European Union News - 12 May 2008

The report, drafted by Manolis MAVROMMATIS (EPP-ED, EL) welcomes the Commission's July 2007 White Paper on Sport and emphasises the important role of sport in society. It notes that about 60% of EU citizens regularly participate in sporting activities within or outside some 700,000 clubs, and that sport in a broader sense generated € 407 billion in value-added in 2004 (3.4% of EU GDP)  and employment for 15 million people (5.4% of the labour force).

The six winners of the 2008 "European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards" are outstanding projects in the Czech Republic, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain and Romania. The prizes announced today serve as recognition of exceptional conservation, research and education efforts and are each worth € 10 000. The prizes are awarded jointly by the European Commission and Europa Nostra, the pan-European Federation for Cultural Heritage. They will be presented at the European Heritage Awards Ceremony on 12 June 2008 in Durham Cathedral in the United Kingdom.

Parliament adopted a non-binding report on support schemes for farmers (support for cotton) which calls for a deeper revision of the aid system introduced in 2004 so as to allow more flexibility to Member States. MEPs say that policies to forecast, mitigate and combat the effects of climate change on cotton-producing regions may be funded under the national support programmes.

The European Commission and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (Senegal, Benin, Togo, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau and Ivory Coast) agreed to increase their collaboration in a number of sectors, including initiatives that can have a positive impact in food prices and regional integration. President of the Commission of the UEMOA, Soulaïma Cissé, met on the 7th and 8th of May, the Commissioner for Regional Policy, Danuta Hübner, and the Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, to discuss concrete initiatives to strengthen economic and political cooperation between UEMOA and the European Commission. President Cissé also met EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, to discuss progress in the ongoing Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and West Africa.

On the 9th May 2008, the European Commission published its decision to set up a group of experts on financial education. The Commission issued a communication on Financial Education, which among other initiatives announced the setting-up of a group of experts with practical experience in financial education matters. The Commission highlighted that financial knowledge is very important within education.