European Union News

The public consultation opened by the Commission is aimed at doing an in-depth reflection on how to adapt the European company law framework to the new landscape of the 21st century. On this way, the Commission collects inputs on the general orientation of European company law and on more specific initiatives that could be envisaged in the future

The Council held a discussion based on the Annual Growth Survey (AGS) in which ministers pointed out that fiscal consolidation efforts should be accompanied by enhanced employment and social policies. In addition, the great majority of ministers expressed concerns about the sharp rise of youth unemployment and therefore, tackling youth unemployment is a top priority.

The Safety Regulation Commission (SRC) from Eurocontrol has confirmed in its 2011 annual safety report that Europe has met its safety targets as set by ECAC for ATM-related accidents. However, Eurocontrol, has also informed on the lack of resources and qualified staff at national level dedicated to safety data collection and analysis, as one of the safety areas to improve.

The Digital Environment Home Energy Management System (DEHEMS) project presented by the Commission shows that, when consumers receives more information about their energy use, and can share and compare this with neighbours and family, they is more likely to change their behaviour.

A Court of Justice judgment clears that the owner of an online social network cannot be obliged to install a general filtering system in order to prevent the unlawful use of musical and audio-visual work. Such an obligation would not be respecting the prohibition to impose on that provider a general obligation to monitor nor the requirement that a fair balance be struck between the protection of copyright and the freedom to conduct business, the right to protection of personal data and the freedom to receive or impart information.

The European Parliament approved a new regulation that boosts dairy farmers' bargaining power to get fair prices for their raw milk and help them prepare for the end of milk quotas in 2015. To enter into force, the new regulation still needs to be formally endorsed by the Council. It will apply until the end of June 2020.

The European Commission as brought together all existing EU legislation governing environmental impact assessments in order to create a more compact, clearly translated and user-friendly version which comes into force on 17 February 2012. Thus, the administrative burden is reduced and also it helps Member States' authorities and developers to carry out the assessments.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution in which it calls on the Council and Commission to support a binding international treaty to make possible the access to books and other published works in special formats to blind people. The resolution says that to make it possible it is required a targeted exception to copyright rules.

MEPs at the plenary session voted to require riskier banks to contribute more to the schemes than others and say that funding for each scheme should equal 1.5% of the deposits that it covers. In addition, bank deposit guarantee schemes must return €5,000 of a depositor's money within a week of being asked, wherever a struggling bank is unable to do so. They also consider that it are needed shorter-term solutions and Eurobonds for Eurozone stability.

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) wants to ensure that cities and regions are more involved in framing, implementing and evaluating EU policies with a territorial impact, and will lay the necessary foundations for the success of those policies. The opinion adopted within its plenary session recommends new measures to consolidate the exercise of European governance.

The White paper published by the European Commission looks at how the EU and the Member States can work to tackle the major challenges that confront their pension systems. It puts forward a range of initiatives such as create the right conditions so that those who are able can continue working or ensure people who move to another country can keep their pension rights.

MEPs have given its green light to liberalise EU-Morocco trade in agricultural and fisheries products, while adopting a resolution highlighting a number of concerns. A majority of MEPs say the agreement will help alleviate economic, migratory and security problems following the Arab Spring.