EU News - 2008

International Coffee Agreement 2007

The European Union published on the 27th March 2008 the Council decision on the signing and conclusion by the European Community of the International Coffee Agreement 2007.

On 28th September 2007 the International Coffee Council (ICC) adopted the text of a new 2007 Agreement replacing the International Coffee Agreement 2001 which had been extended to 30th September 2008. In the discussions on the Agreement the Community negotiated on the basis of the negotiating mandate and directives proposed by the Commission and approved by the Council on 29th January 2007.

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Commission approves proposed acquisition of Aearo by 3M

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Aearo, a US producer of protective equipment, by the US company 3M. After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

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Commission authorises GM maize GA21

The European Commission on the 28th of March 2008, adopted a Decision authorising the GM maize GA21 for feed and food use and for import and processing. In fact, the placing on the market of food and feed produced from GA21 is already authorised in the EU.

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EU leadership when it comes to Climate change

For the EU it is essential that the forthcoming global agreement sets the objective of limiting global warming to no more than 2°C above the pre-industrial level in order to prevent climate change from reaching dangerous levels at which irreversible and possibly catastrophic changes could occur. Keeping within this temperature ceiling will require worldwide emissions of greenhouse gases to be cut by more than 50% of 1990 levels by mid-century.

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Formal negotiations on new UN climate agreement get under way


The European Union will be pressing for solid progress when formal negotiations to draw up a new United Nations climate change agreement start on 31 March in Bangkok, Thailand. The week-long meeting marks the first negotiating session since the UN climate conference in Bali last December decided to conclude the agreement by the end of 2009. The new agreement is intended to take effect once the Kyoto Protocol's targets for limiting greenhouse gas emissions from developed countries have expired in 2012.

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Ecological criteria for the award maintained until October 31, 2009

The European Commission has published an amendment of the Decision 2005/338/EC in order to prolong the validity of the ecological criteria for the award of the Community eco-label to campsite service for 18 months which means that the criteria awards will remain until October 31, 2009.

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Border controls to be lifted at airports on 30 March

On 21 December 2007, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia became part of the Schengen area. On Sunday 30 March 2008 at 0:00, the enlargement process will be completed by lifting air border controls between these countries and with the 15 states that were already part of the Schengen system.

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Community litigation increase 10% in the last year.

The statistics concerning the Court of Justice’s judicial activity in 2007 reveal a distinct improvement compared with the preceding year. In particular, the reduction, for the fourth year in a row, of the duration of proceedings before the Court should be noted, as should the increase of approximately 10% in the number of cases completed compared with 2006.

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Cooperation between Eurosystem and Bank of Russia

The Eurosystem – comprising the European Central Bank (ECB) and the 15 national central banks of the euro area – and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia) launched last March 20, 2008 a three-year cooperation programme in the areas of banking supervision and internal audit.

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Operational Programme 2007-13: South East Europe

Transnational Co-operation Programme for a European area in transition on the way to integration "South East Europe (SEE)" 2007-2013 under the European Territorial Cooperation Objective co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

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Better supervision of the structural funds

The Budgetary Control Committee is insisting on the setting up of a joint Parliament-Commission group to follow up in particular the supervision of the structural funds. This was the major development from Wednesday's votes in the committee, which saw all the EU's institutions and agencies accorded a recommendation that Parliament grant discharge for their financial management in 2006.

Despite repeated threats of a postponement, the Budgetary Control Committee is recommending that the Commission be granted discharge for its implementation of Community expenditure in 2006.

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2009 EU budget: Parliament's priorities

Among issues already influencing the debate on next year's EU budget are the European Parliament's new legislative and budgetary powers if the Lisbon Treaty is ratified and the membership of the next Commission and EP. Two reports adopted by the EP Budgets Committee on Thursday highlight MEPs' priorities and concerns in this context.

A report by Jutta Haug (PES, DE) on the budget framework and priorities for 2009 is the first programming text adopted by MEPs as part of preparations for the EU's next annual budget. It take account of the changes set to take place in 2009 that will have a major impact on the budget. Some are linked to the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty: the shift in the EP-Council balance of budgetary power in Parliament's favour and the scrapping of the distinction between compulsory and non-compulsory spending.  Others will follow from the 2009 European elections and the end of the present Commission's mandate. The MEPs elected in 2009 must be ready to use the new budget procedure in time for the 2010 budget.

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