European Union News

The Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting ended with an agreement to further improving economic governance in the euro area. In addition, the Council adopted a regulation harmonising rules for short selling ad credit default swaps and the conclusions providing guidance to the Member States for tackling macroeconomic and fiscal challenges.

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, announced that the EU stands ready to provide additional support to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The new commitment will contribute to the proposed increase in troop strength active in AMISOM. EU aid covers costs such as troop allowances, medical care, housing, fuel, and communication equipment.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced that in 2011 provided €13 billion of finance for SMEs, reaching a record. Overall more than 120,000 SMEs received EIB Group support across Europe last year. In addition, the EIB signed €61 billion of new loans in almost 70 countries.

The winners of the EIT Entrepreneurship Awards are three start-ups in three different categories. Naked Eergy (United Kingdom) for the Climate-KIC category, Trifense (Germany) for the EIT ICT LABS category, and Noem (Spain) for the KIC InnoEnergy category. The awards were announced in a ceremony held in Brussels on the 21 of February.

e-Inclusion Awards 2012 are now open for entries. This year’s the awards are intended for individuals as well as organisations, business and civil society sectors, working at the local level, rewarding those championing the way forward and exploiting the potential of technology in dealing with today’s challenges.

The Council adopted the new rules which relieves very small companies from red tape. The new provisions seek to reduce administrative bureaucracy for small companies. In addition, the Commission presented the report on administrative burden reduction and calls on Member States to learn from each other.

Ministers at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting held on 21 February reached an agreement to continue to work together with other countries and relevant stakeholders, on potential pathways for long term finance that may contribute to reaching the long term committed goal of mobilizing jointly US$100 billion per year by 2020 by developed countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions. In addition, they adopted conclusions on the economic aspects of the roadmap to a resource-efficient Europe.

The main goal of the debate held by Ministers was to prepare the way to reach an agreement on the main principles of the reform at the Competitiveness Council in May, with the final purpose of getting the reform approved in co-legislation with the European Parliament before the end of 2012. The debate focused on the new general legal framework, more specifically in the degree of flexibility that should apply in the use of competitive procedures with negotiation and the rules for certain categories of services: social, cultural, health, etc.
 

The Committee of the Regions adopted an opinion in which highlight the key contribution of local authorities to the framing and implementation of integration policies. It also calls for a strategic partnership between the European Commission and European networks of cities and regions.

The Eurogroup welcomed the approval the agreement reached with the Greek government on the police package and also for the approval of the package by the Greek parliament. According to the Eurogroup, the new programme provides a comprehensive blueprint for putting the public finances and the economy of Greece back on a sustainable footing and hence for safeguarding financial stability in Greece and in the euro area as a whole.

The EU Court of Justice published its latests statistics concerning judicial activity. In 2011, it was reached a new record in the number of actions brought before and disposed of by the three judicial organs of the Court of Justice of the European Union. However increased efficiency and significant internal reforms have not completely absorbed the increase in caseload.

The Commission announced the opening negotiations on a deep and comprehensive free trade area with Armenia in order to boost economic growth and investment with this Eastern European Partner. The negotiations will not only tackle market access conditions but also focus on regulatory approximation, which will help to achieve a closer economic integration of Armenia with the EU.