European Union News

The European Commission, on the 29th May 2008, made payments totalling €3.1 million to the Portuguese and Maltese authorities from the European Globalisation adjustment Fund (EGF). This is made up of € 2.4 million to help 1,549 Portuguese auto workers get back into work as quickly as possible and a further €681,000 for 675 dismissed Maltese textile workers. The payments follow approval by the Budgetary Authority (the European Parliament and the Council) on 10 April 2008.

From 2 June 2008 the EU Gateway Programme provides professional mentoring and coaching to EU companies that want to do business in Japan and Korea and offers them the possibility to participate in one-week business events in these target markets. The new phase of this business cooperation programme builds upon the experience of the Gateway to Japan Campaign which has helped about 2.500 European companies to find business partners in Japan over the last 14 years.

After a drop in April, the Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area picked up slightly in May. Nonetheless, the downward trend of the BCI and the deceleration in industrial production registered in March point to a weakening of industrial activity in the second quarter of 2008.

Culture ministers and civil society representatives from the 39 members of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership are meeting in Athens on 29/30 May to exchange views on the cultural dimension of the partnership and to explore the substance and scope of a joint cultural strategy. They will be discussing the political processes and mechanisms that will lead to the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean Cultural Strategy.

In May, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) decreased further by 1.3 points to 96.7 in the EU and remained unchanged in the euro area at 97.1. In both regions, the ESI stands below its long-term average. Economic sentiment indicator (s.a.)

The European Commission has adopted a code of conduct containing clear and precise rules for interest representatives in their dealings with Commission staff. The code of conduct is joined with the register of interest representatives which the Commission will launch on 23 June 2008, and acceptance of the code will be a requirement for entry in the register.

The EU Competitiveness Council is meeting in Brussels on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 May under the chairmanship of Mr Andrej Vizjak, Minister for Economy of Slovenia, Mr Gregor Virant, Minister of Public Administration, and Ms Mojca Kucler Dolinar, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology of Slovenia. The European Commission will be represented by, Vice President Gunter Verheugen, responsible for Enterprise and Industry, Commissioner Charlie McCreevy responsible for the Internal Market and Services, Commissioner Janez Potocnik for Science and Research, Danuta Hubner, Commissioner for Regional Policy and Jan Figel Commissioner for Education, training, culture and youth.

Stop exploiting energy “as if there's no tomorrow”. This – as articulated by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan – was the key message of Tuesday's conference on energy efficiency, attended by EP President Hans Gert Pöttering and 1990 Nobel laureate Mikhail Gorbachev. “More effective energy use is something we can easily achieve”, said Mr Pöttering, launching the Global Energy Conference on awareness-raising and energy efficiency.

On 22nd May 2008, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration by which the undertakings Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (‘SEPI’, Spain), Centro de Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (‘CDTI’, Spain), Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aerospacial ‘Esteban Terradas’ (‘INTA’, Spain) and Abertis Telecom, SA (‘Abertis’, Spain) acquire joint control of the undertaking Hispasat, SA (‘Hispasat’, Spain) by way of a contract of management.

On 22 May 2008, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration by which the undertaking Apax Partners
Worldwide LLP (‘Apax’, United Kingdom), through Apax Europe VII Fund, acquires control of the whole of the undertaking D + S europe AG (‘D + S’, Germany), by way of public bid announced on 15 April 2008.

The Industry Committee is insisting that the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators - proposed as part of the energy package - should have regulatory powers, contrary to the Commission's original plan. On Wednesday 28th May 2008, Committee voted on three related first-reading reports, overwhelming majorities on the committee backed a strong decision-making role for the Agency.

This month the European Commission published online new information on its progress in implementing the The Trans-European Transport Networks, "TEN-T". The The TEN-T initiative comprises 30 priority projects which should be completed by 2020 and of these 30 priority projects, 18 are railway projects, 3 are mixed rail-road projects, 2 are inland waterways transport projects and one refers to motorways of the sea.