European Union News - 2009

The European Commission has called, in a strategic document, for more transparency and multilateral accountability in the governance of the internet. There are today 1.5 billion internet users worldwide, 300 million of which are in the European Union's 27 Member States. At present, a private US-based body, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ( ICANN ), is responsible for coordinating key elements of the Internet.

In the context of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation (EYCI) 2009, the European Commission has just launched the "Imagine a new world" photo competition . Professional and amateur photographers of all ages from across the EU are invited to express their creativity. A prestigious jury will select the winners who will receive prizes in photographic equipment and trips to EU cities.

The European Union and West African countries agreed on June 17th 2009 to conclude a regional agreement on trade in goods and development cooperation by October 2009. In a meeting held in Brussels between EU Commissioners for Trade and for Development and Humanitarian, and President of  ECOWAS , UEMOA and  West African Ministers, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to moving forward the longer term process to build a lasting partnership between the EU and West Africa.

The European Commission has adopted on June 17th 2009 a Communication on the future of transport in order to promote a broad view to submitting concrete proposals for the adoption of the forthcoming White Paper on transport policy for 2010. This communication is the result of the reflection process launched in previous months involving all interested parties.

Europe and Canada are close international partners, with strong economic, cultural and political ties. However, arrangements for air transport do not reflect this reality, with Canada having restrictive or no agreements on aviation with the vast majority of Member States. The new Agreement transforms this important market to the benefit of European and Canadian consumers and airlines. It also brings legal certainty to operations between the EU and Canada by recognising the principles of the EU internal aviation market and of a Community carrier.

Following the adoption of Regulation (EC) Nº 479/2008 of April 2008, which established common organization of the market in wine, the European Union considered it necessary to amend Regulation (EC) Nº 1234/2007, the so-called “Single CMO Regulation”, in order to adapt the conditions of wine market regulations to the common conditions. These amendments have been included in the Regulation Nº 491/2009 of May 25th, published in the OJEU on June 17th, 2009.

The European Commission launched today the BUILD UP web portal on http://www.buildup.eu/ as a tool for sharing information on reducing energy use of buildings. Content will be regularly updated and enhanced by users themselves to cover a wide range of good practice in energy reduction and of information on legislation.

The European Commission will address the issue of gender equality in a time of economic crisis during a conference in Brussels on 15 and 16 June 2009 . The two-day conference will bring together representatives from the European institutions, notably Vice-President Wallström and Commissioner  Špidla; representatives from national governments and equality bodies, European social partners and civil society to identify future priorities in the field of gender equality.

The European Commission has launched a Call for Proposals under ICI Education Cooperation Programme in order to enhance mutual understanding between peoples of the EU and the Partner Countries including broader knowledge of their languages, cultures and institutions.

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.