European Union News - 17 April 2013

The European Commission announced that the 2013 practical exercise, named “Common Challenge” that simulates terrorist attacks in nine different EU member states in different areas of public life, will be carried out on April 17 and 18 by the Atlas Network. This network is an association consisting of special police units of the 27 EU member states working on countering terrorism and criminal acts.

The Permanent Representatives Committee of the Council endorsed the compromise reached between the Council and the European Parliament in their negotiations on a new financial and governance framework for the European satellite navigation systems (EGNOS and Galileo) for the period covered by the multi-annual financial framework for 2014-2020.

The Council recommendation that aims to ensure that all young people under the age of 25 who lose their job or do not find work after leaving education quickly receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship, the so-called "youth guarantee" schemes, was approved by the Permanent Representatives Committee.

The European Commission published the EU-wide test results for horsemeat DNA and phenylbutazone made in the wake of the horsemeat scandal. The results have revealed that less than 5% of the tested products had horse DNA and that about 0.5% of the equine carcasses tested were found to be contaminated with bute.

The European Parliament adopted in plenary session a banking reform package that should spur growth, by making it easier for banks to lend to small firms that drive the real economy. This reform includes measures such as capping banker's bonuses to curb speculative risk-taking, stepping up capital provisions to help banks cope better with crises, and stiffen supervision.