European Union News

At an extraordinary meeting of the Council of the European Union held in Brussels on 11 March 2011, Heads of State and Government debated on the current situation in Libya and the Southern neighbourhood region and set the political direction and priorities for future EU policy and action. The Council saluted the courage demonstrated by the people of the region and reaffirms that it isfor them to decide their future through peaceful and democratic means.

According to the report on the implementation of Regulation concerning the Labour Cost Index (LCI) (COM(2011) 102 final), the overall degree of compliance with the LCI Regulation has continued to increase since the previous report in 2008. The report reveals that most Member States are now compliant and have continued to channel resources into implementing actions to achieve more comparable and timely index series.

The European Enterprise Awards (EEA) aim to recognise and reward the best entrepreneurial initiatives by public authorities at national, regional and local level to make Europe more entrepreneurial and business-friendly. 12 regions have been nominated to compete for the final award, whose winners will be announced on 24 May 2011 at the 5th EEA award ceremony co-hosted by the Hungarian Presidency in the prestigious National Gallery in Budapest.

In the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 and injured at least 1800 people commuting to work, the European Union marks the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Terrorism. Commemorating this day Vice-President Viviane Reding and Commissioner Cecilia Malmström made a joint statement expressing the EU's solidarity with the victims of all type of terrorism in the world.

The European Commission proposed on 10 March 2011 a series of measures to amend the Schengen Borders Code with the aim of facilitating the movement of people across EU internal and external borders in a controlled manner. These changes are intended to increase clarity in the current regulations and improve the system.

The Council of the European Union decided on 10 March to extend restrictive measures to five key financial entities, and to add one additional name to the list of individuals already subject to restrictive measures, in response to the gravity of the situation in Libya. This Council Decision  2011/156/CFSP entered into force  and was published in the Official Journal on 11 March.

The Competitiveness Council meeting in Brussels on 10 March 10 has given finally its approval for 25 member states to continue with the process of enhanced cooperation to implement the unitary patent protection. Despite protests from Spanish and Italian delegations and, although it seemed that the debate could be relaunched by the recent ruling from EU Court of Justice on the European and Community Court for patent, ministers agreed to continue the process.

The European Commission has published its first Trade and Investment Barriers report which singles out important barriers in the markets of six strategic economic partners. The report proposes specific actions to remove these barriers, which would improve and open up new export and investment opportunities for European companies and people.

At the Plenary Session held in Strasbourg on 10 March, MEPs called on High Representative Ashton to recognise the Interim National Council as officially representing the Libyan opposition. The resolution, by all political groups, also calls on EU Member States to stand ready for a UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya, to prevent the Gaddafi regime targeting the population, and to help repatriate or resettle migrants fleeing the growing violence there.

At the Plenary Session of the Parliament held on 9 March, MEPs voted on a Resolution calling for the establishment of binding targets to enhance access to employment, education, housing and health of the nearly 12 million Roma currently living in the EU. The resolution lays down the MEPs priorities regarding the EU strategy on Roma inclusion, which the Commission is extected to present in April. These key elements include the protection of fundamental rights and use of European funds.

EU ministers meeting in Brussels within the Competitiveness Council on 9 March held a debate about the "Annual Growth Survey - European semester", concentrating on the structural reforms required to boost investment in research and innovation and the challenges Europe is facing to reach the EU 2020 headline targets in this area. Ministers also adopted conclusions on the interim evaluation of Seventh Framework Programme and the preparation for the launch of a pilot European Innovation Partnership on "Active and healthy ageing".

The European Commission adopted on 8 March a Roadmap for transforming the European Union into a competitive low carbon economy by 2050. The Roadmap describes the cost-effective pathway to reach the EU's objective of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and gives direction to sectoral policies, national and regional low-carbon strategies and long-term investments.