European Union News - 2009

The EU Council will develop a new public web site. It will start with a previous phase of consultancy, strategic review and planning services relating to the EU Council public website.

Alongside with the leaders of Sweden as holder of the EU Council presidency, the four European Union G8 members (France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom) as well as the United States, Russia, Canada, and Japan, President Barroso will represent the Commission as full member of the G8 summit for the fifth time

The European Commission has proposed to set up a new microfinance facility providing microcredit to small businesses and to people who have lost their jobs and want to start their own small businesses. The instrument also offers support for young people wishing to establish or expand their own business.

The Council has decided by written procedure to appoint Pawel Samecki as new Commissioner on Regional Policy in place of his compatriot, Danuta Hübner, newly elected MEP in June elections.

President Barroso will represent the Commission at the G8 summit for the fifth time, which this year takes place under Italian chairmanship in L'Aquila (Italy). G8 leaders will notably address the global economy, including trade, climate change and energy, Africa/development and food security.

The landscape for ICT (Information and Communication Technology) standardisation has dramatically changed over the last decade. Alongside the traditional standard stetting organisations, specialised and mostly global fora and consortia have become more active and several have emerged as world-leading ICT standards development bodies, such as those responsible for the standards covering the internet and the World Wide Web. This development is not reflected in the EU standardisation policy. Fora and consortia standards cannot currently be referenced, even if they could be of benefit in helping to achieve public policy goals.

The Directorate-General for Information Society and Media (European Commission) will allocate a maximum of 0.3 meuros for the development of an study about flagships initiatives.

The assistance package of €40mio will fund several programmes in different areas such as the strengthening of culture policies and civil society, support of SME networks, border management, air quality governance and disaster preparedness. All the projects to be financed with this programme will have a regional scope as they each will each benefit at least two of the seven partner states along the Eastern border of the EU (Russia, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia).

The Commission has issued a call for proposals which finances with 400 million euros the activities under the programme CULTURE 2007-2013

The European Commission adopted nine decisions addressed to Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Spain, France, Hungary and the Slovak Republic concerning temporary exemptions in 94 zones or agglomerations from the EU's air quality standards for airborne particles known as PM 10.

The European Commission decided not to raise any objections to a new aid scheme which will encourage modal shift of freight from road to rail and inland waterway within the UK.

The Official Journal of the European Union has published the Council Decision of 30 June 2009 appointing a new member of the Commission of the European Communities.