<Tenders, Govt contracts & EU funding for SMEs / >

European Commission presented the High Level Group on Logistics (HLGL) which has been set up to provide strategic advice on the future transport policy measures with impact on logistics. At its first meeting, the discussion focused on the main bottlenecks that hinder freight logistics and transport.

The European Commission adopted the detailed rules aimed at reducing the risk of settlement failures linked to naked short selling, as well as the means by which market participants should disclose significant short positions to the market. Also, the new rules also detail how ESMA is to determine the shares which are exempt from the Short Selling Regulation by virtue of their principal trading venue being outside the Union.

According to Eurostat, in 2011, EU residents made 1.2 billion trips for both leisure and business. In addition, as for total trips, holiday trips made by EU residents rose strongly between 2006 and 2008 and then remained nearly stable between 2008 and 2011.

The European Commission announced that the two-year transition period for the organic food sector to comply with new EU labelling rules is reaching its end. As from 1 July 2012, the EU organic logo will be obligatory on all pre-packaged organic food products produced in EU Member States which meet the necessary standards.

Herman Van Rompuy President of the European Council, announced among other things, that the Council agreed that Member States will boost the financing of the economy by mobilising around €120 billion for immediate growth measures. In addition, Member States from the euro area asked to the Council to consider the possibility of recapitalizing banks directly under certain conditions.