European Union News - European Union

This Report assesses the state of play of the practical preparations for the changeover in Slovakia which will enter the euro area on 1 January 2009, following the Council's decision concluding that it fulfils the necessary conditions for the adoption of the euro.

According to provisional data from the Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, the EU27 external current account recorded a deficit of 26.5 billion euro in the first quarter of 2008, compared with a deficit of 30.4 bn in the first quarter of 2007 and a deficit of 7.3 bn in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The Headquarters' Agreement between the Government of Spain and the Community Fisheries Control Agency will be signed and the doors of its provisional premises in Vigo will be symbolically opened.

The Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) is engaged in identifying how its verification system could best be strengthened, including through the development of noble gas monitoring capacity and efforts aimed at fully involving States Signatories in the implementation of the verification regime. The Preparatory Commissio should therefore be entrusted with the technical implementation of this Joint Action.

The Official Journal of the European Union of 16 July has published the Council Decision of 15 July 2008 laying down the amount of Community support for rural development for the period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December  2013, its annual breakdown and the minimum amount to be concentrated in regions eligible under the Convergence Objective.

The ministers responsible for European affairs met in Brest on the sidelines of the "Brest 2008" maritime festival on 12 and 13 July to have an informal debate on the three topics proposed by Jean-Pierre Jouyet in the context of the French Presidency of the European Union.

The Official Journal of the European Union published July 11th the appointments of various members in different EU institutions. The appointments concerned are those of three Judges of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal, a Portuguese member of the Economic and Social Committee, the external auditors of the European Central Bank, and some members of the Committee of the Regions.

The European Commission has launched a tender for the creation and operating of an appealing EU affairs Internet portal dedicated to the on-line daily publication of articles selected among the European and world press translated and edited with comments and illustrations in a maximum of EU official languages.

The first meeting of the ECOFIN Council celebrated under the French Presidency, which was held in Brussels on July 8th, ended with important advences in two key areas such as oil and measures to enhance financial satbility, as well as the adoption of euro by Slovakia.

The European Ombudsman, has expressed his concern about the problems encountered by the European Commission in paying its bills on time. In 2007, delays occurred in more than one out of five cases and the average delay amounted to 48 days in a report submitted on the 7th July.

This symposium, organised by the CNC (Centre National de la Cinématographie), aims to provide food for thought on cinematographic cooperation with other countries and regions around the world. The event is being hold on the 7 and 8th July in the French Cinémathèque.

The European Commission and the rail industry (manufacturers, infrastructure managers and undertakings)  signed on the 4th july a memorandum of understanding in Rome aimed at accelerating deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERMTS) throughout Europe.