European Union News

An EU agricultural commodity outlook 2011/2012 has been published by the European Commission. This publication follows the announcement of Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Cioloş at the G-20 agricultural ministers meeting in June 2011. In addition, the European Parliament debated with the Commissioner the EU farm policy after 2013. In general terms, MEPs approves the CAP reform proposed, but with reservations.

The European Commission has temporarily approved, under EU state aid rules, the nationalisation of Belgium's second largest bank Dexia Bank Belgium (DBB) through its acquisition by the Belgian State for €4 billion to be paid to Dexia SA. However, the Commission's in-depth investigation will assess whether the acquisition price contains state aid, and if so, whether the aid complies with EU rules for restructuring aid.

In addition to €98 million for humanitarian assistance provided so far in 2011, the European Commission will provide another €6.5 million to bring water and shelter, food and medical care to the victims of the monsoon floods, especially in Sindh province. This second successive year of flooding is affecting over 5.4 million people and has so far displaced more than 1.8 million.

The European Court considers that, under certain conditions, passengers may claim compensation for non-material damage in addition to that awarded for material damage suffered in the event of cancellation of a flight.

A new Eurobarometer survey on the EU's social climate shows that although EU citizens remain negative when evaluating the general situation of their country, they seem to feel that the economy is recovering and are largely satisfied and positive regarding their personal situation. The trend towards an improved perception in terms of social protection and inclusion in the near future is clear.

Pan-European team of scientists has flagged up a number of nasty pesticides that pose a threat to river ecosystems and which they believe should be added to the list of chemicals classified as risky in the EU Water Framework Directive. According to the researchers, their study shows the list needs to be regularly updated.

On 13 of October, a high-level symposium commemorated the 20th anniversary of the EU-US cooperation agreement. At the celebrations, the competition authorities of the European Union and of the United States have agreed to further strengthen cooperation on mergers investigated in both jurisdictions. The revision provides greater detail on issues regarding timing, collection of evidence and definition of remedies.

Commission's Task Force for Greece organised its first high level coordination meeting on Wednesday 12 October with the Greek authorities, Member States and international organisations offering technical assistance to Greece. Participants stressed the need for the Greek administration to take full ownership and make best possible use of the available technical assistance.

The GLORIA ('Global robotic telescopes intelligent array for e-Science') project, led by Spain's Facultad de Informática of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), seeks to create an open access network for astronomical observations. In particular, the GLORIA consortium will provide amateur astronomers with the means to study astronomy using robotic telescopes or by evaluating astronomical data available in both GLORIA's and other groups' public databases.

According to the data released by Eurostat in September 2011, Euro area annual inflation was 3.0%, whereas for the whole of the European Union the rate was 3.3%. Monthly inflation was 0.8% and 0.6% respectively.

The European Commission claims back a total of €214 million of EU agricultural policy funds unduly spent by Member States under the so-called clearance of accounts procedure. Under this latest decision, funds will be recovered from Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The European Commission presented a Communication on "Industrial policy: Reinforcing competitiveness" which it states that the EU industry is in good shape and has the potential to push the European economy back to growth. The Communication looks specifically at the industrial competitiveness performance of the Member States and its conclusions show considerable differences among Member States.