European Union News - November 2012

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted financial support to large complex to be built Ouarzazate in southern Morocco. This plant will produce about 160 MW of electricity per year in its first phase of operation and will quadruple this capacity when being at its full capacity.

MEPs meeting within the culture and education committee of the European Parliament adopted on November 27th the new YES EUROPE Programme for youth, education and sports. The new program will benefit over five million students and will be funded with €18 billion for the period between 2014 and 2020.

The creation of a specialized network for interdisciplinary training of researchers in advanced thin films photovoltaic (PV) technologies will represent a major boost for European research in this area. The proposed network is one of the objectives set forth within the EU funded Kestcells project.

The first report on the operations of the Transparency Register put in place by the Commission and the European Parliament with the support of the Council, shows a positive balance. According to the report the objectives set for its first year of operation have been met. Given these positive results both institutions will work on new objectives and the development of platform towards 2013.

Dishonest business practices based in false or misleading communications that can lead to scams are becoming increasingly common. Small businesses are generally more vulnerable to this type of frauds and have also more difficulties to react if they are victims of such scams. In order to tackle these kind of behaviours, the European Commission has adopted a series of actions that will inform a legislative proposal in 2013.

The European Commission has adopted the inclusion of 235 additional natural areas to the Natura 2000 network. The last update includes not only the inclusion of new sites, but also the extension and modification of some that were already part of the network. Further to the update the Natura 2000 network amounts for nearly 25,000 km2 of protected areas.

The French city of Marseille has been de venue for the signature of an agreement between the European Investment Bank and the Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce (ASCAME) aimed at encouraging the development of sustainable tourism as a way to support the development Mediterranean economies. This agreement will develop a first cooperation agreement signed in November 2009.

The European Commission has adopted its seventh report on breaches of the principle of visa reciprocity in third countries. This principle provides that those countries whose nationals do not require visas to enter the European Union grant the same right to nationals of all Member States.

The new Commission's proposal takes into account the necessary elements in order to bring closer positions between the European Parliament and the Council. The proposal also seeks to provide a solution in order to meet the budget commitments already made.

The European Commission has adopted its Decision to modernise and improve the European job mobility network, EURES. The new EURES network will include new members and will be more flexible in order to meet job-seekers and employers' needs. Specific attention will be paid to young people by supporting targeted mobility programmes and new collaboration schemes between public and private job search organisations will be introduced.

During the first phase, the European Service Innovation Centre will provide personalized support to the six selected regions which include the Basque Country and the Canary Islands in Spain, Emilia-Romagna in Italy, Luxembourg, Northern Ireland and the region of Upper Austria. These six regions were selected further to an informal call for expression of interest.

EU Council meeting of Heads of State and Government held in Brussels between November 22 and 23, ended without an agreement for the next financial framework. Although important differences between Member states still remain, the talks and discussions held at this summit have shown certain points for convergence to work on over the next months in order reach an agreement early next year.