European Union News

The European Parliament backs the measure which propose to help spur economic recovery by speeding up investment and boosting competitiveness with the paying up to 95% of the costs of rural development projects in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Latvia and Romania.

The Council conclusions on the open internet and net neutrality in Europe invite Member States to ensure the rapid development of broadband. Telecommunications Ministers also agreed on the need to ensure the open and neutral character of the Internet as their policy objective.

The European Expert Network on Culture (EENC) new website will publish online activities and other relevant resources in the field of European cultural policy and cultural cooperation. The website aims to become a useful gateway to specialised information for all those interested in this field, including cultural professionals, academics and students.

A special report published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) shows that customs procedure 42, which is a mechanism an EU importer uses in order to obtain a VAT exemption, has led to significant losses to national budgets. ECA calculates that the extrapolated amount of the losses in 2009 is approximately €2200 million.

The European Commission published its latest report on Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive implementation which confirms that work is progressing well but that collection and treatment compliance rates could still improve. According to the report, most EU-15 urban waste water collection systems are very effective and capture 99% of their target waters.

The Commission has launched a public consultation which seeks to prepare the future proposal for a European Accessibility Act. In particular, the consultation is aimed at gathering views from businesses, people with disabilities and the general public and will remain open until 29 February 2012. Additionally, it is fully accessible.

The European Commission welcomed the approval by the Council the monitoring and reporting on financial instruments available under cohesion policy. Thanks to this new rule, the Commission will be able to produce accurate and comprehensive accounts, which give a true image of the Union's assets and of the actual budgetary implementation.

According to the local and regional leaders, the new model of European governance must also involve citizens, businesses, civil society and any other relevant stakeholders in order to reach these common goals. They also stresses the need of the full participation of local and regional authorities to achieve the Europe 2020 strategy objectives.

The Transport Council achieved a political agreement on the draft directive on a single European railway area. In addition the European Ministers reached a partial agreement on a draft regulation on tachographs uses in road transport and a general approach on the update of the directive on the minimum level of training for seafarers.

A new EU-funded study has uncovered the specific gene that must be present before malignant melanoma can spread. Earlier studies using cancer cell lines implicated P-Rex1 in prostate, breast and ovarian cancer, but this is the first time it has been shown to be involved in the metastasis of melanoma.

The European Commission proposed to establish a European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) to increase coordination within and between Member States to prevent and tackle serious crime. Commission stresses that the increased exchange of information and the use of modern surveillance technology introduced by EUROSUR can also be vital for saving the lives of migrants attempting to reach the shores of EU Member States in small and unseaworthy boats.

The European Commission presented a new Programme for the Environment and Climate Action – LIFE, in which it proposes to modify the existing LIFE+ Programme to have a greater impact, be simpler and more flexible throughout a significantly increased budget. Among the proposals, it would be the creation of a new sub-programme for Climate Action.