European Union News

The Internal Market Committee approved a resolution in which asks EU-wide cooperation to counter the black market and protect children and vulnerable consumers regarding online gambling. They also think EU Member States should be free to maintain their own rules on this

Two Europeans in three see climate change as a very serious problem and almost 80% consider that taking action to combat it can boost the economy and jobs. The results of a special Eurobarometer survey published shows that the European public is more concerned about climate change than it was in 2009.

October 6th 2011 marks the first anniversary of the Innovation Union (IU) flagship initiative, one of the cornerstones of the Europe 2020 strategy for growth and jobs. The Innovation Union has focused Europe's efforts – and co-operation with third countries - on challenges like climate change, energy and food security, health and an ageing population so far.

Committee of the Regions (CoR) President Mercedes Bresso opposed Commission plans to suspend all EU regional development funds for countries that breach European deficit rules. Elisabeth Morin-Chartier, responsible for the cohesion policy report at the European Parliament, expressed her concerns about a possible link between the allocation of funds to social projects and the respect for budget discipline required by the stability and growth pact.

According to the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), the Commission proposal to revise the EU legislation on tachographs, which is meant to make use of new technological developments to improve the effectiveness of digital tachographs against manual ones, invades the privacy of professional drivers in a very visible way. The cause are the new technological developments to improve the effectiveness of digital tachographs, notably through the use of geo-location equipment and remote communication facilities.

The top new talents in European pop music, the winners of the 2012 European Border Breakers Awards, were announced by Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth and music festival Eurosonic Noorderslag.

The European Commission adopted a legislative package for cohesion policy for the period from 2014 until 2020 which is designed to boost growth and jobs across Europe by targeting EU investment on Europe's Growth and Jobs Agenda ("Europe 2020"). With this package, Commission lays foundations to boost impact of cohesion investments after 2013.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has undertaken to participate in financing the France-Spain interconnector with a €350 million loan. This is the first trans-European direct current link using innovative converter technology. The commercial launch of the interconnector is scheduled for 2014.

MEPs at the Environment Committee consider that safety checks should be tightened up for pest and germ control products and more approvals should be managed at EU level. The proposed update to existing legislation covers a wide range of "biocides", but not those covered by other legislation, such as agricultural pesticides.

The Budgets Committee at the European Parliament finalised its position on EU Budget 2012 proposing changes to the modified proposal of the Council. Key changes proposed include increased spending on Palestine, maritime surveillance in the Mediterranean, managing refugee flows, EU2020 growth strategy-related programmes, funding for vegetable producers and development aid for Asia and South America. Proposed savings include €26 million on Common Foreign and Security Policy.

MEPs backed a draft law to restrict the general public's access to chemicals that can be used to make home-made explosives. In addition, they amended the draft to clarify licence-to-buy requirements for certain chemicals that can be found, for instance, in fertilizers or pool cleaners and the definition of a "suspicious transaction".

The Environment Committee at the European Parliament votes favorably to the proposal concerning changes to the current waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) Directive. According to MEPs, EU Member States should be obliged to collect and recycle more discarded fridges, phones and other e-waste. In addition, MEPs want to make easier for consumers to return small products and harder for unscrupulous operators to ship e-waste illegally out of the EU.