European Union News

In 2008, EU27 external trade in services recorded a surplus of 78.4 billion euro, compared with a surplus of 86.9 bn in 2007 and a surplus of 71.4 bn in 2006, according to latest Eurostat release.

The Commission is consulting on extending the basic cover provided by EU’s 1990 Package Travel Directive – on information, liability for sub-standard services and protection for insolvency - to the next generation of ‘dynamic packages’ where consumers make up their own packages, often online, through one website or different partner websites. 23% of EU consumers, and over 40% in countries like Ireland, Sweden are now booking "dynamic packages", many of which currently fall outside EU protection rules.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), EUROCHAMBRES, UEAPME and BUSINESSEUROPE are organising a conference on the first anniversary of the Small Business Act, to be held on Wednesday 2 December at the EESC

José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, has announced the portfolios responsibilities for the next Commission. The President has held detailed consultations with all the Commissioners-designate in order to assign the right jobs to the right people. The President believes that this team can deliver the agenda for change he set out in the political guidelines he presented in September, following his nomination by all 27 Member States and before his approval as President of the next Commission by the European Parliament.

A report published on 19 November by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) says that the growth of Web 2.0 is allowing Internet users to play an important role in the way that commercial and public products and services are shaped and used.

European Commission has published a call for proposals in the framework of trans-european cooperation scheme for higher education through international university cooperation Tempus. Proposals for this call are accepted until 9 March, 2010. 

Member states have presented their nominees to be Commissioner. After being re-elected as President of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso will have now to proceed with the allocation of portfolios.

100 young people between 15 and 18 years took part a 24-hour contest in Brussels.The purpose of the special European Innovation & Creativity Camp is to help young people develop the traits and skills they’ll need to be competitive employees or entrepreneurs in the future

If products are not tracked from their place of origin to their point of sale, there is no way of locating when and how product problems occur. Tracking products throughout their journey to their final destination is essential if we are to ensure worldwide supply and demand chains that deliver excellent-quality products. The three-year BRIDGE project received EUR 7.5 million in EU funding to take up this challenge and it delivered exciting new tracking techniques using radio wave technology.

Parliament is now fully prepared for the increased powers it is acquiring under the Lisbon Treaty. MEPs have adopted changes to the EP's internal rules to reflect the arrival of 18 new MEPs, the increase in its legislative powers and a new budget procedure that puts Parliament on an equal footing with the Council.

EU countries should work together more closely on the reception of asylum seekers and in fighting against discrimination. Access to justice should be improved and prisoners' rights strengthened. These and other demands were made by MEPs in a resolution on the EU's justice and home affairs programme for the next five years.

The film received the largest number of MEPs' votes from among the three finalists.  Welcome focuses on a swimming instructor in Calais, France, who decides to help out a young Kurdish refugee who needs to swim across the English Channel to join his girlfriend who has already emigrated to England along with her family.