European Union News

The Official Journal of the European Union, OJEU, published on December, 3rd, the Directive 2008/106/EC, of the European Parliament and the Council on the minimum level of training of seafarers. This new Directive recasts Directive 2001/25/EC for reasons of clarity, after the significant amendments made to it.

The Competitiveness Council of Ministers met in Brussels at a meeting haired by Hervé Novelli, the French Minister for State for Business, Trades, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Tourism and Services. The main points on the agenda of the working session were the adoption of the 'Small Business Act for Europe' and the European response to the economic crisis.

An EU - Central Asia Ministerial Conference, co-organised by the French Presidency and Germany, was held on 27 and 28 November 2008, on the sidelines of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels, to discuss the theme "Rule of law - cornerstone of development", in order to give fresh impetus to the implementation of the European Union Strategy for a New Partnership with Central Asia adopted by the European Council on June, 21st 2007.

The European Commission has launched a debate on the future shape of European disability policy ahead of the European Day of People with Disabilities on December, 3rd. The conference "Acting locally for a society for all", taking place in Brussels between December 1st and 2nd, will bring together key players in the disability field to discuss follow-up to the current European Disability Action Plan.

The European Commission and EU Member States aim to shift international negotiations on a new global climate treaty into higher gear and will be pressing for progress on a range of issues at the UN climate change conference in Poznań, Poland from 1-12 December. The Poznań conference represents an important staging-post in the international negotiations which were launched in Bali last December and are due to lead to the conclusion of the new agreement at the end of 2009 in Copenhagen.

The European Commission is consolidating the longstanding cooperation with the US and Canada with the launch of a new round of 24 innovative projects involving universities and training institutions on both sides of the Atlantic. The objective is to promote mutual understanding, transparency and quality in higher education and training, by setting up long-term institutional cooperation at bachelor's and master's level, allowing students from Europe and from the partner countries to have a unique experience studying abroad in a global context.

By establishing a framework for joint Eurosystem procurement, the European Central Bank (ECB) aims at fostering the participation of the ECB and the national central banks of the Member States that have adopted the euro in such joint procurement. For that purpose, the ECB adopted on November, 17th, a Decision laying down the framework for joint Eurosystem procurement (ECB/2008/17).

The new Directive 2008/96/CE, of the European Parliament and the Council on road infrastructure safety management, has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, OJEU, on December 1st, 2008.  The Directive aims at the establishment of procedures to ensure a consistently high level of road safety throughout the trans-European road network which cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, applying the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.

The European Commission has decided to pursue infringement procedures against several Member States for failure to implement certain Internal Market Directives into national law. These procedures involve a Directive on Statutory Audit, the Eligible Assets Directive, and a Directive on public procurement.

The Council of ministers of the European Union adopted on November, 27th, the European Commission's strategy to reinforce the fight against cyber crime. The strategy proposes a series of operational measures, such as cyber patrols, joint investigation teams and remote searches to become part of the fight against cybercrime in the next five years.

The Political and Security Commission (PSC), has adopted Decision Atalanta/1/2008 (2008/888/CFSP), on the appointment of an EU Force Commander for the European Union military operation to contribute to the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast (Atalanta).

First negotiation rounds between the Commission and Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova for their accession to the Energy Community Treaty, were successfully held in Vienna on November, 25th and 26th, 2008. Both countries demonstrated their strong willingness to join the Energy Community, to prepare for the implementation of the related EU legislation and to pursue the necessary reforms of their energy markets.