European Union News

From 1 July 2011 to 31 December 2011, Poland will host the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Poland is taking over the Presidency from Hungary which has presided over the EU for the past six months.

The 2010 Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP) funded 42 eco-innovation projects under the 2010 call for proposals. The CIP Eco-innovation funds are designed to support new products, services and processes that use fewer natural resources and produce less waste, emissions and pollutants.

The DataCatalogs.org project has been launched by a broad coalition of stakeholders are in order to map of open data initiatives around the world. Leading open data experts are helping to keep these on line catalogs updated, including representatives from international bodies such as the World Bank, independent bodies such as the W3C and the Sunlight Foundation, and numerous national governments.

The EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will apply as of 1 July 2011. It is unprecedented in terms of the scope and speed of tariff liberalisation and breaks new ground in tackling significant non-tariff barriers across all sectors. Several studies shown that thanks to this agreement the EU exports to South Korea will increase significantly.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation which has as main aim to collect views on the strengths and weaknesses of the EU air quality existing legislative framework and progress on its implementation. This web-based consultation is part of a broader process of reflection that will feed into a review due no later than 2013.

The Committee of the Regions plenary agreed in given the green light for a greener and more competitive transport sector by 2050. However, the CoR also added that these plans need more concrete interim targets and adequate funding. Also, the Committee supports the Commission's main goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector by 60%, contrary to some national governments.

According to a written declaration signed by 399 MEPs, corruption in sport is a serious problem that should be tackled at an EU level. The MEPs are calling for a large-scale study on corruption in European sport, focusing especially on links between organised crime and illegal betting, sport agents, referees, club officials, sportsmen.

From 1st July 2011 to 30 June 2012 EU mobile operators will again be obliged to lower retail prices for roaming calls in line with EU rules first introduced in 2007 and amended in 2009. The EU regulated "Eurotariff" will imply no more than 35 cents per minute for calls made and 11 cents per minute for calls received while abroad in the EU.

An international research partially funded with European funds has shed new light on the history of a cosmic crash - Abell 2744 - that emerged millions of years ago. The study, funded in part by the DARKMATTERDARKENERGY project, can help to reveal how structures form in the universe, and how different types of matter interact with each other when they are smashed together.

The new 2-euro commemorative euro coin will have a design which symbolises the way in which the euro has become a true global player in the last ten years and its importance in ordinary people's lives, trade, industry and energy.

At the public hearing held on 28 June in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on the "Review of the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA, Europe’s policy framework for SMEs)", participants called for cutting red tape, strengthening governance instruments and drawing up a genuine road map for progress. In this hearing, other EU Institutions and major stakeholders were present and met Members of the EESC.

The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Commission Vice President, Catherine Ashton, selected Bernardino Leon and officially proposed that the Council appoint him as the EU's Special Representative for the Southern Mediterranean Region.