European Union News

The Energy Council on 10 June called for efforts to tap the potential for higher energy savings of buildings, transport and products. Energy efficiency is a key tool in combating climate change and one of the most cost effective ways to ensure energy supply.

At the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations (GAVI) Conference in London held on 13 of June, the EU Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, announced the pledge towards the US$ 3.7 billion (or €2.6 billion) total which GAVI has said it needs to vaccinate nearly 250 million children over the next five years. This is expected to save almost 4 million lives.

The Schengen Agreement has made passport-free travel possible for over 400 million Europeans. Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs stated that the creation of the Schengen area is one of the most tangible, popular and successful achievements of the European Union. Moreover, for European economy as well, free movement is central to the success of the Single Market.

The estimations released by Eurostat foresee that the EU27 population will increase from 501 million on 1 January 2010 to 525 million in 2035. After 2040, it is foreseen that the population gradually decrease. In addition, the EU27 population is also projected to continue to grow older, with the share of the population aged 65 years and over rising from 17% in 2010 to 30% in 2060.

The President of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), Mercedes Bresso welcomed the positive recommendation from the European Commission regarding the future EU accession of Croatia. She also stated that the CoR would also support Croatia's local and regional authorities in their decentralisation and administrative reforms.

EP opposes death sentence to be imposed by US military court on Guantanamo detainee Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. The MEPs are also concerned at the selective prosecution of key opposition leaders in Ukraine and condemned abuses of power by government and security forces in Madagascar.

According to the Court of Justice of the EU, the protection of television viewers’ interests could be undermined, if payment were treated as a necessary condition for establishing intention. Therefore, the fact that no payment is made does not mean that the intentional nature of surreptitious advertising can be ruled out.

At their annual meeting held in June in San Antonio, USA, the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) awarded the University of Heidelberg with the 'Young Investigator Award'. The research offers a hope for patients suffering from neuro-endocrine cancer who do not respond well to standard therapies, such as surgery, chemotherapy and certain types of radiotherapy.

According to the Commission's Annual Report on relations with National Parliaments, the European Commission's political dialogue with National Parliaments went from strength to strength in 2010. The political initiative was launched in 2006 by President Barroso and it intends to engage National Parliaments in European affairs more closely and constructively.

Dacian Cioloş, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, explained that the Commission's main priority is to end the sanitary crisis and restore consumer confidence. Therefore, the Commission will support vegetable producers as soon as possible.

The European Commission proposed to close the four remaining “chapters” in the accession talks. The President of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, stated in a statement that Croatia is now ready to move ahead. He also thanked the Croatian authorities for the hard work done over the last years.

The EU27 external current account recorded a deficit of 32.8 billion euro in the first quarter of 2011, compared with a deficit of 27.7 billion in the first quarter of 2010 and a deficit of 18.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010. The current account shows flows of goods, services, income and current transfers between resident and non-resident entities.