European Union News

A new app for smartphones was presented by the European Commission with the aim at helping passenger with their rights when travelling this summer. The app is available in 22 EU languages and it currently covers air and rail transport and will be extended to bus/coach and marine travel in 2013 when these rights come into force.

The European Parliament approved a new rule which was previously agreed with the Council which aims to stimulate the supply of international freight and passenger services and to improve their quality. In addition, the new rules have as objective to clarify competition rules for rail transport firms and rail infrastructure managers. Once the new directive has been approved by the Council of Ministers, it will enter into force on the day after its publication.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was rejected by the European Parliament in plenary session. This means that it cannot become law in the EU.

According to Eurostat, the unemployment rates varied widely across the EU regions in 2011. Thus, the highest rates were registered in the regions of Andalucía (30.4%) and Canarias (29.7%) in Spain while the lowest rates were recorded in the regions of Tirol and Salzburg (both 2.5%) in Austria and Zeeland (2.7%) in the Netherlands. In addition, seventeen regions had a rate of 19.2% or higher, double that of the EU: ten regions in Spain, four French Overseas Departments and three regions in Greece.

The European Commission proposed a new legislative package with the aim at presenting new consumer-friendly standards for information about investments, raises standards for advice, and tightens certain rules on investment funds to ensure their safety. According to the Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier, retail products must be safer, information standards must become clearer, and those selling products must always be subject to the highest standards.

Since 1 of July, the Council Presidency of the EU will be carried out by Cyprus. The Cyprus Presidency, their first since joining the European Union in 2004, follows the Danish Presidency. The main objective of the Cyprus Presidency is to work 'Towards a Better Europe', one that is more relevant to its citizens and closer to its neighbours. Recently, Cyprus requested financial aid to the Eurogroup.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) published its Annual Report which summarises OLAF's achievements in 2011. Among the main results, OLAF handled 463 cases in 2011, and the highest recoveries were recorded in the structural funds sector (€524.7 million), followed by customs (€113.7 million) and agriculture (€34 million).

The European Commission’s Sustainable Urban Mobility campaign represents a three-year initiative aiming to support sustainable urban mobility campaigners in 31 countries. According to Commission's Vice-President Siim Kallas and responsible for Transport, the central objective of this new campaign is to promote the advantages of combining different modes of transportation.

MEPs, in a surprise vote, decided to postpone their scrutiny on a draft EU patent law scheduled for July 2012. The reason behind this decision is the Council's last-minute wish to delete three key articles to the draft law. The European Council, however, welcomed the agreement reached by Member States on 29 June to move forward the EU patent law.

The European Council has endorsed the decision of the General Affairs Council from 26 of June, and under the Danish Presidency at the Intergovernmental conference with Montenegro celebrated in Brussels on 29 June, the process was officially launched. According to the Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle, this is a big step towards EU membership.

The General Affairs Council meeting ended with an agreement on the draft regulation on bilateral investment treaties with third countries. The agreed text will be sent to the Parliament to be adopted it at second reading. Thanks to the new draft regulation, the bilateral investment treaties (BITs) will be negotiated by the Commission.

Two studies undertaken for the European Commission on apprenticeships and traineeships in all EU Member States recommend that these schemes should be more responsive to labour market requirements. European enterprises currently offer company training positions for a total of about 9.4 million students. Apprenticeship-type students represent approximately 40.5% of total secondary education students in the 27 Member States.