European Union News - 2009

A total of 126.7 M€ of EU farm money unduly spent by Member States is claimed back as a result of a decision adopted on March 19th by the European Commission. The money returns to the Community budget because of non-compliance with EU rules or inadequate control procedures on agricultural expenditure.

The European Commission has published in the Official Journal of the European Union on March 19th 2009, notice of the launch of 2009 Call for proposals under the work programme of the ENIAC Joint Undertaking. Interested applicants must present their Project Outlines by May 6th 2009, and Full Project Proposals will have reach ENIAC before September 3rd 2009.

Representatives of the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the European Union met for the first time in Strasbourg on March 10th as an inter-institutional Working Group on regulatory agencies. The group agreed that the objective should be to reach a common approach on agencies between the three Institutions. Participants committed to deliver its conclusions as soon as possible.

The OJEU has published three calls for proposals to support research within and outside the European Union through the Marie Curie Fellowships. The grants are targeted to researchers from third countries wishing to carry out their work temporarily in the EU, Europeans who want to go to a high-level research organisation in a third country and who want to investigate in any Member State.

A new report from Eurofound, published by the end of February 2009 maps innovative and good practice government and company measures to keep workers in employment. It shows how companies are using short-term working, paid/unpaid sabbaticals and 'pay for jobs' clauses in restructuring agreements and how social partners are reacting to these developments.

The European Commission adopted on October 22nd 2008 a Decision on setting up a European Cluster Policy Group with the aim to explore how to better assist Member States in supporting the emergence of more world-class clusters in the EU. Following a call for applications, the members of the Group have now been appointed.

The European Commission adopted on March 17th 2009 a proposal long-term plan to improve further the state of the northern hake stock in EU waters. This plan will replace the recovery plan which has been in place since 2004, and which has successfully helped the northern hake stock recover from almost collapse to the safe target size advised by scientists, putting forward as new objective the achievement of  maximum sustainable yield for this species.

Biometric visas, like biometric passports, should improve security provided the fingerprints they include are reliable. Following an agreement with the Council approved by the EP Civil Liberties Committee on March 16th 2009, children under twelve will be exempted from the requirement to provide fingerprints. MEPs also recommended some management methods as to facilitate registration and access to VIS and to reduce costs for MS.

After consulting the Economic and Financial Committee, the Council of the European Union has issued two opinions that analyze the situation in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria in the European convergence and serving as a revision to the programs that both countries must follow between 2008 and 2011

Euro area annual inflation was 1.2% in February 2009, up from 1.1% in January, while EU annual inflation was 1.7%, down from 1.8% in January. A year earlier the rate in the Euro area was 3.3%, and 3.5% in the European Union. These figures come from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

Representatives from more than one hundred European universities and other stakeholders in the training of translators gather in Brussels on 16 and March 17 to complete the program that has launched the European Master in Translation and agree on the criteria that the programs Training must meet to obtain a quality label common EMT.

As part of the implementation of directives and regulations to regulate the market for electricity and gas in Europe, the Commission has prepared a report which highlights the progress that has been performed in this field in recent years, and warns of gaps in the transposition of standards into national legislation of some Member States and the need of continue investing in infrastructure.