European Union News

The Official Journal of the European Union, OJEU has published on January, 16th 2009 the Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council of January 14th, appointing Mr. Peter Hustinx as the new European Data Protection Supervisor.

The European Parliament has approved the revision of the regulations to include biometric data such as fingerprints or facial patterns, in passports issued in the European Union. The new law sets the minimum age of 12 years to take fingerprints, but grants a period of 4 years to countries where the age is lower. Moreover, in all Member States children will be holders of their own passports and will no longer appear in their parents. This is sought to combat the illicit trafficking of minors.

The Official Journal of the European Union has published on January, 15th 2009 the Communication from the Commission on “The recapitalisation of financial institutions in the current financial crisis: limitation of aid to the minimum necessary and safeguards against undue distortions of competition”, which presents some guidelines on the new regimes for recapitalization and opens the possibility to adapt the existing ones.

The Council adopted on January, 12th 2009, the common positions and the statements on the package of legislative measures concerning the internal energy market, aiming to supplement the existing rules to ensure that the internal market operates smoothly for all consumers and to enable the EU to achieve a more secure, competitive and sustainable energy supply.

The Official Journal of the European Union, OJEU, has published on January 15th, the Decision adopted by the Commission on December 22nd 2008 on the request from the United Kingdom to accept Regulation (EC) Nº 593/2008 of the European Parliament and the Council on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I).

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) have committed to increasing their cooperation and coordination in providing finance for the development of CAF's shareholder countries. EIB Vice-President, Carlos Costa, and CAF Executive President, L. Enrique García, signed the corresponding Joint Statement in Luxembourg this week.

The Official Journal of the European Union has publisehd on january, 14th 2009, the Commission Recommendation of December, 19th 2008 on common guidelines for the national sides and the issuance of euro coins intended for circulation. These recommendations contain some common rules which must be followed by the participating Member States as regards issuing and changes to the national side of the euro coins.

Two and a half years after its launch, the “.eu” top-level internet domain confirms its success with the registration of the third million domain, made by a German citizen on January, 11th 2009. These figures rank “.eu” as the fourth most popular internet domain among European country domains and the ninth worldwide.

Council Directive 2008/118/EC concerning the general arrangements for excise duty has been published in the OJEU on January, 14th 2009. This new text, whose main objective is to ensure common arrangements in relation to certain aspects of excise duty, replaces Council Directive 92/12/EEC of February, 25th 1992 on the general arrangements for products subject to excise duty and on the holding, movement and monitoring of such products. As the previous text  has been substantially amended several times, it turned to be necessary to replace it in the interests of clarity.

The European Parliament has adopted a report calling on Member States and the Commission to adequately assess the support given form public sector to financial institutions and big companies in response to the current economic situation. The report argues that these aids should be limited to what is strictly necessary for the maintenance and development of the European economy and not respond to purely national interests.

At the opening of the plenary session on Monday January 12th, EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering called for an immediate cease-fire and the end to the violence between Israelis and Palestinians. President Pöttering accused Hamas of starting the escalation of violence, but he also reminded that the right to defence does not justify violence against civilians. He suggested a political solution to the conflict and supported the plan promoted by France and Egypt.

The Official Journal of the European Union published on its C Series on January, 13th, 2009, a prior notification of concentration between the companies OP Trust, Deutsche Bank London, Lloyds TSB Bank, BNP Paribas and Porterbrook Leasing. Interested third parties are invited to submit their possible observations by January 24th.