European Union News

On the 20th June 2008 the European Commission published a report considering and approaching common topics for debate concerning the actual Common Agricultural Policy. The report published offered explanations and the opinion of the Commission with reference to these topics.

On 2 April 2008, the Commission decided not to oppose the between Bridgepoint and Pret a Manger. The EC also declare it
compatible with the common market.

At the request of the European Commission Delegation in China and in agreement with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the JRC Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen (IPSC) provided a scientific and technical support package to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Centre of Earth Observation and Digital Earth (CAS/CEODE), in order to contribute to post Wen Chuan earthquake disaster measures, such as damage assessment for reconstruction planning and future disaster risk reduction initiatives.

The European Commission has made available aid totalling €162.4 million from the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) to help deal with the consequences of devastating floods that hit regions in England, Northern Ireland and Wales during the summer of 2007.

On Tuesday 24 June, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Committee of the Regions (CoR) hosted in Brussels the High-level conference on the "Civilian Applications of GALILEO", which they co-organise together with Business Bridge Europe.

On the 20th June 2008, the European Commission published in the Official Journal publications of job vacancies in order to fill the position of Executive Director of both the IMI JU (The Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking) and the Clean Sky JU (The Clean Sky Joint Undertaking).

The House backs plans to roll out the pan-European emergency call system eCall by 2010. In the event of an accident, this system alerts the emergency services automatically, providing the exact location of the vehicle. If fully deployed across the EU, eCall technology, combined with the 112 emergency number, could save up to 2,500 lives a year.

A conference in Brussels, on the 19th June, puts the spotlight on a new tool that makes it easier for regions to team up to manage projects involving more than one Member State. The conference, entitled 'Building a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation', aims to promote setting up new groupings under the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) instrument. The event is organised jointly by the European Commission and the Committee of the Regions, in cooperation with the Slovenian Presidency of the European Union and the European Parliament.

According to the latest report from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, a third of household expenditure in the EU27 in 2005 went on housing, including utilities & furniture (33.1%), and almost a fifth on food, beverages & tobacco (19.4%). The other half of the expenditure was mainly dedicated to transport (11.9%), recreation & culture (8.4%), clothing & footwear (5.7%), restaurants & hotels (5.3%), health (3.4%), communications (3.3%) and education (1.0%).

Working Arrangements establishing a framework for cooperation between Frontex and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were signed today in Frontex headquarters in Warsaw.

The European Research and Innovation Exhibition or otherwise known as Salon Européen de la Recherche et de l' Innovation (SERI) was hosted in Paris between the 6th-8th of June at Expo Porte de Versailles.

EU Agency ENISA has advised companies on 12 threats from accidental loss or theft of confidential corporate data on unsecured USB flash drives. n a report issued on the 19th June 2008, ENISA, the EU Agency for European Network and Information Security, highlights the potential misuse of USB flash drives to breach security of corporate data or introduce malicious code.