European Union News - 15 June 2009

Following a complaint from SO.GI.N., an Italian company which led a consortium that bid for a 4 M€ EU project concerning the harmonisation of energy policies between the EU and Russia, the European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, criticised the European Commission for unfairly excluding this company after recalculating the consortium's bid without consulting the complainant. As a result of its recalculation, Commission wrongly concluded that the bid exceeded the maximum allowable budget of EUR 4 million by 21 €.

 15% of Europeans believe they have been discriminated against – one good reason for the European Commission to launch for the sixth year running its “For Diversity. Against Discrimination.” journalist competition. The award is open to both print and online journalists. It showcases the talents of media professionals who, through their writing, contribute to a better understanding of the benefits of diversity and tackling discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age, sexual orientation, race or ethnic origin. This year's award includes a special category for articles focusing on the link between poverty and discrimination.

In a public deliberation, the Council took note of a progress report summarising the work done so far on the energy efficiency package, which contains the following three proposals: an energy labelling directive, a tyres labelling directive and an energy performance of buildings directive.

The European Commission presented on June 12th 2009, a draft legislation to improve the safety of biocides and to simplify authorisation procedures, by significantly increasing the safety of biocide products used and placed on the market in the European Union. It proposes to phase out the most hazardous substances, particularly those that may cause cancer, and to introduce new rules for articles such as furniture and textiles treated with biocides, which are not covered by existing legislation.