European Union News - 2008

The Agency is currently working towards the modification of its mandate and an extension of its lifespan. Once this has been approved, the Agency will recruit over 50 new staff to various positions including those in project management, legal affairs, financing engineering, GIS systems, finance, IT and administration. Deadline for applications is 8 May 2008.

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) have done the formal adoption on 23 April 2008 of the European Qualifications Framework. The way is clear now for Member States to adopt this voluntary scheme that will promote lifelong learning and mobility by making it easier to understand and compare individuals' qualifications around Europe.

The JRC has informed last 23 April that it is opened the Impact Assessment tools website, IA TOOLS, to the public. This online platform provides policy actors and impact assessment practitioners throughout Europe with a repository of guidance, information and best practices for impact assessment of new policies and legislative measures.

The European Commision competition servicies authorisated State aid pursuant to Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty for the Agriculture and Horticulture Development in the United Kigdom. The official text has been published in the OJ last 23 april 2008.

The Official Journal of the European Union has published the final position of the European Commision in relation to the case of concentration between Syniverse and BSG group by way of purchase of shares.

Parliament signed off the accounts of all the EU's institutions and agencies for the financial year 2006. However, it is also calling for the creation of a joint Parliament-Commission group to monitor the Commission's supervision of the structural funds and certain other matters.

The European Commission has Published in the OJ (Official Journal of the European Union) a call for proposals under the ‘Capacities’ work programme of the 7th EC Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities. The European Commission (EC) wants young researchers and technicians.

The European Commission has presented to the European Parliament its regular report on the openness of the European market to imports from developing countries.

The European Parliament adopted a non-binding report on a proposal for closer cooperation between EU Member States in the fight against terrorism and cross-border crime. The EP backs the plans but wants to beef up the rules on personal data protection. The report was adopted with 529 votes in favour, 65 against and 24 abstentions.

In order to support the exchange of experience amongst innovation practitioners in Europe's regions and cities detailed case studies of 122 different projects co-financed under the Cohesion Policy of the European Union are now available. These case studies concern the 26 RegioStars 2008 finalists and 58 further case studies from the Objective 1 and Objective 2 programmes 2000-2006. The new project descriptions complement the 38 cases from the regional programmes of innovative actions 2000-2006 published already in 2007.

The Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI) has released a call for proposals for CIP ‘Eco-innovation pilot and market replication projects’. The call has been earmarked 28 million euros will be aimed at supporting innovation and small and medium-sized enterprises.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson called, on the 21st April 2008, the issue of investment "unfinished globalisation" for EU and Japan. In a speech in Tokyo, Mandelson said that barriers to investment had kept productive EU investment out of the Japanese economy, despite the fact that Europe had been welcoming such investment for decades. Noting that in 2006, for every dollar Japan had invested in Europe, European companies had only invested three cents in Japan, he said that balancing the EU-Japan investment relationship should be a key goal of EU-Japanese economic ties.