European Union News - 2009

Commissioner Viviane Reding met today Mr Hans-Ulrich Jörges, editor-in-chief of the German magazine Stern and initiator of the European Charter on Freedom of the Press. The Charter, which formulates the main values that public authorities should respect when dealing with journalists, was signed on 25 May by 48 European journalists from 19 countries.

The Commission has issued a call for proposals which gives a grant of the European audiovisual sector in its MEDIA 2007 programme. This time, the call aims at facilitating the promotion and improve market access for audiovisual productions of the Union

Brussels hosts the Information Day on the objective 1.2 of the ICT call under the Seventh Framework Programme. This objective aims to make an important contribution to the future of the Internet in terms of service development, management and interoperability in an environment of convergence of IT, telecommunications and media platforms.

The ministers of the 27 EU Member States have formally adopted the new EU roaming rules proposed by the European Commission last September and approved by the European Parliament in April The new EU roaming rules will lead to further reductions of up to 60% on consumers' roaming bills as of 1 July 2009 in all 27 EU Member States.

Only a 43.09% of the over 375 million Europeans summoned came between 4 and June 7 at his meeting with the polls. With the economic crisis as a backdrop, the conservatives have strengthened their presence in Parliament, while the socialists lost 58 seats and six points. The results also show a significant advance in the extreme right in some countries.

 The EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards will be handed out on 5 June. The seven Grand Prizes and 21 Awards will be presented by Mr Ján Figel’, the European Commissioner responsible for Education, Training, Culture and Youth and Her Royal Highness The Infanta Doña Pilar de Borbón, President of Europa Nostra, during the official European Heritage Awards Ceremony in the Teatro Antico of Taormina, Sicily (Italy). Each Grand Prize winner will receive an amount of € 10,000.

On June 5th 2009, the Official Journal of the European Union has published the set of legal texts  implementing the measures adopted by the European Parliament on April 2009. These measures aim at putting the European Union on the forefront of action on climate and energy issues, contributing to reduce EU emissions by 20% in 2020.

 During the last meeting of the Competitiveness Council, held in Brussels on 28 and 29 May, EU research ministers have agreed to give a boost to Europe on their road to leadership in research. 

 The European Commission has published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) dated June 28, 2008 two calls for proposals for grants to foundations and political parties at European level. The total budget for both calls is 18.21 million. 

This group will aim to grant the Commission technical advice to decide on the authorisation of the use of products, substances and techniques in organic farming and processing, to develop or improve organic production rules and, more in general, for any other matter relating to the area of organic production.

As part of the efforts to clarify and simplify state aid rules, the European Commission has adopted two guidance papers setting out criteria for the in-depth assessment of large amounts of training aid and of aid to disadvantaged and disabled workers. The guidance outlines the kind of information required by the Commission for its assessment and the assessment methodology, and they are in line with the Commission's refined economic approach in state aid analysis.

The Commission, and in its name the Directorate-General Energy and Transport, intends to award a grant for actions aimed at improving the training of control officers responsible for the application of Community law concerning international road transport as announced in the DG TREN work programme for 2009.