European Union News

The European Commission has launched on 10 November a public consultation in order to gather opinions from all stakeholders regarding the orientation to be given to EU approach to development. The results of this public consultation will be the base for the Communication on a Modernised EU Development policy expected to be presented by the Commission in 2011.

The Research, Industry and Energy Committee of the European Parliament has backed the proposal to reallocate more than 146 million Euro to finance energy saving, energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Once endorsed by the Council, these funds which were not part of the European Energy Recovery Plan, will be available for regional and local authorities since 1 January 2011.

On the preliminary of the G20 Summit held in Seoul (South Korea) between 11 and 12 November, the European Union passed its key message to its partners in the Summit which is based on the need for coordinated action to the collective challenge the world is facing. In their addresses, President Van Rompuy and President Barroso expressed what are the main expectations the European Union holds for this Summit.

The Council on Competitiveness met on 10 November in extraordinary meeting with a single item on the agenda: the Proposal for a Council Regulation on the translation arrangements for the European Union patent. Although an intense debate was hold by delegations, no political agreement was reached at the meeting and the Presidency will now try to capitalise the momentum given by representatives of Member States.

The High Level Group of the European Parliament and the European Commission concluded on 10 November 2010 its discussions on a joint "Transparency Register". This new common register for organisations and individuals engaged in EU policy making and policy implementation will merge both institutions systems.

The European Commission has presented on 10 November its Communication “Energy 2020” setting the main objectives for EU energy policy over the next ten years. This strategy details the five top priorities, which will be the base for concrete legislative initiatives and proposals to be put forward by Commission within the next 18 months, and which will be on the agenda for the discussion by Heads of States and Governments at the very first EU Summit on Energy on 4 February 2011.

The European Commission has published its 5th Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion, where it presents an extensive assessment of the economic, social and environmental situation and trends in EU regions and sets out a number of different options for adapting the policy post-2013. The conclusions put forward by this report will be the base for a public consultation on Cohesion Policy which will be open until 31 January 2011.

The European Court of Justice has ruled on the cases presented by two German applicants who were granted aids from CAP funding and whose data where published in the German public site. Tribunal puts into balance the right for public disclosure of data related to public spending at the right for data protection, and concludes by declaring invalid certain provisions of Regulation Nº 1290/2005 and the entire Regulation Nº 259/2008.

The European Commission adopted on 9 November its Enlargement Package, presenting the annual assessment of the European Union's enlargement agenda. The package comprised a Strategy paper, the Opinions on the membership applications by Montenegro and Albania and seven Progress Reports on the other candidate countries and potential candidates.

All internet users have at some time or another complained about slow surfing speeds or a tiresome wait for a video to load. A group of European engineers from Spain, Hungary and Sweden decided to try to counter such problems by monitoring traffic and tailoring services to meet demand. A number of leading communication companies have already taken up the newly developed methodology used for traffic measurements.

The European Commission put forward on 9 November its blueprint for an EU trade policy to help revitalise Europe's economy. The document presented by the Commission proposes a strategy to reduce trade barriers, to open global markets and to get a fair deal for European businesses, addressing issues such as the opening of International public procurement markets to ensuring a fair and inclusive commerce which will contribute to development.

The four rapporteurs who are drafting the report on the application and putting into practice of citizen initiative have presented their conclusions to the European Parliament  Constitutional Affairs Committee. Among the suggestions made by MEPs and debated within the Committee are the early check of initiatives the reduction of the number of Member States which should be represented as well as the requirement for ID identification of signatories.