European Union News - European Union

MEPs approved the resolution which backs that stalled regional development projects will be boosted by risk-sharing with private sector in Member States worst hit by the financial crisis. According to the proposal, the EU's financial contribution to the risk-sharing instrument must not exceed 10% of the total 2007-2013 national allocation from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF).

The informal meeting held in Brussels among the EU Defence Ministers confirmed the EU's commitment and its unique position as a security provider in a context of financial austerity and a changing strategic environment. Ministers also endorsed the European Defence Agency’s work so far, and took action signing a Political Declaration indicating that Pooling & Sharing efforts in Air-to-Air Refuelling should get underway.
 

The EU High Representative Catherine Ashton announced the EU decision to postpone the EU-Argentina joint Cooperation Committee meeting scheduled on 20 of April following the Argentina's decision to expropriate the majority stake held by Repsol in YPF.

The European Commission presented a proposal to improve the independence and reliability of EU statistics. The proposal particularly focuses on the independence of National Statistical Institutes and in particular the heads of these authorities; and that Member States will be required to sign "Commitments of Confidence".

The European Commission published the annual report on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights which highlights that fundamental rights concerns are increasingly embedded in EU policy-making. The report is part of the Commission's efforts to raise people's awareness of the Charter, when it applies, and the role of EU institutions in the field of fundamental rights.

The European Ombudsman has opened an investigation into whether the European Commission has taken appropriate measures to combat increased bee mortality in the EU. According to a complaint from the Austrian Ombudsman Board, the Commission has failed to take into account scientific evidence which recommends restricting the use of certain insecticides.

High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs, with Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Michelle Bachelet, signed a new partnership between the EU and UN Women aimed at enhancing gender equality worldwide.

The EU and its 27 Member States remains the world biggest donor with €53 billion of development aid in 2011. Although it provided more than half of global official aid during last year, figures also show that EU official aid declined by about €500 million compared to 2010, a drop from 0.44% of GNI in 2010 to 0.42% in 2011.

According to the Danish Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior, Margrethe Vestager, who hosted the latest meeting held by the ECOFIN, most of Member States agreed that banks must pay a fair share of the bill of the crisis, but there are many ways of taxing the banks. Some countries therefore support a financial transaction tax, others don’t and would rather explore alternatives. In addition, ministers also held a discussion on the EU multiannual budgetary framework.

The new regulation which establishes the functionalities of the European Citizens' Initiative takes effect on 1 of April. From this date, citizens will be empowered to work together across borders to gather at least one million signatures in support of an idea that will be able to ask the European Commission to propose legislation to enact it.

The Council held a discussion on the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the 2014-2020 period in which it was discussed the first elements of the negotiating box outlining the most central issues and options for certain parts of the MFF. On the other hand, the Danish Presidency of the EU Council expressed its intention to establish the basis for a substantive discussion by the European Council in June, so as to enable the MFF to be adopted by the end of the year.

In a vote on budget guidelines negotiated by Parliament's political bodies, MEPs confirmed that the European Parliament should freeze in real terms its budget for 2013. In addition, a majority of committee members pointed that substantial savings could be made by having only one work place instead of three (Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxembourg).