European Union News

The 20th EU-Japan Summit ends reaffirming the close partnership between the European Union and Japan as like-minded and major economies. Summit leaders are resolved to deepen bilateral relations from a comprehensive and long-term perspective, united by a shared commitment to fundamental values and principles, including democracy, the rule of law and human rights, as well as to the market-based economy and sustainable development, and faced with common global challenges.

The committee clearly rejects conditions that would require Member States to undertake fundamental social and economic reform and it stresses that all conditionalities should fully respect the principles of subsidiarity and partnership. Furthermore, MEPs believe that EU regional ("cohesion") policy spending along sector-specific lines, such as climate, energy or transport, would undermine the tried and tested principle of multi-level governance and jeopardise the regions' contribution to the achievement of EU 2020 objectives.

While it decreased by 0.6 points to 105.5 in the euro area the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) was broadly unchanged at 105.4 in the EU. The overall decline in the euro area resulted from weakening confidence in all the business sectors, while sentiment improved among consumers.

The EP Women's Rights Committee at the European Parliament agreed in a resolution that in order to boost the number of women in decision-making positions to 30% by 2015 and to 40% by 2020, EU legislation is needed. In a separate resolution MEPs think that a better use could be made of the funding opportunities available for female entrepreneurs.

MEPs at the Industry, Research and Energy Committee voted on the draft directive on the management of spent fuel and radioactive, that EU Member States should be allowed to export radioactive waste to non-EU countries provided the waste is processed in accordance with new EU safety rules. The Committee also backed stricter rules for the protection and training of workers in the industry.

The ECO2 project, pooling the resources of geologists, biologists, chemists, economists, social scientists and lawyers, is going to provide a comprehensive risk assessment and guidelines for monitoring sub-seabed CO2 storage. This research is targeting the implementation of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) in the region and assessing the impact in the short and long term can lead this activity in marine ecosystems. Making the geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) environmentally safe is high on the priorities for the EU.

The EIB supports the democratic transition in the Mediterranean Southern countries by increasing its financing. In particular, EIB is allocation additional resources of up to €6 billion by 2013. Moreover, the bank will propose holding a regional conference on the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises in Tunis by the end of the year to the ministers of the Mediterranean and EU countries gathered together at the annual FEMIP (the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership) meeting in Brussels on 12 July.

The Policy Challenges Committee at the European Parliament advocated new income sources for the budget, and call for an end to all rebates, exceptions, and corrective mechanisms. The committee also wants regional policy and agriculture funding to remain at current levels, but increases in investment in energy infrastructure. It also acknowledges that further savings could possibly be made on EU administration.

New online maps published by the European Commission and the European Environment Agency, in close cooperation with the Joint Research Centre, give Europeans close-up picture of air pollution from diffuse sources, such as transport and aviation.

The measures proposed seek to protect taxpayers' money from fraud across the EU. The Commission plans to strengthen substantive criminal law by clarifying definitions of crime such as embezzlement or abuse of power and reinforce the capacities of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and Eurojust (the EU's judicial cooperation body).

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, issues data on trade in goods and services and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows between the EU and Japan, with the occasion of the 20th European Union - Japan summit. Between 2000 and 2010, EU27 exports of goods to Japan fell slightly in value from €45 billions to €44 billions, and EU27 imports from Japan decreased by 30%, from €92 billions to €65 billions.

Ms or Mr SME will advocate for the interests of Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) in each Member state. They will check the correct application of the EU law on SMEs and ensure that policies at national, regional and local level are enterprise friendly.