European Union News - August 2012

In order to help modernising Georgia's agriculture, the European Commission announced the allocation of new EU funding to this country's programme. It will also help to build up the institutions responsible for preparing its political association and economic integration with the EU.

Catherine Ashton, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy visited Somalia to underline the EU's commitment to contributing to better governance, development and security in this country following the end of its eight-year transition period.

Businesses will be allowed to use carbon units from the Australian emissions trading scheme or the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for compliance under either system, under the new agreement reached between Australia and European Commission.

A report published by the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) shows that millions of citizens and businesses were seriously impacted by Cyber security incidents. However, most incidents are not reported or not even detected.

The European Commission published a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the application of EU antitrust rules in the motor vehicle sector. The FAQs are based on input and queries received during the initial period of application of the new rules, and are particularly addressed to stakeholders.

Aarhus has been recommended to be European Capital of Culture 2017 by the independent selection panel assessing the cities for this title. Cyprus is the other Member State in which a city will host the title in five years' time. The two winning cities will be formally nominated by the EU's Council of Ministers in May 2013.

The European Commission published a Communication that outlines how future EU aid should work to help putting in place social protection policies and systems. In particular, it explains how EU development cooperation can support the strengthening these policies and systems.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) published a report on the eve of the World Water Week (26 - 31 August), which recommends better integration of coordinated spatial planning and water management within the European Union.

The report published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) shows a general decrease in dietary exposure to dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs, comparing the period 2008-2010 with 2002-2004, of at least 16% and up to 79% for the general population. These toxic substances may cause cancer over time.

A team of researchers funded in part with EU funds have discovered that energy produced from the planet's oceans can increase twofold when novel methods for predicting wave power are used. In particular, they developed a way to accurately predict the power of the next wave to extract more energy than double what is generated today. Even though, researchers believe that more subsidies are needed in this field to continue the research.

In the context of the EU Azerbaijan Action Plan, the European Commission announced new funding allocations for Azerbaijan to help reform the institutions responsible for bilateral relations with the EU. The new support will focus on the implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan priorities and institutional reforms.

The ICT Proposers' Day, a unique networking opportunity to build partnerships and projects targeting the new Information and Communication Technologies Work Programme for 2013, and that will be held in 26-27 September, Warsaw, Poland, counts already with 1000 participants who have registered.