European Union News - March 2012

The public consultation now launched by the Commission is aimed at gathering views on the transparency and comparability of bank account fees, bank account switching and access to a basic bank account. The consultation, which will be available in all EU official languages, will run until 12 June 2012.

According to many delegations which met at the latest meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, the CAP reform package presented by the Commission does not take very much into account the six principles outlined in March 2011. Most of European Ministers also were agreed that the introduction of a definition of active farmer could significantly increase the administrative burden. Ministers also were briefed on the Russian ban of EU livestock and about the current drought situation in the Iberian Peninsula.

The European e-Skills Week opening event took place in Brussels on 19 March in Brussels. This years' theme is “There is a job waiting for you”, with the main aim to mobilise stakeholders to inform young people on how to acquire e-skills and find jobs in the digital economy. Thus, numerous activities and events will take place during the e-Skills Week in Europe.

The Regional Development Committee at the European Parliament approved a proposal in which MEPs agreed that sharing investment risks by public and private investors could help to kick-start stalled regional development projects. Thus, Member States benefiting from EU macroeconomic assistance would be able to ask for part of their allocation of EU regional funding to be transferred to the European Commission for use in a risk-sharing scheme.
 

The European Commission and Europa Nostra have announced the winners of the Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards. The awards will be presented on 1 June during a ceremony at the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon. At the ceremony, six projects of 28 now selected will be named as 'grand prix' laureates as 2012’s most outstanding heritage achievements.
 

Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative signed on behalf of the EU two agreements with Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad that will enable the building of a medium-scale wastewater treatment plant in Tubas and Tayasir areas in the West Bank (€22 million) and the upgrading of border crossing infrastructure at the Karem Abu Salem/Kerem Shalom crossing point (€13million).

In the framework of the Water Forum and in order to prepare the Rio+20 summit, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) president, Mercedes Bresso and CoR vice-president Valcárcel Siso asked to encourage networking on the issue of water, both within Europe and in the broader perspective of sustainable development at a global level.

European Ministers on Fisheries held a debate on the main regulation proposals of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform “package”. In addition, they adopted conclusions with regard to the external dimension of the Common Fisheries Policy. Ministers agreed on the issue of a discard ban but the views differed concerning the modalities of the implementation of a discard ban.

On the Green Paper published now, the Commission wonders on how existing and proposed EU measures already address shadow banking activities. In this context, it questions on five key areas relating to banking which are asset management, securities lending and repurchase agreements, securitisation, and other shadow banking entities.

Courts, associations and legal professionals, prosecutor's offices, non-governmental organisations, or any other entity responsible for justice affairs in the Member States of the Council of Europe or the European Union can now apply to the 2012 edition of the European "Crystal Scales of Justice" prize for innovative practices contributing to the efficiency and quality of civil justice.

Fisheries Ministers adopted a general approach in which they states its position on the controversial of "shark finning". According to this general approach, the Council is in line of the Commission's proposal to suppress the derogation that would mean sharks can only be landed with their fins attached. The Council now awaits the position of the European Parliament, before it will formalise its position.

The euro area balance of payments in January 2012 recorded a surplus of €4.5 billion. In the financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment recorded net outflows of €53 billion (non-seasonally adjusted). In addition, the ECB also published that the amount outstanding of shares/units issued by euro area investment funds other than money market funds was €220 billion higher in January 2012 than in December 2011.