European Union News - 11 January 2011

Members of the Internal Committee of the European Parliament voted on 10 January 2010 to endorse a new EU regulation on the marketing of construction products. According to these new rules construction products containing hazardous substances will have to be clearly labelled as such in order to protect the health and safety of construction workers and users of construction works.

On 11 January, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou, and President of the All-China Youth Federation, Wang Xiao, opened the EU-China Year of Youth in the presence of 200 young people from the EU and China. This year aims to strengthen and expand people-to-people contacts, intercultural dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation, offering opportunities for young Europeans and Chinese to meet, exchange and learn from each other during 2011 and beyond.

One year after being hit by one of the most terrible natural disasters in recent times which affected more than one million people, political instability in Haiti now prevents EU humanitarian aid to reach the people in need and makes the reconstruction process slower and more complex. This concerns were expressed by the European Commission in taking stock of the situation in the country twelve months after the earthquake.

As Internet connectivity continues to spread, EU citizens and organisations will be subjected both to a larger volume of cyber attacks, and to attacks from previously underconnected areas of the world. Combatting cybercrime will therefore require new international strategic and operational partnerships. These are some of the findings put forward by the recently released  Europol’s iOCTA report.

Europe's network of protected natural areas Natura 2000 has been expanded by nearly 27,000 km2 covering now almost 18% of the EU's landmass and more than 130,000 km2 of its seas. The main countries involved in this latest expansion are the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Spain and Poland. Natura 2000 now represents the centrepiece of Europe's battle to halt biodiversity loss and safeguard ecosystem services.