European Union News

The European Commission has called on Europe's information and communication technologies (ICT) industry to outline by 2011 the practical steps it will take to become 20% more energy efficient by 2015. ICT equipment and services alone account for about 8% of electrical power used in the EU and about 2% of carbon emissions. But using ICT in a smart way could help reducing energy consumption in energy-hungry sectors such as buildings, transport and logistics, and save 15% in total carbon emissions by 2020.

The European Commission has issued on October 10th, 2009, a Call for Proposals to support the re-integration of EU researchers within the Marie Curie Actions. This Call is launched under the 2009 Work Programme ‘People’ of the 7th EC Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities. This Call is funded with 32 M€

On 9 October, the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner in will host in Brussels a Ministerial level conference on renewable energy cooperation between the EU, the Mediterranean and the Gulf countries, in co operation with the Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs. The conference aims to forge increased political support for closer cooperation in this field, and help to find concrete solutions to the challenges ahead.

The European Commission has published a call for proposals under the programme Youth in action which aims to provide support for the permanent activities of bodies active at European level in the field of youth and pursuing an aim which is of general European interest.

The supplement of the European Union Official Journal has published on the 8th October a call for tender to improve civil protection cooperation for the candidate countries for civil protection cooperation for the candidate countries and potential candidates.

The coordinators of the Trans-European Transport Network have presented Vice-President Antonio Tajani with their fourth and final report for their first mandate giving a detailed state of play of the priority projects for which they are responsible.

The Official Journal of the European Union has announced on the 7th October the publication of the Special Report No 11/2009 ‘The sustainability and the Commission’s management of the LIFE- Nature projects’  of the European Court of Auditors.

When the working day is over, networking is not ended yet. Events such as the Concert and Official Reception as well as regional events such as the North East England Office Official Reception which took place at the NEEO, are the occasion for delegates and people coming to Brussels from their regions to interact and exchange views and experiences applied within their areas.

Representatives of the provinces of Cáceres and Badajoz, and of the French regions of La Gironde, Eure and La Moselle discussed about the problems and the specific needs of the responses given to the crisis in the local level in the framework of the workshop "Local Solutions in Times of Crisis" of the Open Days . Although different regions represent a broad types of needs and characteristics (border regions, rural, open ocean regions, interior, etc), they all are facing the same situation: the economic crisis and its social implications .

The workshop on "Innovation awareness in regions", one of the 54 that compose theme A of the Open Days, has done a review of the initiative of the" European Innovation Weeks ", an idea promoted by Pro Inno Europe. These weeks, which have been developed in Riga, Berlin, Milan and the Danish city of Oresund, are an example of how to involve society in the European innovation policy.

Open Days University has focused its attention on one of the most important issues in the European Union and the world: climate change. Experts from different European regions have presented their proposals and concerns on the issue.

Open Days University has started with a conference that has affected the role of regions as engines of growth in times of crisis, and the importance of innovation for this growth.