European Union News

EU heads of state and government have pledged to help Greece tackle its debt crisis, if needed. At a meeting on 11 February in Brussels, convened by President Van Rompuy, they issued a statement stressing both responsibility by the Greek Government and EU solidarity.

The European Union will offer EUR 20 million to Egypt to promote research and innovation, Ambassador of the European Delegation in Egypt Marc Franco announced at the first Euro-Mediterranean Innovation Marketplace in Heliopolis, Egypt in late January.

The Spanish Minister of Education, Ángel Gabilondo, will chair the Education, Youth and Culture Council in Brussels on 15 February 2010. The key issue will be the role of training and education in promoting the creation of employment and economic development.

As EU leaders discuss the Europe 2020 proposals to revamp the European economy at a summit in Brussels, six European regions that are already working to create jobs and boost their local economies through their entrepreneurial vision have become the first winners of the European Entrepreneurial Region (EER) label at a ceremony in the Committee of the Regions headquarters in Brussels.

More than 400 participants from 19 countries gathered in Ulm (Baden-Wurttemberg) on 2 February for the first conference on the development of an EU Strategy for the Danube region. This was the first in a series of consultation meetings by the Commission to shape the content of the Danube Strategy as requested by the European Council.

MEPs gave the green light for EU funding to help Europe's unemployed start up small businesses. Credit will be made available to budding entrepreneurs through a "microfinance facility" funded partly from the existing Progress programme and partly from unallocated money in the EU budget.

The Public Sector Information (PSI) Alliance has announced that the Annual Conference with the theme: From Regulation to Action will take place on Wednesday 16th June 2010 at the Residence Palace, Brussels.

The winners of the European Commission's third annual ‘Juvenes Translatores’ contest for schools have been announced. The 27 winners, one from each EU Member State, will be invited to Brussels in March to receive a prize from the European Commissioner responsible for multilingualism.

11th February (11-2), is 112 Day, to raise awareness of the single emergency number for all EU countries. The European Commission will present its latest evaluation of EU countries' efforts to increase people's awareness of 112 and handle 112 emergency calls in a multi-lingual and effective way.

In its annual resolution on equality between men and women in the EU, Parliament called for greater efforts to tackle violence against women, for paternity leave to be addressed at EU level and for equal pay legislation to be revised. A majority of MEPs also say women must have control over their sexual and reproductive rights, through easy access to contraception and abortion.

The European Commission has launched a one-stop helpdesk on funding possibilities for "motorways of the sea" projects under the Trans-European Network for Transport (TEN-T) programme and the Marco Polo programme. It will also point to other relevant national and European Union funding schemes. The "motorways of the sea" initiative is a TEN-T priority project that aims to promote green, viable, attractive and efficient sea-based transport links integrated through the entire transport chain.

The Commission has opened a public consultation on the European Strategy for the Danube. Based on the strategy in the Baltic Sea Region, it is available until March 31.