European Union News - September 2010

200 delegates from over 27 countries taking part at the ECEI10 meeting held in Brussels, came to the conclusion that the role of the librarian will not longer be a mere book collector, but instead a guide through Internet. They also suggest that public libraries communicate more about the added value they can offer.

European researchers are attempting to unravel the causes of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders by examining the role that genes and different environments play in the onset of these conditions. Epidemiologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, neuroscientists, pharmacologists, biostatisticians, and geneticists will all play a role in this unique large-scale project.

After a year of negotiations, the European Parliament has given on 22 September its final approval to a series of legislative measures in order to reform EU financial supervision system. This package of reforms will make a fundamental change in the way banks, stock markets and insurance companies are policed as of 2011.

Over the last decade, the Grundtvig Programme has helped European adults to boost their skills and employability by providing financial support for training courses and learning mobility. In these ten years, the programme has invested 370 million Euro in the adult education sector and provided 17,000 grants for organisations involving an estimated 500,000 participants.

During the European Parliament plenary session, the chamber approved a resolution stressing the need for adequate financial resources as well as adequate measures for disaster prevention. The plan includes legislation to establish a Community policy on water scarcity, stronger punishment of arson, an EU-wide disaster insurance scheme and more flexible mobilization of the Solidarity Fund.

With view to lay down general rules governing the agreements with third countries concerning the exchange of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, the European Commission adopted on 21 September a series of measures which define EU external strategy, as well as recommendations for the negotiation of agreements with third countries.

The European Commission has adopted on 21 September a five-year strategy for promoting equality between women and men in Europe. With this strategy, based in five top priorities, the Commission aims for a better use of women's potential, contributing to the EU's overall economic and social goals.

The European Parliament has backed a set of proposals aiming to encourage cross-border e-trading and build consumer confidence. In this proposal, MEPs call to put in place measures in order to increase transparency and foster cross-border payment systems.

The European Commission has announced the launch of the contest “Young Reporters Against Poverty”, inviting all journalism students in EU Member States to send in a report on development issues to be selected to cover the European Development Days in Brussels in December. Works can be submitted by 29 October.

President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, announced in his statement at the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals, held in New York on 20 September 2010, that the European Union will be contributing to the most committed and needy countries an MDG initiative amounting to 1 billion Euro to make progress on those goals.

The European Commission has been tackling the urbanisatios issue head-on. It recently published the 'World and European Sustainable Cities' report, which highlights European research activities designed to reconcile urbanisation with the need for sustainable and inclusive growth.

During the second day of the Conference on Energy challenges facing European Industry, several experts and speakers stressed that the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 30% by 2020 is technically and financially achievable.