European Union News - European Union

According to  a provisional calculation provided by the European Commission, based on Member States' annual declarations, certain Member States face levies totalling just over 340 M€ for exceeding their milk quotas during the 2007/2008 marketing year.

The European Commission has published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) on October 14th, a Call for Proposals concerning the 2009 work programme “People” of the 7th EC Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (2007-2013) for the coordination and support Researchers' Night actions.

The European Commission has published some guidelines for Member States on how they can best support financial institutions in the current financial crisis whilst respecting EU state aid rules and so avoiding excessive distortions of competition. Those guidelines, based in the EC Treaty rules,  will help MS to put in place coordinated concrete measures to restore confidence in financial markets in accordance with the October 12th Eurogroup declaration.

The Eurogroup Heads of State and Government held a financial crisis summit in Paris on October 12th, in order to define a joint action plan for the eurozone and the European Central Bank. In this meeting the Eurogroup reinforced the idea of a common framework for MS actions against the financial turmoil and support to their financial system.

EC reacts to the financial crisis with a proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC as regards banks affiliated to central institutions, certain own funds items, large exposures, supervisory arrangements, and crisis management (COM(2008) 602 final). The Commission believes that inter-bank exposures are not risk-free and should be prudently managed. The Commission proposes to limit all inter-bank exposures to 25% of own funds or an alternative threshold of EUR 150 million, whichever is higher. Over 60 different policy options have been assessed in order to make this proposal.

The European Commission adopted on October 3rd, 2008, a package of measures aimed to improve  work-life balance for millions of EU citizens, both women and men. This measures included a longer and better maternity leave as well as a proposal to improve the situation of self-employed women by providing equivalent access to maternity leave, on a voluntary basis. They aim to update and improve existing EU legislation and will now be sent to the European Parliament and national governments for discussion.

The former member of the Commission responsible for trade, Peter Mandelson, submitted his resignation  on October 3rd, 2008, to the Commission President, José Manuel Barroso. Mr Mandelson resignation came after his acceptance of the invitation to join the government made by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Through Action 4.6 of the “Youth in Action” Programme, the European Commission, via the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), aims to support partnership projects with regional or local public bodies or with organisations active in the youth sector at European level. The total budget to support projects under this Call is of 0.75 M€.

The Official Journal of the European Union, has published on October 2nd, a Call for Proposals to support bodies which are active at European level in the field of youth. Those activities will be funded with 1.4 M€ for the budget period 2009, and the call will be opened to non-profit organizations or European networks representing bodies working on behalf of young people.

According to the last figures published by the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Eurostat, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate stood at 7.5% in the Euro area (EU 15) in August 2008, compared with 7.4% in July. As for the EU 27 unemployment rate kept stable by 6.9% in August 2008, unchanged compared with July.

The European Commission has put forward a revision of EU rules on capital requirements for banks that is designed to reinforce the stability of the financial system, reduce risk exposure and improve supervision of banks that operate in more than one EU country. The proposals may be useful for strengthening market confidence and institutional resilience in more stable periods, but they will be way too late to have any impact on the current meltdown of the financial system, as they will come into effect in about two year's time.

The European Commission has authorised, under EC Treaty state aid rules, the UK authorities' package of measures designed to ensure financial stability, protect retail depositors and support the orderly winding down of Bradford & Bingley. EC was in close contact with UK Authorities and decided over the measures within 24h. after the notification. UK authorities have committed to submit a restructuring and/or liquidation plan within six months, which will be examined by the Commission under its rules on restructuring aid.