European Union News

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published new aggregated information on the production and trade of fluorinated gases – or F-gases – in the EU. In 2011, F-gases were used mostly for refrigeration and air-conditioning purposes, as well as in electrical equipment and in the production of foams and aerosols. F-gases are important because they contributed 2% of total EU greenhouse gases emissions in 2010, measured in terms of CO2-equivalent.

EU Finance Ministers celebrated on 14 of September, 10 years of EIB-FEMIP (European Investment Bank and the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership) together with their Mediterranean counterparts in a joint meeting in Cyprus. At the meeting, EU Finance Ministers confirmed that EU’s neighbours should be the priority for the Bank in its operations outside Europe.

The European Commission adopted a proposal to bring the country back under the so-called 'Everything But Arms' preferential trade regime which would grant duty-free and quota-free access to the European market for all products except for arms and ammunitions. This decision follows the recognition by the international community, country's recent efforts to improve the political, social and labour environments there.

The European Commission adopted a decision which clarifies and reinforces the role and responsibilities of Eurostat, the EU statistical office. Through the Decision, the Commission pledges to uphold the independence of Eurostat and it's Director-General in their tasks, and ensure high-quality standards are respected for European statistics.

The European Commission presented a new strategy for developing international cooperation in research and innovation. The strategy proposes to further focus cooperation on EU strategic priorities while maintaining the tradition of openness to third country participation in EU research. It will be mainly implemented through Horizon 2020, the EU's funding programme for research and innovation from 2014.

The European Mobility Week which is being celebrated between 16-22 of September 2012 includes the launching of the EU’s first award to encourage the adoption of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) by local and regional authorities.

The Common Noise Assessment Methods in Europe (CNOSSOS-EU) presented by the European Commission will assess noise from road, rail and air traffic and from industry, and will provide consistent and comparable data on the noise levels to which people are exposed. Member States will have to start using the new methods for the next round of EU-wide strategic noise mapping in 2017.

A report published by the European Commission shows the North-South divide in educational attainment in the EU, with the highest rates of low-qualified people, with lower secondary education or less, chiefly found in southern European regions and especially in Portugal and Spain. The report also calls on EU countries to work harder to reduce these inequalities.

MEPs decided approved a regulation which allows Pakistan to export more goods duty free to the EU, so as to help the economic recovery of its flood-devastated regions. This exceptional measure, to apply until the end of 2013, will include fabrics, garments, linen, ethanol and leather. The regulation also includes safeguards for the EU textiles market.

The European Commission presented the EASIN network (the European Alien Species Information Network) which aim to facilitate the mapping and classification of alien species by indexing reported data from over 40 online databases. It has been calculated the existence of around to 16,000 alien species currently reported all over Europe.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an agreement with the Hellenic Republic that will facilitate up to €750 million of new EIB funding in Greece over the next few months. According to EIB President Werner Hoyer the agreement opens the way to new funding for key investments, which support economic development in Greece.

The European Parliament approved the new directive that will allow anyone across the EU to access so-called orphan works, i.e. photos, films or poems protected by copyright but whose right holders cannot be found. The new rules would also protect institutions that use orphan works from future copyright infringement claims.