European Union News

European Commission announced a series of measures to clarify and strengthen the enforcement of passenger rights legislation, thus consumers can more effectively access their rights and industry has more certainty and a level playing field across the EU.

The European Commission approved the regional information and communication programme (2011-2013), worth € 14 million and targeting the 16 Neighbourhood partners. This programme will aim at improving the comprehension and the visibility of the EU policy and co-operation in the neighbouring countries.

Despite of the resolution opposing the plan to allow producers to claim that adding the fatty acid DHA to baby food "contributes to the normal visual developments of infants up to 12 months of age" did not achieve the necessary qualified majority of votes (388), the authorisation of the health claim can go ahead.

The European Commission brought together on 8 April 2011, representatives from Member States and EU institutions, as well as international organisations and civil society in order to debate over the future of funding in the field of Home Affairs for the next programming period. The Conference on "The Future of EU Funding for Home Affairs: A fresh look" focused on how EU funding for Home Affairs can support EU approach to migration and asylum, as well as fighting against terrorism and organised crime.

EU-funded researchers have discovered that terminally ill patients would rather give their quality of life a boost than extend the time they have left. The study's findings were discussed at a symposium held by the PRISMA project consortium on 24 March. According to the project partners, more focus should be placed on quality of life together with potentially life-prolonging treatments.

After maintaining them unchanged for almost two years at historically low levels, Governing Council of the ECB decided to increase key interest rates by 25 basis points. The operation to be settled on 13 April 2011. The adjustment of the current very accommodative monetary policy stance is warranted in the light of upside risks to price stability.

The European Commission has opened an public consultation on 'The Youth on the Move card:  What is needed to increase the mobility and participation of young people in Europe?' which aims to facilitate both the mobility and participation for all young people.

According to a report from the EU-funded UPWIND ('Integrated wind turbine design') project, giant 20 megawatt (MW) wind turbines are feasible and could provide a cost-effective way of expanding Europe's offshore wind capacity and providing cheaper electricity.

Internet domain name. ".eu" celebrates its fifth birthday and has become the 9th biggest top-level domain (TLD). Moreover, it has become the 5th most popular country code top-level domain worldwide and ranks in 4th place in Europe. Having a ".eu" domain is especially beneficial to small and medium-sized companies as it raises their profile on European markets by providing them with a pan-European identity on the Internet. Registrations for a ".eu" domain have grown every year since its introduction and now reach almost 3.5 million.

José Sócrates, the Portuguese Prime-Minister, informed to the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, of the request of Portugal to ask for the activation of the financial support mechanisms.

The use of such smart tags is expanding enormously -around 1 billion in Europe in 2011- but there are widespread concerns about their privacy implications. This is the reason why the Commission has signed a voluntary agreement the stakeholders involved on its use to establish guidelines for all companies in Europe to address the data protection implications of smart tags.

The European Commission has announced the 27 winners of the 2011 European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage Europa Nostra Awards that will be presented on 10 June during a ceremony in Amsterdam. Six of these winners will also be recognized as 'grand prix' laureates in this ceremony as 2011’s most outstanding heritage achievements. All of these projects represent outstanding experiences of appreciation for the potential that cultural heritage has as motor for growth and development.