health emergencies. Concretely, the call aims to conclude up to six multiple sourcing direct service contracts for the reservation of capacity in the form of contractor-managed stockpiles (task 1) and reservation of manufacturing capacity (task 2) of personal protective equipment medical countermeasures (MCMs), namely nitrile examination gloves and FFP2 respiratory masks. Both tasks shall also include a priority right to purchase respectively stockpiled MCM or MCM manufactured under the reservation.

This call is divided into two lots: 

• Lot 1: Nitrile examination gloves: reservation of capacities and priority purchase right
• Lot 2: FFP2 masks: reservation of capacities and priority purchase right

Each lot will be awarded to a maximum of three tenderers, each contract for a minimum value of three million euro, with for three (03) years (i.e. 36 months) duration.

Inspired by EU FAB, created as an EU mechanism to ensure vaccine manufacturing capacities are operational and can be swiftly activated, the European Commission is now expanding this model towards nitrile examination gloves and FFP2 masks, as both product categories faced significant shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic despite being essential to protect healthcare workers.

Total budget: € 34 000 000 

Interested parties are invited to apply via the EU Funding and Tenders Portal by 15 October 2026, 12.00 (CEST).

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the European Union’s dependencies on non-EU producers of MCM, particularly from Southeast Asia. For many critical MCM, notably personal protective equipment (PPE), EU manufacturing capacities and availability of supply chain materials were not sufficient to meet European demand. 

In view of these challenges related to EU manufacturing capacities, the European Commission, through the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), has taken various actions to address dependencies and strengthen EU manufacturing capacities for critical MCMs. One key action has been EU FAB, which aims at reserving manufacturing capacity to produce vaccines in the EU in the case of a public health crisis. 

Inspired by EU FAB, the Commission is now expanding this model towards other MCM of interest. As a first pilot, in this call for tenders HERA is focusing on examination gloves and FFP2 masks. Both product categories experienced significant shortages during COVID-19 and remain essential for protecting healthcare workers and other critical personnel during public health emergencies.

EU4Health is the fourth and largest of the EU health programmes. The EU4Health programme goes beyond an ambitious response to the COVID-19 crisis to address the resilience of European healthcare systems. The programme provides funding to national authorities, health organisations and other bodies through grants and public procurement, contributing to a healthier Europe. 

HaDEA manages the vast majority of the total EU4Health budget and implements the programme by managing calls for proposals and tenders from 2021 to 2027. 

Source: European Investment Bank

Professor Marek Mráz’s research group aims to understand why treatment is less effective for some types of leukaemia and for some patients. After conducting research in the United States, he returned to his native Czechia and the university where he had studied as an undergraduate, because of the facilities offered by the Central European Institute of Technology, part of the Bohunice campus.

“Thanks to new models that mimic the environment of lymph nodes, we can test new drugs and their combinations more quickly and precisely,” says Mráz, who has secured prestigious European Research Council grants to support his work. “Some of our discoveries have already led to patents and are opening the way to the development of new therapeutic approaches.” 

The high-tech campus, which opened in 2011 with the financial backing of the European Union, is important because its advanced infrastructure keeps young researchers like Mráz in Europe, functions as an incubator for companies spun off from scientific research conducted there, and allows teams from different fields of research to cooperate on new ideas and approaches together – for Mráz a key aspect of modern science.

“The combination of state-of-the-art infrastructure, basic research and close cooperation with clinical departments – in my case, specifically with the Department of Internal Medicine, Haematology and Oncology at University Hospital Brno – is absolutely essential for us,” says Mráz. “It allows us to obtain samples from patients and to keep pace with medical reality and the ways in which patients with the diseases we study are treated.”

Source: European Commission

European Commission Press release Brussels, 23 Jul 2026 Today, the European Commission took two decisions finding non-compliance by Google with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) for self-preferencing its own services on Google Search, and for putting in place restrictions on businesses to direct consumers to alternative, often cheaper, purchase channels on Google Play (steering). In this regard, the Commission issued Google a fine of €460 million and a fine of €430 million respectively.

Source: European Investment Bank

• The operation includes two loans for Naturgy’s electricity grids in Spain: €520 million from the Regional Resilience Fund, and €350 million in European Investment Bank (EIB) financing.
• The investment will increase grid resilience and make supply more secure by building and reinforcing 2 300 km of electricity networks, with a direct impact on five of Spain’s autonomous communities, mostly cohesion regions.
• The operation will help accelerate electrification of the economy and the integration of renewable energy to advance the energy transition.

The EIB, part of the EIB Group, and Spain’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business (through the Regional Resilience Fund) will provide €870 million in financing to Naturgy to support the energy company’s investments to strengthen, upgrade and digitalise its distribution network in Spain.

This will support investments in energy security in five autonomous communities: Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Castile and León, Galicia and Madrid. All but Madrid are cohesion regions. The financing will enable investments in 2 300 km of network for both new construction and reinforcement, to expand the grid and make it more resilient, increase security of supply and integrate more energy from renewable sources.

The first of the loans has been signed, for a total of €520 million channelled by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business through the Regional Resilience Fund (financed with NextGenerationEU funds under Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan). The EIB is the ministry’s strategic partner for implementation and management of the Regional Resilience Fund.

The second loan has been approved for a total of €350 million, with €200 million already signed. It will be financed entirely from the EIB’s own resources.

Among other measures, the loans will be used to invest in automation, remote control and digitalisation in the grid, connecting new users and meeting increased demand, implementing security measures, reducing grid losses, and putting infrastructure underground and making it more compact.

The project will increase the resilience of Naturgy’s entire distribution network in Spain, which has over 116 000 km of power lines. It will also increase security of supply in the face of recurring adverse natural phenomena, rising demand resulting from the electrification of the economy, and more electricity generation from renewable sources.

The arrangement also underscores the commitment of the EIB and the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise to economic, social and territorial cohesion, with more than 80% of the total investment going to cohesion regions, where income per capita is below the EU average.

EIB support for electricity grids and storage

Investing in networks and storage systems is key to accelerating the energy transition and advancing electrification of the economy. In 2025, a record €11.6 billion of EIB financing went to electricity grid and storage system projects worldwide.

In Spain, the EIB Group devoted a record €1.9 billion in financing to grid investments in 2025 – a year in which one out of every two euros invested in Spanish grids came from EIB financing. The funds were allocated for digitalisation projects, smart meters, repairing damage caused by the DANA weather event, storage, and strengthening interconnection with Europe. Between 2021 and 2025, the EIB financed the construction or upgrade of 45 000 km of electricity networks in Spain (enough to circle the globe).

The Naturgy project supports the goals of the Spanish government’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, and the EIB’s climate action and cohesion objectives – two of the EIB Group’s eight core strategic priorities set out in the EIB Group 2024-2027 Strategic Roadmap and the Climate Bank Roadmap phase 2 2026-2030. The operation is also part of the EIB’s action plan to support REPowerEU, the programme to increase security and accelerate the energy transition by reducing EU dependence on fossil fuel imports.

Background information

EIB Group

The EIB Group is the financing arm of the European Union. Its shareholders are the 27 Member states, and it is one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. In 2025, the EIB Group signed off €100 billion in new financing and advisory services for over 870 high-impact projects under eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, territorial cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy, social infrastructure, global partnerships and the savings and investments union.

Beyond long-term loans for large-scale infrastructure, the EIB Group crowds in private investment for high-risk innovative projects and businesses, with a growing role in Europe’s markets for venture debt, venture capital, guarantees and securitisations.

With the support of the 27 EU governments, the European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the EIB Group, has joined forces with institutional investors in a pan-European alliance to mobilise up to €80 billion for investment in innovative companies that are growing to become global leaders. This agreement will expand the reach and scale of the European Tech Champions Initiative. Since its creation three years ago, this highly successful programme has contributed to the establishment of 15 European mega-funds and the growth of 45 companies, including 12 unicorns.

In 2025, the EIB Group completed financing and investment operations in Spain totalling around €11 billion, which came alongside an additional €2.9 billion under the Regional Resilience Fund (NextGenerationEU loans).

Photos of the EIB Group management and headquarters, logo files and video B-roll for media use are available here.  

Regional Resilience Fund

The Regional Resilience Fund was created to facilitate access to NextGenerationEU loans from the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for the autonomous communities, with the aim of boosting investments and developing projects in eight priority areas: social and affordable housing; urban renewal; transport and sustainable tourism; the energy transition; water and waste management; the care economy; research, development and innovation; and the competitiveness of industry and SMEs.

The fund is led by Spain’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, which takes input from the autonomous communities and cities for investment decision-making and looks to the EIB Group as a strategic management partner. The financial instruments for its implementation include:

• a direct financing mechanism, to co-finance EIB-supported operations in sectors like renewable energy, clean transport and sustainable infrastructure;
• an intermediated mechanism managed by financial intermediaries selected by the EIB, to support projects in urban development and sustainable tourism;
• two instruments intermediated by the EIF that will facilitate SME financing for innovation, sustainability and competitiveness.

Naturgy

Naturgy is an energy multinational with a diversified international business portfolio. In addition to Spain, the group is also active in Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Panama), the United States and Australia. It supplies gas and electricity to over 18 million customers in these countries, operating in both regulated and liberalised markets. It works in electricity generation, distribution and sale, as well as in gas infrastructure, distribution and sale. The group has electricity generation capacity of 19.1 GW across the world, with a diversified mix including 8.4 GW of renewable capacity.

Source: European Investment Bank

• Europe has significant untapped mineral potential, but decades of underinvestment have left too few exploration projects ready to move towards mining.
• A new EIB-commissioned study finds that exploration spending in the European Union would need to rise from around €0.2 billion to around €2 billion a year over the next five years to help meet the EU’s domestic extraction goals under the Critical Raw Materials Act.
• The study sets out practical steps for EU institutions, EU countries and the private sector: simpler and more predictable permitting, better geological data, stronger public awareness, targeted financial incentives and more support for innovation.

Europe has the geological potential to strengthen its own supply of critical raw materials, but it needs faster and better-targeted action to turn that potential into real projects. This is the main message of a new technical study commissioned by the EIB, prepared with the assistance of Aurum Exploration Limited.

The study focuses on one key part of the challenge: mineral exploration. Without exploration, there can be no new mines, no new domestic supply and no strong pipeline of projects for later investment. Yet exploration is also the riskiest part of the raw materials value chain. According to the study, only around one in 10 000 early exploration prospects and one in 1 000 more advanced exploration projects eventually become operating mines. 

The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act sets a target for at least 10% of the EU’s annual consumption of strategic raw materials to come from domestic extraction by 2030. The study finds that policy ambition currently runs ahead of the number of exploration projects that are ready to move towards development, largely because Europe has invested too little in exploration for many years. 

Current mineral exploration spending in the EU is estimated at around €0.2 billion a year. To help meet the EU’s objectives, the study estimates that this would need to increase tenfold to around €2 billion a year over the next five years. This would place EU exploration spending above current comparable spending in Canada and Australia, two of the world’s leading mining jurisdictions.

The study also finds that the EU currently attracts only a small share of global exploration investment. In 2024, Canada accounted for 20% of the global exploration budget and Australia for 16%, while the EU accounted for 3%. At the same time, the study points to encouraging examples within the EU, with countries such as Finland and Sweden showing that stronger exploration activity is possible in Europe.

“Europe’s debate on critical raw materials often starts with imports. This can create the impression that Europe will remain largely dependent on external supply,” said Nicola Beer, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank. “But this study shows that Europe has significant mineral potential of its own, which could play a much bigger role in strengthening our supply security. The challenge is to create the conditions that allow this potential to be discovered and developed responsibly. That means better geological data, faster and more predictable permitting, and financial tools that help attract private investment into a high-risk but strategically important part of the value chain.”

The study identifies several barriers that limit exploration in the EU. These include complex and fragmented permitting systems, long approval times, limited public understanding of why raw materials matter, incomplete or outdated geological mapping, too few small exploration companies able to take on early-stage risk, and insufficient financial incentives for early-stage projects.

The study provides recommendations on how to enable responsible exploration, implement and promote the Critical Raw Materials Act, strengthen public geoscience, mobilise exploration capital and build a stronger mining innovation ecosystem. It also highlights the potential of modern technologies, including remote sensing, artificial intelligence and advanced geological modelling, as well as the possibility of recovering critical raw materials from historic mine waste.

The findings come as the EIB Group is stepping up its support for critical raw materials. In March 2025, the Bank approved a new Critical Raw Materials Strategic Initiative, establishing a higher level of ambition for financing and investment across the critical raw materials value chain and creating a one-stop shop and dedicated taskforce to support project development.

Background information

The EIB Group

The European Investment Bank Group is the financing arm of the European Union, owned by the 27 Member States, and one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. In 2025, the EIB Group signed €100 billion of new financing and advisory services for over 870 high-impact projects in eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy, social infrastructure, strong global partnerships and the savings and investment union.

Photos of the EIB Group’s spokespeople and headquarters, logo files and video B-roll for media use are available here.

EIB Critical Raw Materials Strategic Initiative

The EIB Group is a key provider of finance and advisory in the critical raw materials sector. It supports the implementation of the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, which aims to ensure access to a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials.

Under its Critical Raw Materials Strategic Initiative, the EIB Group focuses on projects across the value chain, including exploration, extraction, processing, recycling, substitution and innovation, in line with EU priorities. The initiative includes a one-stop shop and a dedicated taskforce to help support project development.

About the study

The technical study, Challenges and solutions for mineral exploration in Europe, was commissioned by the European Investment Bank and prepared with the assistance of Aurum Exploration Limited. It examines the challenges and possible solutions for mineral exploration investment across the EU’s 27 Member States, comparing the EU with leading mining jurisdictions including Canada, Australia, the United States, Chile, Japan and Ireland.