European Union News

Following the adoption of three opinions at the Committee of the Regions' plenary session in Brussels, the CoR asks that the proposed reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy do not redress the serious imbalances in the current system and ensure continued support for the many small and medium-sized farmers and producers who make up the majority of the EU'sEU's agricultural sector.

MEPs approved two resolutions in which they ask for more funding to EU youth mobility programmes, qualifications should be recognised EU-wide, business-education cooperation should be encouraged, and provision of childcare and early education should be universal.

A pan-EU Eurobarometer survey shows that while 90% of Internet surfers in the EU prefer to access websites in their own language, 55% at least occasionally use a language other than their own when online.

Enikő Győri, Hungarian Minister of State for EU Affairs stated that EU must preserves and protects the major achievement of the free movement of persons in the Schengen area even if at the same time, the EU assists Member States that were affected by the mass influx of North African refugees.

European Parliament gave their backing to plans for a joint register of lobbyists and other interest groups seeking access to Parliament and the Commission. Parliament also endorsed a proposal for a "legislative footprint annex" to reports drafted by MEPs. This annex would list all the lobbyists whom lead MEPs met while a legislative report was being drafted.

MEPs approved the first radio spectrum policy programme which bringing fast broadband web access to all European citizens and businesses. Having wireless internet can be achieved by allocating the "digital dividend", the radio frequency bands that will be freed up when Member States switch from analogue to digital television broadcasting.

The "stress tests" are a set of additional safety criteria drawn up in the light of the nuclear accident in Fukushima. In addition to safety standards already being in place at national level, the EU will start nuclear stress tests. Their aim is to assess whether the safety margins used in the licensing of nuclear power plants were sufficient to cover unexpected events.

MEPs chose to water down the Commission's proposal that would have allowed it to review national bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and, if warranted, withdraw its authorization from them.

The EU eHealth Task Force first meeting took place in Budapest during the eHealth week. This group is created to assess the role of information and communications technologies (ICT) in health and social care and to suggest ways for ICT to speed up innovation in healthcare to the benefit of patients, carers and the healthcare sector.

The European Commission plans to reshapes its import preferences on those developing countries most in need. It will limit its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), with which it grants specific tariff preferences to developing countries in the form of reduced or zero tariff rates or quotas.

The European Parliament has approved a macro-financial assistance to Georgia which means a second financial assistance package to this country (46 million Euro). The approval has been done using the co-decision procedure in the 1st reading and a second reading will be necessary due to the differences with Council on how to to oversee the implementation of the aid.

The European Parliament approved the discharge for almost all EU organizations (thirty-nine reports in total were put to the vote) except the Council of Ministers, the European Medicine Agency and the European Police College (CEPOL) which have been postponed.