European Union News

The Polish presidency of the EU Council announced that Member States' Permanent Representatives have formally confirmed the deal which was brokered by the Ecofin on 19 of September. Now the package must be voted by MEPs in plenary session and then, formally agreed by the Council without further discussion.

According to the results from the latest Eurobarometer, most of citizens are satisfied with the Single Market offers in terms of a bigger choice of products, jobs and fair competition. However, they also consider only the big companies benefit the Single Market. Also in the survey a 35% of Europenas are not aware of the Single Market and its benefits.

The European Commission launched a public survey on strengthening EU measures to reduce emissions of fluorinated gases. In addition, the Commission adopted a study which shows that EU's existing Regulation on fluorinated gases is having a significant impact but that, without further measures, F-gas emissions are expected to remain at today's levels in the long term.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding met with the Europe's business schools to discuss how to improve the gender balance in company boardrooms by encouraging more young women to follow a career in business. On the other hand, business schools are helping women to prepare for professional careers through seminars, training programmes and providing networking opportunities.

The European Payments Council (EPC) is undertaking a standardisation process for payments over the internet ('e-payments'). The Commission decided to open an antitrust investigation with regard to this standardisation process to ensure that competition is not unduly restricted, for example through the exclusion of new entrants and payment providers who are not controlled by a bank.

New contact points of the Enterprise Europe Network have been established in Japan and doubling its presence in China. With its expansion, it is intended to see more European small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) profit from the fast growing markets in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

On the occasion of World Tourism Day, the 2011 edition of the European Tourism Day will take place in Brussels on 27th September. On this occasion, it will be focus on the industrial heritage, differentiating the European tourism offer.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union Catherine Ashton, the Quartet reaffirmed its determination to actively and vigorously seek a comprehensive resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, following the application submitted by President Abbas on 23rd September 2011 which is now before the Security Council.

The European Economic and Social Committee underlined that Rio+20 must rise to the challenge of paving the way for a new economic order, where sustainability and not just GDP will play a key role, during a debate with Janez Potočnik, the EU Commissioner for the Environment, and Ricardo Neiva Tavares, Head of the Mission of Brazil to the EU.

The European Commission organises the 10th European Day of Languages on the 26 of September under the slogan from the Czech proverb 'You live a new life for every new language you speak; if you know only one language, you live only once.'. On the celebration there will different events and conferences to attend with the aim of increasing the study of foreign languages.

The EU sanctions against the country's regime has been reinforced in view of the gravity of the situation in Syria. Among the sanctions, the Council banned investment in key sectors of the Syrian oil industry.

On September 21 took place the celebration of World Alzheimer's Day. The sufferers of this disease condition around the world have been honoured and recognised in a drive to push Alzheimer's research to the top of policymaker agendas. This event was also an opportunity to take stock of the research being funded by the European Commission.