European Union News - 2008

As the programmes have now reached an advanced stage of maturity and have gone well beyond the framework of simple research projects, it is necessary to give them a specific legal basis which is better able to satisfy their needs and respond to the requirement for sound financial management. For that reason, Regulation (EC) nº 683/2008 of the Parliament and the Council, published in the OJEU lays down the rules for the further implementation of the programmes, including those on governance and the financial contribution of the Community.

According to provisional data from the Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, the EU27 external current account recorded a deficit of 26.5 billion euro in the first quarter of 2008, compared with a deficit of 30.4 bn in the first quarter of 2007 and a deficit of 7.3 bn in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The Directorate-General for Information Society and Media, Directorate C - Lisbon Strategy and Policies for the Information Society has launched a tender to study  indicators in monitoring the implementation of ICT research in Sixth and Seventh Framework Programme.

The Official Journal of the European Union published on July 23rd a Communication from the Commission to all farmers concerning set aside from 2009. The proposal is the logical follow-up of Council Regulation (EC) No 1107/2007 fixing the rate for compulsory set aside at zero in 2008.

Those guidelines are part of the Community actions aiming to the dynamization of the railway sector, which have included legilative developments for liberalization of the sector and interoperability of the rail european network. As a third pilar,  the Commission considers this support to be justified in certain circumstances in view of the substantial adaptation costs necessary in that industry.

On the 22nd July the Official Journal of the European Union has published the Common Position (EC) No 15/2008 adopted by the Council on 6 June 2008 with a view to adopting Directive about establishing the fundamental principles governing the investigation of accidents in the maritime transport sector and amending Directives 1999/35/EC and 2002/59/EC

In July 22nd the Official Journal of the European Union published the Summary of the Commission Decision declaring the concentration between Google and Double Click compatible with the common market and the functioning of the EEA Agreement. This Decision was accompanied by the positive opinion of the Advisory Committee on Mergers, and the Final report of the Hearing Officer.

On the 22nd July the Official Journal of the European Union has published the Common Position (EC) No 15/2008 adopted by the Council on 6 June 2008 with a view to adopting Directive about  Community vessel traffic monitoring and information system.

The Official Journal of the European Union has published last 18th July the Commission Decision of 11 July 2008 amending Decision No 2007/60/EC as regards the modification of the tasks and the period of operation of the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency.

The Commission, in a Decision published in the Official Journal of the European Union in July 21st, established the bodies that for their special nature have the right to access certain confidential data for scientific purposes

The Official Journal of the European Union has published last 19 July it has published the non-opposition to a notified concentration agreed on 11 July 2008 by the competition services of the Commission. It has been declared compatible with the common market. This decision is based on Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.

The purpose of the Green Paper is to foster a debate on how knowledge for research, science and education can best be disseminated in the online environment. The Green Paper aims to set out a number of issues connected with the role of copyright in the "knowledge economy" and intends to launch a consultation on these issues.