European Union News

The European Research Council (ERC) announced the conclusion of its competition for Proof of Concept funding. In this call, a total of 52 grants have now been awarded. Worth up to €150,000 each, these 'top up' grants are designed to help ERC-funded 'blue sky' research maximise value.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation in order to get stakeholders' views on the application of the 2004 EU Guidelines on state aid to maritime transport. In light of the comments received, the Commission will decide afterwards whether the Guidelines need to be revised. Contributions can be made until 14 May 2012.

The European Commission published its figures for the unemployment in December 2011 which show that the number of unemployed people in the EU stood at 23.8 million, i.e. 1.1 million more than in March 2011, when the declining trend in unemployment was reversed. Moreover, youth unemployment rate did not rise further in December 2011 compared to November; it stands at 22.1%.

The strategy and action plan proposed by the European Commission is addressed to shift the European economy towards greater and more sustainable use of renewable resources. According to the Commission, this plan will help to get renewable biological resources for secure and healthy food and feed, as well as for materials, energy, and other products.

The European Commission approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a developer of smartphones and tablets, by Google, the world's largest internet search and search advertising company and developer of Android.

The European Commission announced that the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism has its 32nd member the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The Civil Protection Mechanism facilitates European cooperation in disaster response.

The first EU Classification and Labelling Inventory published opens the way to safer use of hazardous substances. The Inventory compiles information from over 3 million notifications for more than 100.000 substances which allows identifying those that are potentially hazardous and may damage health and the environment.

The European Commission presented two reports, one with the political aspects and a second one with the scientific aspects, on the worrying phenomenon of the soil degradation in the EU. The reports show that between 1990 and 2006, at least 275 hectares of soil per day were permanently lost through soil sealing – the covering of fertile land by impermeable material – amounting to 1,000 km² per year, or an area the size of Cyprus every ten years.

Eurostat published that the EU exports to China up by 21% and imports by 5% in the first ten months of 2011. These figures show that despite the general decline in EU exports in 2009, EU exports to China continued to increase. The EU trade deficit with China increased from 49 billions in 2000 to 169 billions in 2010.

The European Medicines Agency has published a new implementation plan detailing the activities of the new pharmacovigilance legislation scheduled for implementation in 2012 and those activities which will be the focus beyond 2012. With the new legislation, any patient in European Member States will be able to report suspected adverse drug reactions to his or her national medicines authority.

The 12th summit between the EU and India ended with the commitment of common determination to move the EU-India relationship forward, especially in the field of trade. In addition, it has been recently published that the EU trade in goods with India increased by 20% in the first ten months of 2011. Therefore, the EU remains India's biggest trading partner.

According to the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), the review of EU financial markets legislation has a significant impact on data protection. He also highlighted that the reform presents a golden opportunity for the legislator to guarantee the fundamental right of data protection while taking the specific needs of the financial sector into account.