European Union News

European Parliament has approved in its plenary session a regulation on rights of passengers travelling by sea and by inland waterways. After air and rail, also transport by water will be covered by a specific set of rights for passengers at EU level.

The list of airlines banned in the European Union has beeen modified by the European Comission to include one carrier from Surinam and to expand the operating restrictions on Iran Air. Besides, two carriers from Indonesia have been removed from the list of banned airlines.

The EU, fighting against brain cancer, is reinforcing this effort by providing funding to an Italian scientist who is pioneering a new treatment that could help squash this disease.

The European Commission is supporting a project on Active Ageing of Migrant Elders across Europe (AEMEE project) which is realised by the Ministry of Intergenerational Affairs, Family, Women and Integration of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Parliament should approve the reworked EU-USA SWIFT bank data transfer agreement this week. MEPs rejected the previous agreement four months ago, but have since negotiated certain safeguards with the Council and the US Treasury Department, and won an undertaking that the EU will develop a system that precludes the need to transfer data in bulk to the USA.

State Secretary Olivier Chastel has presented the programme for the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union to the Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees (COSAC). The COSAC is a cooperation that brings committees of the national parliaments dealing with European affairs together with the European Parliament representatives and it will be celebrated in the capital city of the country that holds the EU presidency.

The waters around Europe are being increasingly depleted of their marine resources because of overfishing. This is threatening not only ecosystems, but also the fishing sector and local communities.

The Official Journal of the European Union of July 3rd publishes the Council Decision of 30 November 2009 on the signing, on behalf of the European Community, and provisional application of the Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Norway, the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein on supplementary rules in relation to the External Borders Fund for the period 2007 to 2013.

Since 2nd July and until 7th July, Turin is hosting the Euroscience Open Forum, a meeting which aims to boost scientific research and to study its impact on the European society.

The European Commission's own research arm, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), has published its new strategy for the period 2010-2020. The new guidelines aim to reinforce scientific support to EU policy-making based on assessments of policy options identified in close collaboration with the Commission's policy Directorates-General.

The Official Journal of the European Union published on July 3rd the announce for the notification of the proposed operation by which British Barclays and Swiss Credit Suiss would take control over Swiss SSCP Coatings SARL (Ionbond Group). Commission opens a ten days period for interested parties to present their observations.

The European Commission has launched the European Music Contest calling young Europeans, between 15 and 25, to submit a song expressing support to the fight against poverty in the world. Each participant will create an original song on the general issue of development, and notably on the eight Millennium Development Goals