EU and Morocco hold their first meeting
From 6 to 7 March the European Union and Morocco will hold a pioneering summit in Granada, which will be the first between the two entities; the Spanish Presidency hopes that it will mark "a turning point" in the relationship and serve as an example for the region. The summit is also the first between the EU and a third country held under the Treaty of Lisbon, the first between the EU and an Arabic country and the first of the Spanish Presidency-in-turn.
Read more …European Week 2010 underlines e-skills' potential to help Europe’s economic recovery
European e-Skills Week is the result of a coordinated effort by the European Commission, governments, industry and educational establishments to inform the European public about the critical role ICT skills play in securing Europe’s future economic competitiveness. A broad range of activities across 35 countries in Europe will highlight the demand for skilled ICT users and professionals. Public authorities, ICT companies and educational institutions have together engaged in hundreds of activities, training events and competitions to inspire people to discover e-skills (such as using the internet) from their youth to retirement .
Read more …Jordanian first Secretary-General of The Union for the Mediterranean
The Union for the Mediterranean opens its Barcelona headquarters on 4 March, with a ceremony which will include the presentation of the organisation's first Secretary-General, the Jordanian Ahmad Masa’deh; the foreign ministers of Spain, France, Egypt and Jordan will be present at the ceremony, together with top ranking representatives from the Arab League, the European Commission and the Regional Government of Catalonia.
Read more …Commission launches new economic strategy Europe 2020
The European Commission has launched today the Europe 2020 Strategy to go out of the crisis and prepare EU economy for the next decade. This battle for growth and jobs requires ownership at top political level and mobilisation from all actors across Europe. Five targets are set which define where the EU should be by 2020 and against which progress can be tracked.
Read more …The Council invites Member States to extend social coverage of researchers
The adoption of measures to promote the mobility of researchers and creating more stable and attractive working conditions for this group were two of the subjects discussed this Tuesday by the formal Council of Competitiveness Ministers (Research) in Brussels, chaired by the Spanish Minister of Science and Innovation, Cristina Garmendia.
Read more …Member States seek to define strategic positions for its external action
Spain's Miguel Ángel Moratinos will host an informal meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers on 5 and 6 March in Córdoba, which will examine various issues related to the EU's external action. These meetings, known as Gymnichs (the name of the German castle where the first meeting was held in 1974) are held every six months.
Read more …A safer life for EU citizens
The EU's first Internal Security Strategy was adopted by the ministers for the interior on 25 February. It lays down a European security model, which integrates action on law enforcement and judicial cooperation, border management and civil protection, with due respect for shared European values, such as fundamental rights.
Read more …Europe bets on green vehicles
In order to overcome the economic crisis and return to growth, European industry needs to become more innovative and eco-efficient, for example by developing electric cars. With this in mind, a fresh approach to industrial policy was discussed on 1 March by the Competitiveness Council.
Read more …Brussels opens a public consultation on future universal service in digital era
A public consultation on what is the best approach to ensure that basic telecoms services are available for all EU citizens has been launched by the European Commission. Current EU rules on universal service obligations for telecoms date from 2002 and guarantee that Europeans have access to public telephone networks and to services like basic internet access.
Read more …Forest protection, a key to tackle climate change
The European Commission has adopted a Green Paper which sets out options for a European Union approach to the protection of forests and to information about forest resources and their condition. Responses to the Green Paper from the public, Member States, EU institutions and other stakeholders will guide the Commission on whether additional action is needed at EU level.
Read more …Commission approves proposed merger between Orange and T-Mobile in UK, subject to conditions
The European Commission has cleared the proposed merger of Orange UK and T-Mobile UK, respectively France Télécom's (FT) and Deutsche Telekom's (DT) UK subsidiaries. The decision is conditional upon the amendment of an existing network sharing agreement with Hutchison 3G UK (3UK), to ensure that there remain sufficient competitors in the market, and the divestiture of a quarter of the combined spectrum of the merging parties in the 1800 MHz band, which is one of three frequency bands currently used for mobile communications in the UK.
Read more …Member States improve their transposition proccess about internal market rules
Member States have never performed better in writing agreed Internal Market rules into national law on time, but still need to improve the way those rules are applied in practice, according to the European Commission’s latest Internal Market Scoreboard.
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