European Union News - 08 February 2010

The European Commission has concluded that Romania had taken effective action to correct its budget deficit. But in view of a sharper-than-expected recession in 2009, the Commission proposes to extend the deadline by one year to 2012 to bring the deficit below 3% of GDP.

After the last hearing with Kristalina Georgieva, the European Parliament will finally hold a vote to approve or reject the Commission team as a whole. It comes two weeks later than the initial prevision.

The European Commission has officially announced the winner of the EU organic logo competition. Over the past two months, some 130,000 people have voted online to choose the new organic symbol from three finalists. The winning design is by Dusan Milenkovic, a student from Germany, who gained 63% of the overall vote for his “Euro-leaf” logo.

In its Communication entitled ‘Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES): we care for a safer planet’ , the Commission announced the establishment of a Partners Board to assist the Commission in the overall coordination of GMES. The Official Journal of the EU of February 8 has published the decision that creates this organ.

The Directorate General for Information Society and Media of the European Commission has issued a call for proposals on the MEDIA 2007 Programme, which finances the networking and mobility of students and trainers in Europe.