European Union News - 2008

On the 9th June 2008, the European Commission published Information communicated by Member States regarding State aid granted under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1857/2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State
aid to small and medium-sized enterprises active in the production of agricultural products and amending Regulation (EC) No 70/2001. One of the aid schemes concerned has been a lotted to the entire Member state of Ireland which aims to identify and source the supply of Irish tested superior genetics to the beef and dairy farmers and to build a knowledge base with the information.

The European Commission published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) on the 7th June 2008, a new call for porposals related to the application of acctions from the wider Culture Programme (2007- 2013). The call for Proposals has a total budget of  45,3 millon euros for 2009.

On the 7th June 2008, the European Commission released information from European institutions and bodies  concerning the Authorisation for State aid pursuant to Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty Cases where the Commission raises no objections. One of the aids schemes granted was for the United Kingdom forestry sector due to start on the 31st July 2008 lasting until the 31st of July 2013.

Laparoscopic or 'keyhole' surgery is about to become safer and more efficient thanks to ALF-X, a new surgical tele-robotics system with innovative tactile sensing capabilities. The system, to be presented on the 6th of June 2008 for the first time at the 17th Annual Congress of the International Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy in Bari (Italy), represents a breakthrough in tele-robotic surgery. It was developed by scientists from the JRC Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen (IPSC) and the pharmaceutical company SOFAR S.p.A..

Scientists from the JRC Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU) presented their activities on the new generation of nuclear reactors and the development of new types of nuclear fuels at the Annual Meeting on Nuclear Technology 2008. The event, the largest nuclear conference in Germany with more than 1300 participants, was held by the Deutsches Atomforum e.V. (German Atomic Forum) and the Kerntechnische Gesellschaft e.V. (German Nuclear Society) in Hamburg on May 27 - 29, 2008. The variety of topics covered almost all aspects of the civil use of nuclear energy. Numerous papers were presented by experts from research, industry and politics outlining viewpoints and recent research findings.

The Employment,Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council will meet in Luxembourg on 9 and 10 June. Employment and Social affairs will be discussed on 9 June under the presidency of Ms Marjeta Cotman, Slovenian Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs. The European Commission will be represented by Vladimír Špidla, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Two longstanding directives – Working Time and Temporary Agency Workers – are on the agenda for political agreement by Ministers of Employment and Social Affairs. The health points will be taken on 10 June with the Council being chaired by Ms Zofija Mazej Kukovič, Slovenian Minister for Health. The Commission will be represented by Commissioner Vassiliou.

The Justice and Home Affairs Council 5-6 June has reached political agreement on a Commission proposal for a Directive on the identification and designation of European Critical Infrastructure (ECI) and the assessment of the need to improve their protection. The entry into force of the Directive is envisaged before the end of 2008.

On the 6th June 2008 the European Commission published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) the Council's conclusions of 22 May 2008 on multilingualism in the European Union.

The European Parliament wants to guarantee the highest possible food hygiene safety while giving flexibility to exempt especially micro-enterprises from certain obligations under the food hygiene regulation concerning the HACCP - system (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point), a system to ensure and to control the EU food hygiene rules.

On the 6th June 2008 the EC published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ), the Council regulation (EC) No 479/2008 of 29 April 2008 on the common organisation of the market in wine, amending Regulations (EC) No 1493/1999, (EC)
No 1782/2003, (EC) No 1290/2005, (EC) No 3/2008 and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 2392/86 and (EC) No 1493/1999.

The European Commission has decided to pursue infringement procedures against 15 Member States for failure to implement the Third Anti-Money Laundering Directive in national law. The Commission will send formal requests to Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Slovakia. These formal requests take the form of "reasoned opinions", the second stage of the infringement procedure laid down in Article 226 of the EC Treaty. If there is no satisfactory reply within two months, the Commission may refer the matter to the European Court of Justice. The Directive should have been implemented by 15 December 2007.

This Directive is the result of the reform of the system of recognition of professional qualifications undertaken by the Commission in order to promote flexibility on the labour markets, further liberalise the provision of services, make the recognition of qualifications more automatic and simplify administrative procedures.