European Union News

After several years working on this issue, EU launches Asylum Support Office to help harmonise procedures in all Member States

Efficient electricity storage, artificial organs to replace damaged ones and robots to make our lives easier were chosen by citizens as the most important scientific challenges in the near future. The results of the vote organised by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU have been announced during the Research Council in Brussels.

The European Commission has launched a Call for Proposals under ICI Education Cooperation Programme in order to enhance mutual understanding between peoples of the EU and the Partner Countries including broader knowledge of their languages, cultures and institutions.

Germany, Belgium and Latvia have joined nine EU Member States in asking for legislation that will bring legal certainty to international couples wishing to divorce. The aim is to lessen the burden on children and to protect weaker partners during divorce disputes. Other EU countries keep the right to join when they want.

The European Commission has adopted new competition rules for agreements between vehicle manufacturers and their authorised dealers, repairers and spare parts distributors. The new rules will increase competition in the market for repair and maintenance by improving access to technical information needed for the repairs and by making it easier to use alternative spare parts.

The aim of the proposal is to simplify travel to the European Union countries participating in the common visa policy and those associated to the Schengen area for the citizens of Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, abolishing the obligation to apply for a short-term visa (up to 90 days) for the holders of biometric passports.

The European Entrepreneurship Video Award aims at encouraging film lovers to prove their creativity and skills by producing a short video that deals with entrepreneurship. The winners of the European Entrepreneurship Video Competition 2010 have been awarded their prizes by Vice President Antonio Tajani during a festive act at the Wolubilis Cultural Center in Brussels.

Ahead of the 2010 No Tobacco Day , the European Commission unveils the results of a Eurobarometer survey which shows that a strong majority of EU citizens support stronger tobacco control measures.  The Commission is planning to launch an open consultation shortly with a view to revising the 2001 Tobacco Products Directive and is stepping up its tobacco control efforts throughout the EU.

The Task Force on economic governance, chaired by the President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy, met for the first time on 21 May. Agreement was reached on four main objectives and on the direction in which the group would move forward for each of them.

The proposal represents the commission’s first concrete effort to forge a common approach to bank taxes, which have become more popular with EU governments since the financial crisis. The lack of EU-wide rules could also lead to competitive imbalances between national banking markets. It also threatens to hamper cross-border cooperation in the event of another crisis.

The European Commission has presented an analysis of the costs, benefits and options for moving beyond the EU's greenhouse gas reduction target for 2020 from 20% below 1990 levels to 30% once the conditions are met. At present these conditions have not been met. This communication follows the Commission's Communication on "How to reinvigorate international climate negotiations" and the Council's request to present an assessment on the impacts of a conditional move to a 30% emissions cut.

The European Commission has adopted a draft mandate to negotiate a personal data protection agreement between the European Union and the United States when cooperating to fight terrorism or crime. The aim is to ensure a high level of protection of personal information like passenger data or financial information that is transferred as part of transatlantic cooperation in criminal matters.