European Union News

The European Parliament has demanded tighter rules for the EU's growing output of waste electronic and electrical equipment. In a plenary vote on 3 February, MEPs proposed new targets for collecting, recycling and re-using waste, as well as for cutting red tape for companies. They also recommended tougher measures to prevent the export of e-waste to developing countries, where it can pose a health and environment hazard.

On 2 February 2010 the European Commission put forward a proposal for an EU Passenger Name Record (PNR) Directive which aims to fight serious crime and terrorism. Under this proposal air carriers will be obliged to provide EU Member States with data on passengers entering or departing from the EU, whilst guaranteeing a high level of protection of privacy and personal data.

Draw the best option for urban transport journeys is one of the objectives of the EU-funded group of scientists who is working within the project IN-TIME. The results of this research which are already being tested, could help to reduce congestion and reduce the effects of pollution from urban transport by providing users with information about the best multimodal transportation options.

The European Union and its Member States must act to ensure that pension schemes can sustainably deliver an adequate income to the EU's growing number of retired people, despite the economic crisis. This is one of the main points which focused a resolution voted within the Parliament's Employment Committee which also calls for pension portability to be addressed, as well as the inequalities faced by women and older workers.

Volatility in commodity prices as well as market distortions due to protectionists measures threatens to increase inflation in a sector which is vital for EU’s economy and the development of innovative technologies. In order to tackle this problem, the European Commission has presented an integrated strategic vision to tackle challenges in Commodity markets and on Raw materials proposing actions to improve the regulation, functioning and transparency of financial and commodity markets.

In a statement issued after the weekly meeting of the European Commission College held on 2 February, Commissioners expressed their firm commitment to support the legitimate aspirations of the people of Egypt. Following the public statement made by president Hosni Mubarak on the previous evening, demonstrations are still taking place all over the country with Egyptian people calling for changes in the political regime change.

Although the European Union is one of the richest economies on the planet, there are still big differences between some of its regions, disparities which appear in the fact that one region in four has a gross domestic product per person under 75% of the bloc's average. How to deal with such differences in the future cohesion policy has been the central issue to be debated at the Fifth Cohesion Forum which took place in Brussels between 31 January and 1 February.

Members of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament, meeting on 1 February 2010, raised some questions about the fact that the decision to address a limited reform of the Lisbon Treaty in order to establish EU permanent stability mechanism was taken as an intergovernmental choice. Some MEPs also expressed concerns over the tight timetable given to the reform.

European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs met the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and other members of the national government in Addis Ababa by the end of January, in a round of meetings which provided an opportunity to further strengthen EU development cooperation with Ethiopia, an important regional partner to the EU and recipient of the single largest share of EU aid. In his visit to the country Commissioner Piebalgs explored ways to support the government's five-year "Growth and transformation" national strategy and signed an agreement for the implementation of the Global Climate Change Alliance in Ethiopia.

According to the results of the first edition of the new Innovation Union Scoreboard, the European Union is failing to close the innovation performance gap with its main international competitors, the US and Japan. Although the trends in most EU Member States are promising despite the economic crisis, progress is not fast enough and the Union will need to intensify efforts to bridge this gap, specially when it comes to support private sector and facilitate the exploitation of results from innovation.

According to the last data published by Eurostat seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for the euro area has remained at 10.0% in December 2010, unchanged compared with November. Figures for the European Union as a whole also remained unchanged towards previous month at 9.6% in December 2010.

One in five 15-year-olds in Europe have reading and writing difficulties and lack basic skills, difficulties which are then dragged on by adults and in many cases make it harder for them to find a job and put them at risk of social exclusion. In order to tackle this problem, the European Commission has set up a Group of Experts in Literacy who will work to identify ways of raising literacy levels.