European Union News

The European Commission has imposed a penalty payment of € 899 million on Microsoft for non-compliance with its obligations under the Commission’s March 2004 Decision prior to 22 October 2007. The Decision on 27th February 2008, adopted under Article 24(2) of Regulation 1/2003, finds that, prior to 22 October 2007, Microsoft had charged unreasonable prices for access to interface documentation for work group servers. The 2004 Decision, which was upheld by the Court of First Instance in September 2007, found that Microsoft had abused its dominant position under Article 82 of the EC Treaty, and required Microsoft to disclose interface documentation which would allow non-Microsoft work group servers to achieve full interoperability with Windows PCs and servers at a reasonable price.

European Commission Directorate General for Information Society and Media wish to increase accessibility to ICT products and services by disabled and elderly people. In view of existing problems faced by disabled and elderly users when accessing ICT products and services, the study aims at putting forward potential solution(s) to deal horizontally with the issue of accessibility in order to give those users the same rights as other end users.

The European Commission proposed a new Safer Internet programme to enhance the safety of children in the online environment. Encompassing recent communications services from the Web 2.0, such as social networking, the new programme will fight not only illegal content but also harmful behaviour such as bullying and grooming. With a budget of €55 million, the programme, which builds further on the successful Safer Internet programme started in 2005, will run from 2009 to 2013.

With reference to Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a European agenda for culture in a globalising world (COM(2007) 242 final). The Committee of Rregions published it's official opinion in the OJ of the European Union on the 26th Feburary 2008 and it was made clear that it explicitly welcomes the European Commission's submission on a European agenda for culture in a globalising world. The commitee agreed that The document rightly sets out the key role of culture in the integration process and noted the need for appropriate tools to promote to the full Europe's cultural richness and diversity and thus achieve the ‘strategic objectives of prosperity, solidarity and security’ both inside and outside the EU. Amoungst various positives the committee welcomed the fact that the Commission highlights the key role of culture and the creative economy in generating growth and creating jobs. Culture is a European growth industry.

From April 2008 on, day in and day out,16 radio stations from 13 countries working in a consortium and 7 associate radio stations will co-produce and simultaneously broadcast programmes devoted to current affairs and society in the Europe of 27.

The European Commission directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities are working towards the establishment, organisation and coordination of a European network of legal experts in the field of labour law, dealing with both individual and collective rights/aspects.

A Europe-wide online poll to select a design for a commemorative €2 coin has chosen a design by Greek sculptor George Stamatopoulos. His design symbolises the currency as the latest step in a long history of trade within and outside Europe. The winning design will be on 90 million coins minted and put into circulation next year to mark the 10th anniversary of the completion of economic and monetary union (EMU).

The Directorate-General Regional Policy from the European Union is undertaking an ex post evaluation of Cohesion Policy Programmes financed by the European Regional Development Fund during the period 2000–2006. The focus of the present study will be the 70 URBAN II programmes in the EU14 and the URBACT network for exchange of experience and good practice. The Urban Community Initiative did not continue into the 2007–13 period. Instead, urban regeneration measures are being 'mainstreamed' into Cohesion Policy Programmes as well as national programmes.

The European Commission welcomed ,on the 21st February 2008, the adoption by the European Parliament of a broad package of measures to facilitate the functioning of the internal market for goods. This will make it easier for companies, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, to sell their products in the EU whilst increasing the protection of consumers. For industrial products existing market surveillance systems will be strengthened and for the first time aligned with import controls. Accreditation has also been introduced. This is a formal system which may now be used to ensure that conformity assessment bodies (or testing and certification laboratories) provide the high quality services that manufacturers need. The introduction of these measures serves to reinforce the role and credibility of CE marking. Improvements are also proposed for the trade with goods which do not fall under EU-legislation. From now it will also be the duty of a Member State that intends to refuse market access for products that are legally marketed in other Member States to talk to the enterprise and to give detailed objective reasons for any possible refusal, This creates new benefits for entrepreneurs as well as for consumers broadening their choice. It is expected that the Council of the EU will approve the package of measures soon, so it can enter into force next year.

A scientific project funded by the EU's research programme has found that introducing hydrogen into the energy system would reduce the total oil consumption by the road transport sector by 40% between now and 2050. By taking a leading position in the worldwide market for hydrogen technologies, Europe can open new economic opportunities and strengthen its competitiveness. But the analysis also states that transition won't happen automatically. Substantial barriers have first to be overcome, ranging from economic and technological to institutional barriers, and actions must be taken as soon as possible. The HyWays project brings together industry, research institutes and government agencies from ten European countries. Following a series of more than 50 workshops the project has produced a Roadmap to analyse the potential impacts on the EU economy, society and environment of the large-scale introduction of hydrogen in the short- and long- term, as well as an action plan detailing what needs to be done for this to take place. The report is published as the Member States are due to give their approval of a new €940m public/private research partnership for the development of hydrogen and fuel cells.

Yet another triumph for European Cinema: At last night's Oscars, the Oscar for the best foreign language film went to the Austrian-German co-production "The Counterfeiters" (Die Fälscher), a film co-funded by the EU's MEDIA programme and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky from Austria. This is the third time in a row that European cinema is successful in Hollywood.

An unprecedented € 3 billion will be invested in nanoelectronics, with the launch, on the 22nd February 2008, of a major Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) endorsed by the Council of Ministers and by the European Parliament at the end of 2007. This initiative, called ENIAC, is a new public-private partnership which targets nanoelectronics, the technology that enables increasingly high levels of miniaturisation in the myriad of applications and high-tech products which are emerging today. The Governing Boards of this ENIAC – where public and private stakeholders take decisions jointly – met for the first time in Brussels on the 22nd February 2008 .