European Union News

In order to face new challenges, such as food security and environmental protection, create new jobs and provide renewable energy, farmers should have a reasonable incentive which means that the EU agriculture budget must remain unchanged. The Agriculture Committee is seeking to influence the upcoming legislation on the reform and modernisation of the EU farming sector, a process which is running in parallel with discussions on the EU's multiannual budget.

The European Parliament Economics Committee voted to uphold the deposit guarantee scheme to €100,000 for all through different types of systems. However, the MEPs decided to allow Member States more leeway over how they design their schemes.This proposal was already raised by the Committee in 2008.

The proposal from the European External Action Service and European Commission to Member States and the European Parliament seeks for a new and ambitious European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). It sets out the main priorities and directions of a revitalised ENP strategy which seeks to strengthen individual and regional relationships between the EU and countries in its neighbourhood.

The European Commission and the European Nuclear Safety Regulators' Group (ENSREG) agreed on the criteria covered and the way controls will be done. In addition, they decided the starting day for the stress test in European nuclear power plants.

This year's European Week Against Cancer, which has been re-launched under the leadership of the Association of European Cancer Leagues as one of the activities of the European Partnership for Action Against Cancer, will focus on healthy living.

The package of measures proposed by the European Commission is aimed at a better management of migration flows from the Southern Mediterranean region, as well as amendments to the Visa Regulation to ensure that visa free travel does not lead to abuse. This package seeks a credible, fair and effective EU migration policy.

The entrepreneurship centre of the Barcelona Council, Activa was awarded the Grand Jury Prize selected for its innovative entrepreneurial support and training actions leading to the creation of 6,214 new businesses and 11,800 jobs, on the 5th European Enterprise Awards for Job Creation Initiative. The prize recognizes a successful and innovative way of promoting entrepreneurship.

The plan approved by Parliament's Transport Committee foresee a closer cooperation between European police forces in the road. They will be able to pursue offenders in their home country by using the EUROCARIS data exchange system.

The discovery was made by an international team of EU-funded researchers conducting a planetary microlensing survey of the Milky Way galaxy. This implies implies that there could be billions more free-floating Jupiter-style planets floating in interstellar space far from the light of any nearby parent star. Although scientists supposed floating planets existed, due to their distant location, 10,000 to 20,000 light-years away from Earth, the planets had gone undetected until now.

According to the Commission, in order to boost creativity and innovation it has been set out "blueprint" for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). The new rules will enable inventors, creators, users and consumers to adapt better to the new circumstances created by a technological change and to enhance new business opportunities. The new rules will seek the right balance between promoting creation and innovation, in part by ensuring reward and investment for creators and, on the other hand, promoting the widest possible access to goods and services protected by IPR.

The European Union have signed throughout the European Commission an agreement with the World Bank in which the EU will contribute with €54.5 million to support disaster risk reduction programmes in African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries. The contribution to the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) responds to the need of to making the world safer from the consequences of natural hazards.

At the General Affairs meeting held on the 23 of May, the Council stated among other conclusions that it is its responsibility the application of the Charter of Fundamental rights of the European Union as well as informing citizens about the scope of application of the Charter without prejudice to the competences of the Member States. In addition, the Council adopted a Decision authorising the Commission to negotiate the accession agreement of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights and laying down the negotiation directives.