European Union News - 2009

While the U.S. lost 5 bags per thousand passengers in Europe this number shoots up to fourteen per thousand passengers. Therefore, the European Union is studying the need for rules at European level to solve this problem that involves substantial cost and disruption to both businesses and travelers.

The final stage of the European Union wine reform, agreed by agriculture ministers in December 2007 , enters into force on 1 st August. The wide-ranging reform, the first stage of which applied from 1 st August last year, should bring balance to the wine market, phase out wasteful and expensive market intervention measures and allow the budget to be used for more positive, proactive measures which will boost the competitiveness of European wines.
 

The Official Journal of the EU on July 31, 2009 includes the publication of Regulation (EC) No 663/2009 of the European Parliament and Council on establishing a programme to support economic recovery through the granting of Community financial assistance projects in the field of energy.

According to new figures, the EU’s Erasmus programme for mobility and co-operation in higher education, continued its successful course in the academic year 2007/2008 by enabling more than 162.000 European students and 27.000 academics to go abroad to study or teach. Student exchanges with Erasmus grew by 5.2 % compared to 2006/07, so it can be assumed that by mid 2009 Erasmus has exceeded the mark of 2 million students.
 

Four out of five Europeans say that they consider the environmental impact of the products they buy reveals a Eurobarometer survey published today. Environmental consideration was highest in Greece where more than 9 in 10 of those surveyed said the impact of a product on the environment plays an important aspect in their purchasing decisions.

On 29-30 July, 350 experts and participants from across the EU will meet in Göteborg for a conference on the creativity and cultural habits of children and young people. The conference takes place within the context of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation.

The Council for General Affairs and External Relations met on 27 July. The Ministers discussed EU enlargement and agreed to pass on Iceland's application for membership to the Commission. The ministers were also given a presentation of the Commission's proposal for a Baltic Sea Strategy, and discussed about other external issues. 

The Commission has presented a number of suggestions for revision of the current Block Exemption Regulation, which expires in May 2010 as well as the Guidelines on supply and distribution agreements (vertical restraints). The amendments suggested by the Commission take into account two major changes in the distribution sector in recent years: the increasing buying power of large retailers and the development of on-line sales . To seek the opinions of stakeholders, Commission launched a public consultation, which will be opened until September 28th 2009.

The European Commission has issued a call for proposals under the programme "Europe for citizens" to finance projects that test and develop international exchange programs to establish partnerships between civil society organizations.

These amendments will facilitate the implementation of the 455 programs of the cohesion policy for 2007-2013. The Commision will invest 347,000 million EUR, representing over one third of the EU budget. This is intended to accelerate the flow of investment to the project and the people most affected by the crisis in the regions of Europe.

The European Forest Fires Information System (EFFIS) reports on the fires in forest areas in Europe. According EFFIS, the current situation poses a high or even extreme fire risk in many parts of southern Europe and will continue in critical condition over the next few days.

Fuelling knowledge and understanding among young Europeans of the diversity of European cultures and languages is high on the EU agenda. A case in point is the 'Bridging Insula Europea' project, which seeks to offer young people the life skills they need for successful development of their personal and professional lives. The project is funded under Comenius, a 'Lifelong learning' sectoral programme.