European Union News - 2008

The Official Journal of the European Union published on November, 12th, 2008, the Council Joint Action 2008/851/CFSP adopted on November, 10th, on a European Union military operation to contribute to the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast. This action comes after the UNSC's and the Council's expressions of concern about the upsurge of piracy attacks off the Somali coast, which affect humanitarian efforts and international maritime traffic in the region and contribute to continued violations of the UN arms embargo.

The European Council published on November, 11th, 2008, Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA, adopted on October, 24th, 2008, on the fight against organised crime. This Decision follows Commission's Communication of March, 2004 about the measures to be taken on the fight against terrorism and other forms of serious crimes.

The EC has published a call for tender related to health and high risk insurance — Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Instrument for Stability.

European Heads of State and Government held, on November 7th, an informal meeting to consult on the negotiating position of the European Union at the G20 summit. The international summit, to be held in Washington on November, 15th, 2008 must pave the way for the reform of the international financial system.

The contract is managed by the Directorate-General Information Society and Media, Directorate C — Lisbon Strategy and Policies for the Information Society.

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of French software vendor ILOG S.A. by the US company International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). 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.

The European Commission published in the Official Journal of the European Union, OJEU, on November, 8th, 2008, the Regulation (EC) Nº 1104/2008, of October 24th, 2008, on migration from the Schengen Information System (SIS 1+) to the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II).

The European Commission proposed fishing possibilities and fishing effort for 2009 for the main stocks in the North-East Atlantic, including the North Sea. This takes account of the latest scientific advice on the state of fish stocks from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), advice from the Commission’s own Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF) and input from stakeholders. Most stocks of fish continue to be overfished in 2008. Highest reductions will be cod, prawns and anglerfish.

The Official Journal of the European Union has published the European Commission consolidated financial statements for the financial year 2007 with a surplus of EUR 7,462 million.

The European Commission published on November, 7th, some new legislative texts on the EU Telecom Reform package to take account of the European Parliament vote of September, 24th, 2008 and the ongoing discussions in the Council. At the heart of the compromise texts is a new, small and independent office for Europe's Telecom regulators that should help the Commission to bring about more consistency to regulatory measures on Europe's Telecom markets.

The European Commission's Interoperable Delivery of European eGovernment Services to public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC) Project delivered on October 20th, a draft of the 'Guidelines on public procurement and Open Source Software', at the Open Source World conference held in Malaga. The guidelines show how public administrations can end discrimination against Open Source in public tenders.

The European Union published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) of November 7th, 2008, a Call for Proposals on European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST). COST promotes within the EU new research networks, with an innovative, interdisciplinary and general character.