European Union News

European Heads of State and Government held, on November 7th, an informal meeting to consult on the negotiating position of the European Union at the G20 summit. The international summit, to be held in Washington on November, 15th, 2008 must pave the way for the reform of the international financial system.

The contract is managed by the Directorate-General Information Society and Media, Directorate C — Lisbon Strategy and Policies for the Information Society.

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of French software vendor ILOG S.A. by the US company International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

The European Commission published in the Official Journal of the European Union, OJEU, on November, 8th, 2008, the Regulation (EC) Nº 1104/2008, of October 24th, 2008, on migration from the Schengen Information System (SIS 1+) to the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II).

The European Commission proposed fishing possibilities and fishing effort for 2009 for the main stocks in the North-East Atlantic, including the North Sea. This takes account of the latest scientific advice on the state of fish stocks from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), advice from the Commission’s own Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries (STECF) and input from stakeholders. Most stocks of fish continue to be overfished in 2008. Highest reductions will be cod, prawns and anglerfish.

The Official Journal of the European Union has published the European Commission consolidated financial statements for the financial year 2007 with a surplus of EUR 7,462 million.

The European Commission published on November, 7th, some new legislative texts on the EU Telecom Reform package to take account of the European Parliament vote of September, 24th, 2008 and the ongoing discussions in the Council. At the heart of the compromise texts is a new, small and independent office for Europe's Telecom regulators that should help the Commission to bring about more consistency to regulatory measures on Europe's Telecom markets.

The European Commission's Interoperable Delivery of European eGovernment Services to public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC) Project delivered on October 20th, a draft of the 'Guidelines on public procurement and Open Source Software', at the Open Source World conference held in Malaga. The guidelines show how public administrations can end discrimination against Open Source in public tenders.

The European Union published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) of November 7th, 2008, a Call for Proposals on European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST). COST promotes within the EU new research networks, with an innovative, interdisciplinary and general character.

The European Union published in the Official Journal of the European Union, OJEU, on November 6th, 2008, Call for Proposals SUB 02/2008, dedicating a total budget of up to 5 million Euro to support the development of sustainable mobility policy for urban agglomerations.

Commission adopted its annual strategy paper for the EU’s enlargement policy on November, 5th, 2008, highlighting the role the EU’s enlargement policy plays in the Union’s strategic interest in stability, security and conflict prevention. The Commission also reviews the progress achieved in the Western Balkans and Turkey over the last year and spells out the challenges ahead, setting the agenda for accession processes in the area.

The Conference took place at a crucial point in relations between the two rims of a strategically important region for an enlarged European Union. The Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean, launched at the Paris Summit on July 13th, 2008, reflects the renewed commitment by all the partners to enhance dialogue and cooperation between the European Union and other Mediterranean rim countries. Three major issues were at the Agenda: a progress report on the partnership’s new concrete projects and their implementation, precisions on the new type of governance introduced by the Union for the Mediterranean, and political dialogue on the regional situation.