European Union News

The EP's plenary has shown broad support to the agreement on measures to prevent, discourage and eliminate illegal fishing. This text is a binding legal instrument that provides a set of rules against a wide range of operations. The aim is to ensure the sustainable use and long-term conservation of living resources and marine ecosystems.

MEDIA European Talent Prize is share this year for two women, the scriptwriters Virág Zomborácz (Hungary) and Hanna Sköld (Sweden) for their film scripts for “Afterlife” and “Granny's Dancing on the Table”. The European Talent Prize is awarded to the screenwriter and production company behind the best project with pan-European appeal.

The regulation and the decision has adopted by the Council provides an embargo on exports to Syria of arms and equipment that could be used for internal repression, as well as a visa ban and an assets freeze.

European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani has dedicated Europe Day 2011 to young people who have faced difficulties finding work. He met more than 1000 young people at the University of Milan Bicocca together with representatives of all leading Italian trade unions and of entrepreneurial associations. He also promoted among young people the “Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs” action.

The outcome of the survey done in February by the European Parliament shows that EU citizens want measures to cut energy bills, integrate energy networks EU-wide, and make the 20% energy savings by 2020 target binding. However they are less eager to invest in house insulation or eco-friendly cars when these measures are not subsidized.

The European eHealth Week 2011 in Budapest (Hungary) will take place on 10-12 May and it will coincide with the 9th eHealth Ministerial Conference and the World of Health IT Conference and Exhibition. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are playing a central role in addressing the numerous challenges faced by healthcare systems across the EU including an ageing population, a rise in chronic diseases, budget cuts and a shortage of healthcare workers by for example allowing remote diagnosis, remote monitoring of patients' condition and secure sharing of patient records between healthcare professionals.

The First international multidisciplinary forum on new drugs will take place in Lisbon from 11–12 May and it is organised by the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA). The Forum will provide a comprehensive overview on new psychoactive substances and identify common anchor points to inform future actions.

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) invites young Europeans aged between 18 and 30 to participate in its first movie competition with their creative talents.

One of the outcome of the informal meeting of the Council’s working group for enlargement issues (COELA), held under the Hungarian EU presidency, has been that the EU needs to act in time and should not wait until problems escalate with regard to the events in North Africa.

According to the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) this Committe must fully play a link between the EU and civil society. This was one of the conclusions drawn by Mr. Andor, Commissioner with responsibility for employment, social affairs, at the EESC plenary session. He also added this is to ensure that the voice of the most vulnerable is not drowned out.

José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, underlines EC commitment to helping world's least developed countries (LCD) out of poverty. Mr. Barroso made this statement in the light of the forthcoming “The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV)” that will take place 9-13 May, 2011 in Istanbul,Turkey.

The European Commission adopted a new regulation to facilitate pan European rail journey planning and ticketing, by forcing a standardisation of rail passenger data on fares and timetables. This means that key reservation and ticketing information will be inter-operable and exchanged between rail companies throughout the EU as well as ticket vendors.