European Union News - 02 June 2009

Social protection expenditure in 2006 within European Union 27 Member states accounted for 26.9% of GDP. This ratio was 27.1% in 2005 and 2004 and 27.2% in 2003. The data delivered by Eurostat last report show important disparities between Member states, which reflect important differences in terms of living standards.

Reaching the 2020 renewable energy targets is expected to lead to around 2.8 million jobs in the renewable energy sector and generate a total value added of around 1.1% of GDP. This is the main conclusion of a European Commission's study on the impact of renewable energy policy on economic growth and employment in the European Union (Employ-RES) which is already available in the Internet. Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said: "This shows that benefits of renewables in terms of security of supply and fighting climate change can go hand in hand with economic benefits".

A new report from the Joint Research Centre (JRC) says that man-made global greenhouse gas emissions increased by 15% between 2000 and 2005, a sharp increase in the expected rate of growth. It also shows that global annual emissions of greenhouse gases increased from 24 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents in 1970 to 33 billion tonnes in 1990 and 41 billion tonnes in 2005.

The Council took note in its last meeting in May 2009, of information provided by the German delegation concerning the “Google Books Project” (scanning of books in US libraries for establishing a database on the basis of digital copies) and its possible legal implications as regards copyright matters. Commission was asked to elaborate an assessment and to report back in due course.

The Competitiveness Council (Internal market, Industry and Research), held in Brussels on May 28th 2009, emphasized the key role of industry for the European economy and the need to continue to react promptly to the present economic recession with a coherent and coordinated set of short-, medium- and long-term initiatives. Ministers also highlighted the fact that SMEs are the backbone of the European economy, and that they should be respected and considered when setting up framework conditions for European industry.