European Union News

The European Ombudsman has opened an inquiry into how the EU Agency Frontex implements its fundamental rights obligations. The investigation has been opened due to the number of civil society organisations that have questioned whether Frontex is doing enough to comply with the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The European Commission has selected 35 film-related projects to receive a total of €5 million in funding from the MEDIA Mundus programme. The Commission expects that the projects will contribute to strengthen the distribution of European films in non-European markets and vice-versa.

According to what it was agreed by the Council and after the assessment of the Eurogroup, the timely correction of the excessive deficit in Spain should be ensured by an additional frontloaded effort of the order of 0,5% of GDP, beyond what has already been announced by the Spanish authorities so far, and by an early adoption and strict implementation of the new mechanisms in the Budget Stability Law.

The European Commission welcomed the WTO appeal ruling in the “Boeing case” which confirms that the United States granted billions of dollars in illegally subsides to Boeing under WTO rules. The EU now expects the US to fully comply with this ruling and to implement the findings and obligations by withdrawing these injurious subsidies or their adverse effects.

The First Smart Mobility Challenge on European multi-modal journey planners has already its winners. Particularly, in the category of 'operational journey planners' the two winners are Idos and Trenitalia, and in the category of 'innovative ideas' the winners are Penelope Ventures GmbH and SNCF. With this initiative, the Commission intends to promote the development of all-in-one journey planners.

The European Commission proposed new rules that intend to enhance the ability of Member States to confiscate assets that have been transferred to third parties, it will make it easier to confiscate criminal assets even when the suspect has fled and will ensure that competent authorities can temporarily freeze assets that risk disappearing if no action is taken.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a €200 million loan to the Castilla y León Region to finance its investment in RDI, heritage conservation and educational and social facilities. The loan's main advantage is its maturity of up to 20 years, which is far longer than the average currently offered by commercial banks.

The European Commission has presented a new proposal on accounting of greenhouse gases emissions in the forest and agriculture sectors. According to the Commission, this is the first step towards incorporating removals and emissions from forests and agriculture into the EU's climate policy.

Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the Eurogroup, welcomed in a statement the significant progress achieved in the preparation of the second Greek adjustment programme, but it urges the Greek authorities to continue demonstrating strong commitment and to keep up the implementation momentum by rigorously pursuing the adjustment effort, strictly in line with the new programme. The Eurogroup considers that the necessary conditions are in place to launch the relevant national procedures required for the final approval of the euro area's contribution to the financing of the second Greek adjustment programme.

COTER, the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy of the Committee of the Regions showed its support to the European Commission proposal for revising the TEN-T legislative framework. However this Commission also considers that the governance should be improved in a way to ensure a greater involvement of regional and local authorities.

Although 26 Member States could agree on the final compromise text with regard to a proposes roadmap for moving to a competitive low-carbon economy in 2050, Poland could not accept the provisions regarding the milestones for EU domestic emission reductions and further work on the 2030 milestone. Therefore, Poland blocked Council conclusions on this topic for the second time.

On 11 March 2012 the European Union commemorates the 8th European Day in Remembrance of Victims of Terrorism and EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmström stressed that is a time for commemoration and remembrance, a time for solidarity and encouragement. Gilles de Kerchove, EU Counter-terrorism coordinator highlighted that more has to be done to make the voices of victims heard in public and to devote more attention to victims, their families, friends and relatives and less to the perpetrators.