European Union News

The European Commission adopted two pieces of legislation to permit that flavouring substances in food will become even safer and more transparent. Used to alter the taste and/or odour of food, flavourings substances are used in a wide variety of foods, such as soft drinks, confectionery, cereals, cakes and yoghurts, and have now been evaluated at EU level. Now, only those flavouring substances featuring on the approved lists will be permitted for use by the food industry.

Eurostat published a short publication presenting past trends and latest data for each of the headline indicators of the strategy at EU and Member State level. These indicators show progresses but also that there is still work to do to achieving the strategy's goals. The Europe 2020 strategy aims at establishing a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy with high levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion.

The European Commission is looking to cut red tape for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). It is therefore launching a consultation process for them and their representative organisations, in order to help to identify the top ten EU legislative acts considered most burdensome by micro-companies and SMEs. The public consultation will be running until 21 December 2012.

The Quarterly Review presented by the European Commission shows that the unemployment and social situation in the EU remained a very serious concern in the second quarter of 2012. It is displayed on the report very significant differences between Member States, but unemployment rising overall, households' financial situation deteriorating and child poverty increasing in all of them.

Jean-Claude Junker, President of the Eurogroup, considers that the results of the independent valuation of Spanish banks show that the financial assistance decision to Spain in the form of a banking recapitalisation programme (it would cover financing needs of up to €100 billion) is adequate. Upon approval of the restructuring and/or orderly resolution plans, the recapitalisation of a first group of banks is scheduled to occur by November, according to the European Commission.

The European Court of Auditors concluded that fewer than half of the projects examined - 23 projects in 6 sub-Saharan countries - satisfactorily met the beneficiaries’ needs. Despite this conclusion, the Court found that EU support had increased access to drinking water and basic sanitation, using standard technology and locally available materials.

The Council welcomed the initiative of a number of Member States to develop, on a voluntary basis at the national level, the European Legislation Identifier (ELI). The Council approved on its conclusions for the 24 of September the Working party on e-Law suggestion that would mean a new unique identifier and structured metadata to reference legislation published in the official journals and legal gazettes of different legal systems.

Negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement which lays down approval and market surveillance rules for all L-category vehicles in the EU, i.e. about 30 million mopeds, scooters, motorbikes, all-terrain vehicles and quads. According to MEPs, the agreement will make motorbikes safer and greener.

Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the Eurogroup announced on 27 September that the Treaty establishing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM Treaty) will enter into force following the deposit by Germany of its instrument of ratification. In addition, the representatives of the parties signed an agreement on the interpretation for the Article 8(5) of the ESM Treaty and the Article 32(5), Article 34 and Article 35(1).

The new strategy presented by the European Commission to drive European business and government productivity via cloud computing, is based in "unleashing the potential of cloud computing in Europe". The actions foreseen seek to deliver a net gain of 2.5 million new European jobs, and an annual boost of €160 billion to EU GDP by 2020.

The European Commission seeks to close loopholes in current legislation on drug precursors - legal chemicals contained in a wide range of products, including pharmaceuticals, perfumes and plastics, but which can also be illegally diverted to produce narcotics. It is proposed to reinforce the controls on specific chemicals, both within the Single Market and at the EU borders through Customs.

The Economic Affairs Committee in the European Parliament wants to apply new updates to the EU directive and regulation on markets in financial instruments, that would apply to almost all such instruments and almost all market players, in order to get that financial products are tailored to the investors' needs, and so they should be less likely to be misled.