European Union News - 29 March 2010

The European Commission has published the spring Consumer Markets Scoreboard, which reveals that EU consumers are still not reaping the full benefits of the internal market due to barriers to cross-border commerce. It also underlines the variation in the ability of consumers to afford goods and services from one country to another.

The European Commission has proposed new rules obliging EU countries to impose more severe punishment on those who sexually abuse children. The proposal also calls for criminal prosecution of activities like 'grooming' (befriending children with the intention of sexually abusing them) and "sex tourism", even if the child abuse has taken place outside the EU.

The European Council has agreed on the key elements of the new strategy for jobs and growth, the EU 2020 strategy. To president Van Rompuy, who chaired the meeting on 25-26 March, the strategy sums up the European model of social market economy with a strong environmental dimension.

The Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (AECI) has launched a call for proposals for the work programme 2010"Intelligent Energy for Europe". The budget of the call is EUR 56 million.