European Union News - European Union

Forests are crucial to maintaining climate change below 2ºC. Forests also provide jobs, revenue and raw material for industries and renewable energy. They also protect the soil, regulate freshwater supplies and conserve biodiversity. So we risk a lot if we don't look after them.

Representatives from the European Union institutions, Member States, international organisations and Roma civil society will meet on 8 and 9 April 2010 in Córdoba (Spain) to examine the progress on Roma community inclusion in Europe. The event is jointly organised by the Commission and the Spanish Presidency

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, as the EU representative, and the US Deputy Secretary of State, Jim Steinberg, will visit Sarajevo on 6 and 7 April in the framework of a joint strategy to promote stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its integration in the Euro-Atlantic community.

European citizens would for the first time be able to directly suggest new legislation through the European Citizens' Initiative, proposed in detail today by the European Commission

The Commission’s annual work programme translates the annual policy strategy into policy objectives and an operational programme of decisions to be adopted by the Commission. It sets out major political priorities and identifies legislative initiatives, executive and other acts that the Commission intends to adopt for the realisation of these priorities

As from 5 April, the EU Visa Code will become applicable. The Visa Code gathers into a single document all legal provisions governing decisions on visas. It increases the transparency, develops legal security and ensures equal treatment of applicants while harmonising rules and practices for the Schengen States (22 Member States and 3 associated states) applying the common visa policy

The European Council has agreed on the key elements of the new strategy for jobs and growth, the EU 2020 strategy. To president Van Rompuy, who chaired the meeting on 25-26 March, the strategy sums up the European model of social market economy with a strong environmental dimension.

The Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (AECI) has launched a call for proposals for the work programme 2010"Intelligent Energy for Europe". The budget of the call is EUR 56 million.

The heads of state and government of the 27 member states of the EU will look at ways of reactivating the process of climate change talks, after the failure of negotiations in Copenhagen summit last December.

The sixteen leaders of the euro area countries, also known as "Eurogroup" have given their support to the financial aid mechanism for Greece; this involves the participation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and of the euro area countries through bilateral loans.