European Union News - 2012

The European Parliament representatives at the working group drafting the international agreement on a reinforced economic union stressed the need to base all decisions on normal EU procedure in order to ensure democratic accountability. They also called on Member States to establish a national debt reduction fund and to adopt a roadmap towards eurobonds.

Pancretan Cooperative Bank Ltd (PCB) is joining the group of microcredit providers under Progress Microfinance. PCB will therefore be able to offer up to €6 millions of microloans to Greek micro-entrepreneurs. This is the first time there is a Greek microcredit provider under Progress Microfinance.

Using EU research funding, scientists and surgeons from France, Germany, United Kingdom and Switzerland have developed a "virtual liver" which will help surgeons better plan and carry out tumour operations and ensure quicker patient recovery. The virtual software being used in the project is based on open source technology.

According to Eurostat, industrial new orders were higher in October 2011 compared with September 2011. In particular, the increase was by 1.8% in euro area and by 0.5% in EU27. On the other hand, in November compared with October 2011, the industrial producer price up by 0.2% in euro area and by 0,3% in EU27.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) eventually followed the European Ombudsman's recommendation to release the adverse reaction reports related to Septrin, a medicine for the treatment of bacterial infections. EMA disclosed the documents after removing personal data.

The establishment of an Urban Development Fund will boost the investment to revitalise six major cities in Bulgaria. The funds will be provided by private investors and from the JESSICA funds, which is manage by the European Investment Bank. The investment will be addressed to urban projects located in the cities of Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse, Stara Zagora and Pleven in the next four years.

2.8% is the Euro area annual inflation is expected in December 2011 according to the flash estimation published by Eurostat. In November 2011 the Euro area annual inflation was 3.0%.

In most cases, the EU institutions reply positively to the European Ombudsman. P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, the European Ombudsman, however, has expressed his concern about the high number of unsatisfactory follow-up replies (10 out of 33) which the European Commission provided in response to his critical remarks.

Two new European projects, AMITRAN ('Assessment methodologies for ICT in multimodal transport from user behaviour to CO2 reduction') and INGOS ('Integrated non-CO2 greenhouse gas observation system') launched with the aim to investigate how to measure greenhouse gases.

2012 is the European Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. The 2012 year's theme is, according to the European Commission, an occasion to reflect on how Europeans are living longer and staying healthier than ever before, and to realise the opportunities that represents. 2011 was the European Year of Volunteering.

The European Commission has extended to 12 weeks the period given to citizens, businesses and non-governmental organisations to comment on plans for new policies and legislation. In addition, the Commission has also introduced an alert service for upcoming initiatives.

The new venture capital investment programme launched by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for early and growth stage companies operating in technology sectors, is a commitment to technology financing in the EBRD region. The programme, which includes a €100 million capital pool, will approximately invest in 10-20 companies in the region over the next four years and will seek to invest alongside leading local and international venture capital investors.