European Union News - August 2011

A new European study shows how an organism has the capacity to create a biological memory of a variable factor like temperature or nutrition. According to the research team, the environment of an individual can actually affect the biology of physiology of their offspring but there is no change to the genome sequence.

€3 million in EU funding will be earmarked to conduct a study and pilot aimed at fostering collaboration and integration between groups of ports and intermodal door-to-door transport solutions which be mainly invested in ports from Italy, Greece, Slovenia and Spain. The activity is part of TEN-T Priority Project 21 “Motorways of the Sea”.

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barrosso and the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy stated in different press releases its confidence on the euro area, specially with regard to the latest developments in the sovereign bond markets of Italy and Spain.

According to the Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, in June 2011, the volume of retail trade up by 0,9% in euro area and by 0,7% in the EU compared with May. Compared with the same month last year, the retail sales index decreased by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.2% in the EU.

An EU-funded study is working to analyse whether robots and computers have the capacity to do the same thing and then, to develop sophisticated computer vision systems capable of recognising facial expressions. Progressing on recognising facial expressions by computers will serve to develop the next generation of life-changing software and robots and there will be the opportunity to create socially aware companion robots and graphical characters.

The European Commission has made available the results of the public consultation on a possible successor instrument to the EU programme for employment and social solidarity (Progress 2007-2013). The results reveal strong support for the continuation of Progress activities. This feed into a legislative proposal for a successor instrument which will be presented by the Commission in October 2011.

The European Commission has proposed in its website some interesting festival in which to have fun this summer. With this initiative, it wants to show how Europe is rich in different cultural offers.

Fusion for Energy (F4E) and COMSA EMTE, a Spanish company with a proven track record in the field of construction have signed a contract for building the ITER platform which aims to become one of Europe’s biggest engineering sites. The objective of the contract, which is expected to run for at least one year and with a budget of approximately €11 millions to make the necessary adaptations on the ITER site, deliver the required amenities for a workforce of 3,000 people.

The European Commission wants to encourage the participation of women in innovative enterprises. With the EU Prize for Women Innovators, three women innovators will be rewarded for their hard work and success on Europe's research scene, developing, managing and commercialising the results. The condition to apply is that at some point during their careers women were or have been beneficiaries of EU funding for projects under the RTD Framework Programme (FP) or the Competitive and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP).

The European Commission approved under the simplified merger review procedure the acquisition of Popular Gestión, a Spanish asset management company, by Banco Popular Español S.A. ("BPE", Spain) and Allianz SE ("Allianz", Germany).

According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, in June 2011 compared with May 2011, prices in total industry excluding the energy sector increased by 0.1% in both the euro area and the EU. However, prices in the energy sector fell by 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.

Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy and Commission Vice President announced the extension of restrictive measures against Syrian individuals responsible for and associated with repression. On the 2 of August, the decision has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.