European Union News

Cooperation in science and technology is high on the European agenda, and this is particularly obvious under the COST programme, an intergovernmental framework that fosters networking in European research investments and strengthens the European Research Area's (ERA) foothold on the global market.

The Council of the European Union held 16 September, which was partly dominated by the debate about reactions following the expulsion of Roma people from France, was the occasion for an institutional debate about the development of EU external relations within the new framework given by the Treaty of Lisbon. European leaders also  took stock of progress achieved in the Task Force on economic governance.

EU-wide investigation involving 26 Member States, and Norway and Iceland, into misleading advertising and unfair practices on websites selling consumer electronic goods has already shown results. 84% of the websites selling electronics, checked for breach of EU consumer rules, now comply with EU law, compared to 55% last year. It now remains to achieve the same success in the case ticket sites, where 60% of checked sites were flagged for further investigation.

The European Commission adopted on 16 September a draft decision on a EU-Morocco bilateral trade agreement for agri-food and fisheries products. The agreement will reinforce the position of European exporters on the Moroccan market, particularly exporters of processed agricultural products, representing a major offensive interest for the EU.

Increasing young people's employability and access to the labour market is the main objective of 'Youth on the Move', EU's initiative launched on 15 September 2010. 'Youth on the Move' is a new flagship initiative part of the Europe 2020 strategy which proposes 28 key actions aimed at making education and training more relevant to young people's needs and encouraging more of them to take advantage of EU grants to study or train in another country.

Between 16 and 22 September 2010 hundreds of cities in Europe and outside celebrate European Mobility Week. This year, under the theme 'Travel Smarter, Live Better', the campaign recognises the detrimental effects that current urban transport trends have on citizens' health, and encourages local authorities to take action for sustainable urban transport.

European citizens continue to show resolute support to aid provided to developing countries according to a special Eurobarometer published. Two in three Europeans believe that the EU should honor, or even improve, on its promises to increase development aid to 0.7% of GNI by 2015, the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goal.

EU researchers will have sustainable and continuous access to the combined processing power of over 200,000 desktop computers in more than 30 European countries thanks to the European Commission funded European Grid Infrastructure (EGI) project launched. The EGI, the largest collaborative production grid infrastructure for e-Science ever created, will enable teams of researchers in different geographical locations to work on a problem as if they were in the same laboratory.

Fewer people in the EU may be dying of cancer, but its incidence rose by almost 20% from 2002 to 2008, reports a special issue of the European Journal of Cancer (EJC) published on 13 September. Studies presented in the EJC, which is the official journal of the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO), received funding from EUROCADET project.

European Commissioner responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Reding, made a forceful reaction on 14 September over last developments in the situation of Roma people in France. In her statement, Commissioner Reading qualified the situation as "a disgrace" and warned France about the possibility to initiate an infringement action.

The European Commission has approved on 14 September the national programmes of the 27 Member States to improve the production and marketing of apiculture products for the period 2011-2013. The EU contribution to the financing of the programmes has increased by almost 25% compared to the previous period (2008-2010), from € 26 million to € 32 million per year.

Following the debate on the forthcoming EU budget review at the Committee of the Region's external Bureau meeting in Antwerp, the Committee's President Mercedes Bresso warned that the forthcoming review of the EU budget must not lead to less money for local and regional authorities to invest in sustainable, green and socially fair growth.