European Union News - 07 November 2011

A British team of researchers with EU funding from the European Research Council (ERC) has discovered more than 100 fortified farms and villages with castle-like structures and several towns, most dating from AD 1-500 in Libya’s south-western desert using satellites and air-photographs.

The European Commission is establishing a Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom in Florence thanks to a grant of €600,000. The new Centre is foreseen to start in December 2011 under the Professor Pier Luigi Parcu presidency. Its main objective is to develop new ideas on how to ensure a highly diverse and free media.

The European Medicines Agency hosted the first workshop on 27 and 28 October 2011 which assembled European and international experts to discuss the way forward in developing ophthalmology medicines. The participants also tackled the development of treatment in childhood eye disorders and they agreed that further discussion and research is needed before they can provide guidance in other areas such as trial designs and endpoints in inflammation of the eye.
 

Going Local 2011 initiative from the European Commission in the framework of the Digital Agenda has its next stop in Spain. This edition will be celebrated with two different events, one in Madrid (digital contents) and the second one in Sevilla where topics such as the spectrum, eGovernment and social innovation topics will be discussed.

The Commission on behalf of the EU signed an agreement with Israel that will allow the EU’s Galileo global-navigation satellite system to establish a satellite receiving station in Israel. In addition, it has been also signed a deal on deepening cooperation in the field of tourism.