European Union News - 01 July 2011

The DataCatalogs.org project has been launched by a broad coalition of stakeholders are in order to map of open data initiatives around the world. Leading open data experts are helping to keep these on line catalogs updated, including representatives from international bodies such as the World Bank, independent bodies such as the W3C and the Sunlight Foundation, and numerous national governments.

The EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will apply as of 1 July 2011. It is unprecedented in terms of the scope and speed of tariff liberalisation and breaks new ground in tackling significant non-tariff barriers across all sectors. Several studies shown that thanks to this agreement the EU exports to South Korea will increase significantly.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation which has as main aim to collect views on the strengths and weaknesses of the EU air quality existing legislative framework and progress on its implementation. This web-based consultation is part of a broader process of reflection that will feed into a review due no later than 2013.

The Committee of the Regions plenary agreed in given the green light for a greener and more competitive transport sector by 2050. However, the CoR also added that these plans need more concrete interim targets and adequate funding. Also, the Committee supports the Commission's main goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector by 60%, contrary to some national governments.

According to a written declaration signed by 399 MEPs, corruption in sport is a serious problem that should be tackled at an EU level. The MEPs are calling for a large-scale study on corruption in European sport, focusing especially on links between organised crime and illegal betting, sport agents, referees, club officials, sportsmen.