European Union News - European Union

The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for the EU and the euro area declined in July, but remains above its long-term average. In the EU, it fell to 102.4 and to 103.2 in the euro area. In the EU confidence declined notably in industry, retail trade and among consumers, with marginal falls in services and an improvement in the construction sector. In the euro area the fall resulted from a decline in confidence in all sectors, with strong losses in industry and services.

According to data provided by the statistical office of the European Union, the population of the European Union amounted 502.5 million on 1 January 2011, which means one million and a half in one year. The population increased in twenty Member States and decreased in seven, with considerable variations between Member States.

The European Parliament announced the three finalists for the 2011 LUX. In this occasion, the finalista are a Greek production, "Attenberg" by Athina Rachel Tsangari; another from France's "Les neiges du Kilimandjaro" by Robert Guédiguian and a Swedish, French, Danish production, "Play" by Ruben Östlund. The winner will be announce in November.

The Council has limited the increase in payments in 2012 EU budget to 2.02% compared to 2011. This means that in real terms the Council's position would lead to a EU budget freeze. In absolute figures, compared to the amounts proposed by the Commission, the Council decreased the payments by a total of €3.65 billion and the commitments by €1.59 billion.

The European Commission has made a series of recommendations for further action in Burlgaria and Romania in judicial reform and in the fight against corruption. The Commission also proposes to make an overall assessment of Bulgaria and Romania's progress under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism since accession in summer of 2012.

The EU27 external current account recorded a deficit of €38.8 billion in the first quarter of 2011, compared with a deficit of 27.7 bn in the first quarter of 2010, according to the latest available data. In addition, there is a €16.9 bn surplus on trade in services.

The Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to ensure the financial stability of the euro area. Among the measures, they will support a new programme for Greece, together with the IMF and the voluntary contribution of the private sector. With the new measures, the Council intends to stop the risk of contagion, improving the Greek debt sustainability as well as improving the Eurozone's crisis management.

The OPEN DAYS is a key event at which cities and regions showcase their capacity for creating growth and jobs, implementing European Union cohesion policy, and prove the importance of the local level for good European governance. The preliminary programme for this event can now be downloaded, and registration is available in the event website.

The European Ombudsman’s concluded after his investigation into a complaint by an NGO about Special Adviser to former Commissioner Kuneva, that the European Commission should improve its rules for the handling of possible conflicts of interest involving the tasks of Special Advisers and their outside activities. The Ombudsman also advised the Commission on how to improve the rules.

The Polish Deputy Prime Minister, Waldemar Pawlak insisted at the plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on the need for Europe to have its own "transparent, accountable and responsible" rating agency. He also enjoyed the occasion to present the Polish presidency priorities to the EESC members.

European Defence Agency (EDA), based on a new task granted to this agency from the Lisbon Treaty, seeks to find Effective Procurement Methods which focuses on the development of innovative ways to consolidate the demand side of the European Defence Equipment Market. The main focus for the EDA in this initiative is the consolidation of demand for European defence equipment, and indeed the identification of current common demand.