Commission recommends granting EU candidate status to Albania subject to completion of key reform steps
The European Commission outlined next steps for EU enlargement in the annual Enlargement Package presented by Commissioner Stefan Füle. The Commission recommends to open accession negotiations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; granting EU candidate status to Albania; proposes negotiating a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Kosovo; and it also confirmed that Croatia is on track in its membership preparations. In a set of annual reports, the Commission also assesses the progress towards EU accession made elsewhere in the Western Balkans, Turkey, and Iceland over the past year.
Read more …European retailers want to move to a resource efficient economy
At the Retail Forum in Brussels celebrated on 9 October, European retailers highlighted that is needed to move to a resource efficient economy, and looking to the sustainability goals they had set themselves in key areas in precious years, such as selling more green products, they noted strong progress.
Read more …The Commission presents its proposals to boost the European industry
The European Commission presented three documents aimed at fostering industry sector. The proposals include an Industry Communication calling for short term focussed investment in key industry sectors with high growth prospects; the 2012 Scoreboard on the Member States industrial competitiveness performance; and also the 2012 European Competitiveness Report, which identifies opportunities to make European industries more competitive.
Read more …The 2012 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought has its finalists
This year Ales Bialiatski, Pussy Riot and Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi are the three finalists shortlisted for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The laureate will be announced on Friday, 26 October
Read more …11 member states agreed to move forward the financial transaction tax proposal
The financial transaction tax proposal – the so-called Tobin tax, has been requested to the Council by 11 member states. Now member states must submit a request to the Commission, specifying the scope and the objectives of the enhanced cooperation, and the Commission may submit a proposal to the Council to that effect. On the other hand, the Council adopted a decision modifying the conditions underpinning financial assistance to Portugal, granting it an additional year, until 2014, to correct its excessive deficit.
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