European Union

Alcohol lobbies have 'unfettered' access to governments, says Ireland’s Sheila Gilheany

Opposition parties accuse ministers of losing control after a surge in students and families from Asia exposes cracks in Denmark's tough immigration policy

Without sovereign infrastructure, even the continent’s most talented researchers are left competing on borrowed machines, governed by foreign jurisdictions and exposed to export restrictions

The EU is on the cusp of agreeing its most messy climate target yet

Le Plan, France's long-term planning unit first led by EU founding father Jean Monnet, is thinking about defence long-term

Repeated technical problems have plagued the agency for years

Jürgen Guldner, BMW’s hydrogen technology programme manager, tells Euractiv why he believes Europe shouldn’t give up on the technology just yet

The European Commission's flagship plan to develop large gigafactories for computing will cost billions

Catherine Day, an ex-staffer that's running a major review, urged faster hiring and a shift towards tech talent

From resource supplier to digital bridge, Kazakhstan is emerging as Europe’s new frontier for connectivity

Vietnam and the EU are advancing on trade, technology, and sustainability; as Vietnam becomes a dynamic partner for the EU its time to move faster, says MEP

Given the striking disinclination to meet the crisis with a meaningful response, maybe it's best the Commission holds its tongue. But in choosing silence over hypocrisy, it stands guilty on both counts

The proposal aims to regulate practices already used by police but not explicitly defined in law

The factory will produce gunpowder and artillery charges, with production expected to start in 2028

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

On Wednesday, 5 November 2025, the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (EUDS) and the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) will organise a joint public hearing on "China’s influence in the EU and globally".

This hearing will bring together experts to discuss the impact of China's global ambitions on European democratic resilience and offer guidance on building a coherent, principled response to these evolving challenges.

As China's strategic efforts to expand its political, economic and technological influence raise serious questions for democratic governance, strategic autonomy, and human rights, this discussion aims to pinpoint its impact and the next steps in the EU and beyond.
This hearing will explore how China exerts its influence ­̶ through infrastructure investments, academic and technology partnerships, media ownership, and pressure on diaspora communities ­̶ affecting European business sectors, security, and technological independence.

Poster
Programme
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Unifying the process for how public authorities buy goods and services would make things much easier for companies, the EU executive argues

The European Commission’s bewilderment also comes despite a meeting of EU and Chinese trade officials in Brussels last week

The European Telecommunications Standardisation Institute (ETSI) is leaning into playing a strategic support role for the EU, its director general tells Euractiv

Written by Pieter Baert.

As many women and girls continue to face barriers in accessing affordable menstrual products, menstrual poverty remains a significant socioeconomic issue. To combat it, the EU Value Added Tax (VAT) Directive now allows Member States to apply reduced or zero VAT rates to sanitary products. On 4 November 2025, the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC) will hold a public hearing on this issue in light of the Parliament’s Gender Equality Week.

VAT rates on feminine hygiene products

Over the years, the tax cost of menstrual products has been a topic of growing public debate. Since these products are used exclusively by women, the issue has drawn attention for its gendered economic impact. Advocates of lowering or removing VAT on menstrual products argue that the tax places an unfair, systematic financial burden on women, and contributes to menstrual poverty. Unlike other consumer products, these goods are considered a biological necessity rather than a matter of choice.

In April 2022, a revision of the EU VAT Directive introduced greater flexibility for Member States to reduce VAT rates on female sanitary products. This change allowed Member States to lower the VAT rate to as little as 0 %, compared with the previous minimum rate of 5 % (Annex III, paragraph 3). The European Parliament urged Member States to take advantage of this increased flexibility. However, while several Member States have since reduced their VAT rates on such goods, levels remain divergent.

VAT rate on tampons (EU, July 2025)

Tax policy experts are generally cautious about VAT rate reductions, citing the likelihood for suppliers to bypass these reductions by increasing their profit margins instead. However, a recent study by academics from the Vienna University of Economics and Business, which looked at VAT rate cuts on menstrual products in Belgium, Germany, France and Austria, found that the tax reduction had been fully passed on to consumers over time. Moreover, low-income households had increased their purchase volume of menstrual products, highlighting the potential of such reforms to improve access for disadvantaged groups. Another recent study examining Germany’s 2020 VAT rate reduction on female hygiene products found that the tax cut was fully passed on to consumers, suggesting a perfectly inelastic demand. The VAT rate cut was estimated to have cost Germany 0.02 % of VAT revenue.

While reducing VAT rates can be one approach to making female hygiene products more affordable, some Member States and local governments have chosen to provide these goods for free in schools, public restrooms and other public spaces.

Gender-based price discrimination

A related phenomenon is that of gender-based price discrimination. Although not an explicit tax issue as such, this refers to the situation where women sometimes incur extra costs for products and services marketed to them compared with similar items for men, with the products differing often only in superficial aspects, such as colour, name or description. Common examples include shampoo, razors and hairdressing services. While no comprehensive EU-wide research has been conducted to assess the prevalence of such practices, a study by the German Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency examined over 1 500 products in Germany and found that female variants were priced higher in 2.3 % of cases, while male variants were more expensive in 1.4 % of cases.

EU Directive 2004/113 already prohibits discrimination in access to goods and services based on gender. In 2023, in an answer to a parliamentary question, the European Commission said it had no plans at the time to introduce additional measures in that directive to address gender price discrimination.

Read this ‘at a glance note’ on ‘VAT policy and menstrual poverty in the EU‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.