European Union News - August 2012

Per capita CO2 emissions in China reach EU levels in 2011, according to what it was reported by the Joint Research Centre. In particular, in China, the world’s most populous country, average emissions of CO2 increased by 9% to 7.2 tonnes per capita. In the European Union, CO2 emissions dropped by 3% to 7.5 tonnes per capita. The United States remain one of the largest emitters of CO2, with 17.3 tonnes per capita.

The figures published by Eurostat show that the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11.3% in July 2012, stable compared with June. Also it was stable the EU unemployment rate, at 10.4% in July 2012. Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg, and the highest in Spain and Greece.

Researchers from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), universities and hospitals across Ireland, France, Finland and the United Kingdom work in a new project aimed at finding a test that would reduce the diagnosis time of respiratory tract infections from days to hours, so that the appropriate treatments can be administered as early as possible.

The meeting organised by the Cyprus Presidency with EU Senior Officials, and that focused on cultural issues, had as a main conclusion that evidence-based cultural policies can contribute to economic and social development.

The Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area edged up by 0.06 points to ‑1.21 in August 2012. By contrast, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) decreased markedly by 2.0 points in the EU, to 87.0, and by 1.8 points in the euro area, to 86.1. In both areas, the loss in confidence was particularly strong among consumers, retail trade and construction managers.

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and European Commissioner Štefan Füle following the outcome of the review by Ukraine’s Higher Specialized Court for Civil and Criminal Cases of the verdict against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, stressed the importance for the Ukrainian authorities to redress the effects of selective justice. This would also require implementation of further judicial reform steps. At the same time, the European Commission published a call for proposals for projects to support justice sector reforms in Ukraine.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will allocate a €10 million credit line to Intesa Sanpaolo Bank for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The European Commission has started a phase II (in-depth investigation) under the EU Merger Regulation into the proposed acquisition of Aer Lingus by the low cost carrier Ryanair. The European Institution believes that the takeover could lead to the elimination of actual and potential competition on a large number of European routes.

The Green Paper on "Marine Knowledge" adopted by the European Commission launches a consultation on how to know more about what is happening under the sea through to create a digital seabed map of European waters by 2020. Among other things, the consultation pretends gather views on the collecting all existing data into one coherent database accessible to everyone for creating the seabed map of European waters.

Following his meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, highlighted that progress on the banking union is particularly urgent. He added that setting up a single banking supervisor covering all banks in the euro area is key in this context. In addition to this, he assured that the euro is irreversible, and Greece's future is undoubtedly in the euro area.

The European Commission launched a public consultation to prepare future EU activities in order to achieve further integration and the opening-up of national research infrastructures. The consultation seeks possible topics for future activities for integrating and opening national research infrastructures. The contributions can be made until the 22 October 2012.

The European Commission announced, in the context of Annual Action Programme 2012 adoption, the allocation of new funding for Armenia. The new funding will be addressed to accelerate justice reform and preparing the ground for increased bilateral relations, political association and economic integration with the EU.