European Union News - 2008

As the EU celebrated the ten year aniversary of the the euro currency, adopted by the European Counil in 1998, Esolvakia received the go ahead to join the euro area in 2009.

On the 8th May 2008, the European Union published the council decision from the 4th March 2008 concerning the adoption of the SIRENE Manual and other implementing measures for the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). The manual will prove a useful handbook for operators of the SIS II system and for facilitating work by the SIRENE Bureau.

The European Commission has published two new Calls for Proposals within the support framework of the European audiovisual sector called MEDIA 2007. The calls have a total budget of 7.9 million euros. The calls are for Support to Video on Demand and Digital Cinema Distribution and Support for the implementation of Pilot Projects.

The European Union has published a regulation from 7 May 2008 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2000 introducing exceptional trade measures for countries and territories participating in or linked to the European Union's Stabilisation and Association process. The regulation concerns import and export duties between vaious member states.

The European Commission decided on the 7th May 2008 to lodge a case to the Court of Justice over the incorrect transposition by Poland into its national law of EU legislation on the Community system to monitor the traffic of ships in EU waters.

The European Commission concluded, on the 7th May 2008, that Slovakia meets the criteria for adopting the euro and made a proposal to the Council to this effect. The regular Convergence Report on euro readiness, adopted by the Commission, shows that another nine countries, that were investigated, with a so-called 'derogation' have made progress on the road to the single currency, but do not yet meet all the conditions for euro adoption.

In the Official Jounral of the European Union (OJ), a decision dated the 7th of May 2008 has been published concerned with the setting up the High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the Agro-Food Industry which will be functioning until the 1st November 2009.

The European Commission, through the The Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), have organised a Call for applications from individual experts for technical assistance to third countries in the area of humanitarian aid.

60 Heads of State and Government from the EU Member States, Latin America and the Caribbean will gather in Lima, Peru, on May the 16th for the V EU-LAC Summit. The EU and Latin American and Caribbean leaders will debate two key themes for the bi-regional agenda: poverty reduction and social cohesion; and environment, climate change and sustainable development.

On the 7th of May 2008, the European Commission have published noticies from Member states in the Offical Jounral of the European Union (OJ). Information communicated by Member States was 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.

On 24 April 2008, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration by which the undertaking Nokia Corporation (‘Nokia’, Finland) acquires control of the whole of the undertaking Trolltech ASA (‘Trolltech’, Norway) by way of a public bid announced on 28 January 2008.

The European Commission is sending nine Member States first written warnings for failing to issue new or updated permits for over 9,000 industrial installations already in operation across Europe. These Member States did not satisfactorily issue these permits by the 30 October 2007 deadline.