European Union News - European Union

President of the Commission Jose Manuel Barroso sent a letter on 25 November to the Presidents of the European  Parliament and of the European Council on the political issues linked to the adoption of the 2011 budget. In order to help in this process, the Commission has drafted a new budget which 126.5 billion Euro in payments, an increase of 2.9% to 2010.

The European Parliament adopted on 25 November, a resolution strongly condemning the violent incidents that occurred in Izik Agdaym camp in Western Sahara and called for an independent international investigation from the United Nations, considered as the most appropriate body to conduct an investigation to determine the facts.

The European Parliament has passed on 25 November a resolution stressing that transparency and access to information on what the EU administration is doing, are vital to maintain citizens' trust in it. For that reason, the Eurochamber recalled the importance of Ombudsman's work in this sense and the need to count upon Commission's collaboration.

The European Parliament's plenary session housed on November 23 a debate with the European Commission and the Belgian presidency of the Union, where its position on the deadlock of EU budget for 2011 remained unchanged. In his speech before the debate, the president of the Commission, Durao Barroso announced that the College of Commissioners is preparing a new draft budget to be submitted on 1 December which is expected to be approved within next 15 days.

Despite efforts made by the parties involved and convergence on the figures of the EU budget for 2011 and other connected items, the Council and the European Parliament did not reach an agreement on the whole negotiation package, within the Conciliation Committee. The Commission will now have to propose a new draft budget and, should not being an agreement by the beginning of 2011, the EU will have to move to provisional twelfths scheme.

On the preliminary of the G20 Summit held in Seoul (South Korea) between 11 and 12 November, the European Union passed its key message to its partners in the Summit which is based on the need for coordinated action to the collective challenge the world is facing. In their addresses, President Van Rompuy and President Barroso expressed what are the main expectations the European Union holds for this Summit.

The High Level Group of the European Parliament and the European Commission concluded on 10 November 2010 its discussions on a joint "Transparency Register". This new common register for organisations and individuals engaged in EU policy making and policy implementation will merge both institutions systems.

The European Commission adopted on 9 November its Enlargement Package, presenting the annual assessment of the European Union's enlargement agenda. The package comprised a Strategy paper, the Opinions on the membership applications by Montenegro and Albania and seven Progress Reports on the other candidate countries and potential candidates.

The four rapporteurs who are drafting the report on the application and putting into practice of citizen initiative have presented their conclusions to the European Parliament  Constitutional Affairs Committee. Among the suggestions made by MEPs and debated within the Committee are the early check of initiatives the reduction of the number of Member States which should be represented as well as the requirement for ID identification of signatories.

The first session of the European Council held in Brussels on 28 October, ended with an agreement from Heads of State and Government to explore the way for a limited change in the Treaty of Lisbon, in order to introduce a permanent crisis mechanism. They also endorsed the final report of the Task Force and discussed over the measures to be put in place in order for the EU to ensure preparedness and reaction for any future economic risk.

The selection procedure for next year's European Charlemagne Youth Prize was launched on 27 October. The prize is awarded to young people who have been involved in projects to promote understanding between people from different European countries. The deadline for submitting projects for next year's prize, the fourth since it came into being in 2008, is 23 January 2011.

The European Commission has adopted what will be its working priorities for year 2011 in a Programme highly focused in ensuring a sustained recovery. This programme translates the general objectives into concrete actions and  reflects the Commission’s determination to lead Europe out of the crisis.