European Union News

Analysis carried out by Europol shows that organised crime groups based in the European Union (EU) are trafficking endangered species of wild fauna and flora. Routes used for illegal immigration and drugs trafficking are also being used for smuggling rare animals, corals and valuable plants.

The WTO Appellate Body report on the Airbus case has overturned several key findings made by the Panel. The Appellate Body found that support provided by Germany, Spain and the UK for the launch of Airbus' A380 aircraft is not a prohibited export subsidy under WTO Law.

The Galileo programme is the EU's initiative for a state-of-the-art global satellite navigation system, providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control. The launch of the first two operational satellites of the EU's global navigation satellite system in October is the first of a series of launches due to take off from Europe's Space Port in Kourou, French Guiana.

Since 25 of May, new telecoms rules benefit citizens and businesses across Europe. New EU telecoms rules to ensure a more competitive telecoms sector and better services for customers are due to be implemented in national law by this date.

The European Commission organizes from 24 to 27 May 2011 in Brussels the 11th edition of Green Week, the biggest annual conference on European environment policy. This year is focusing in "Resource Efficiency - Using less, living better".

The research, led by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the pan-European team was made up of scientists from eight institutions from Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden, received €2.5 million in EU funding. It is an innovative device, a new type of mammogram technique using molecular imaging which could help detect breast cancer earlier.

On 19 May the ministers adopted conclusions on an EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020, inviting the member states to pursue goals in the fields of education, employment, healthcare and housing, so as to close the gaps between marginalised Roma communities and the general population. Now, the EU Hungarian presidency intends to report the outcome of the various discussions to the General Affairs Council on 23 May and to European Council on 24 June.

The decision from European Commission to postpone the lifting of the ban on liquids in planes will be discussed by MEPs in the Transport Committee over coming weeks but divisions are already clear. Some are disappointed by the decision but others believe that the EU should wait until the equipment necessary to scan liquids is available.

At the Council meeting on 12 May, EU's ministers for justice and home affairs agreed to promote the use of early flood warning systems such as the European Flood Alert System (EFAS) when discussing integrated flood management.

EU will ban cadmium in jewellery, brazing sticks and all plastics from December 2011. The reason behind this prohibition is that consumers including children risked being exposed to cadmium through skin contact or through licking. The ban on cadmium in jewellery will protect consumers, in particular children. It is equally good for the environment, as cadmium-free plastics will help to reduce pollution.

The ".eu" domain celebrates its 5th birthday. In April, .eu's birthday was celebrated during the European Parliament plenary in the presence of 130 MEPs and the agency running it, EURid, a common endeavour by the ".be", ".it" and ".se", domains from Belgium, Italy and Sweden.

The Fifth Plenary Session of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly has been closed in Montevideo with progress in dialogue on relations EU-Mercosur agreement and migration. Furthermore, EUROLAT adopted three resolutions that establish a roadmap for enhanced cooperation on security policy and defense, discussed trade relations with other Latin American regions and propose concrete measures to promote employment of youth and women.