European Union News - European Union

The European Commission launched its online register of interest representatives on the 23rd June 2008. All interest representatives engaged in influencing the policy formulation and decision-making processes of the European institutions are invited to register. When registering, they will be asked to disclose some information to enhance the transparency of the relations between lobbies and the Commission.

Europe needs a strong Cohesion Policy after 2013. That was the consensus in over 100 contributions to a public consultation on the issue, Danuta Hübner, Commissioner for Regional Policy, said today. She was speaking at a presentation of the Fifth Progress Report on Economic and Social Cohesion. The two-part document comprises a report on the public consultation, and an analytical report on regional economies, which shows that less developed regions continue to show strong growth, underpinned by a shift towards sectors of the future.

On the 17th June 2008, the European Commission published a proposal for a Council regulation (EC, Euratom) No …/.. establishing a Guarantee Fund for external actions. The purpose of this proposal is to undertake a codification of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2728/94 of 31 October 1994 establishing a Guarantee Fund for external actions. The new Regulation will supersede the various acts incorporated in it ; this proposal fully preserves the content of the acts being codified and hence does no more than bringing them together with only such formal amendments as are required by the codification exercise itself.

The European Union�s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) will join UEFA, FARE, FIFPro, football players and others in signing a pledge� supporting respect for diversity at a launch event for EURO 2008� on 7th June in Basel, Switzerland. This pledge� is timely as a spate of events in Europe over the past year has shown that the spectrum of racism and other forms of intolerance still haunt the sport.

MEPs have approved Slovakia's bid to adopt the euro on 1 January 2009. At the same time, they stressed that Slovakia should make further efforts to keep its rate of inflation down and continue structural reforms to its economy. In a report drawn up by David Casa (EPP-ED, MT), Parliament agrees with the Commission that Slovakia has met the criteria to join the euro.

On the 17th June 2008, the Commission adopted a Communication on "A Common immigration policy for Europe: principles, actions and tools" and a Policy Plan "Asylum – an integrated approach to protection across the EU". The Communication puts forward ten Common Principles on which to base the common immigration policy, grouped under the three main strands of EU policy: prosperity, solidarity and security.

The Policy Plan on Asylum provides for the architecture of the second phase of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). Both address the remaining elements on immigration and asylum of The Hague Programme. They should be endorsed by the European Council of 15th October 2008 and will, in the course of 2009, feed into a new five-year Programme in the Justice, Freedom and Security area.

On the 16th June 2008, the European Commissioner for Science and Research, Janez Potočnik, officially launched the network of European Researchers in Japan. Consulted through an on-line survey, the European researchers working in Japan have pronounced themselves very much in favour of this network (74% of the respondents) and expressed their specific needs: to develop their contacts and get access to information on career development, research funding and Europe-Japan cooperation opportunities. The tool set up for them by the European Commission will answer these needs with interactive tools of information and networking.

According to te most recent figures from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, the Euro area annual inflation up to 3.7% in May 2008.  Euro area annual inflation was 3.7% in May 2008, up from 3.3% in April. A year earlier the rate was 1.9%. Monthly inflation was 0.6% in May 2008. EU annual inflation was 3.9% in May 2008, up from 3.6% in April. A year earlier the rate was 2.1%. Monthly inflation was 0.6% in May 2008.

In the official Journal of the European Union, on the 13th June 2008, the Commission published a report on budgetary and financial management for the financial year 2007. This report presents the budgetary and financial management by the European Parliament during financial year 2007. The report outlines the financial situation and the events which have had a significant influence on activities during the year and gives a synthetic account of the achievement of the objectives for the year.

The Emin-Gjiku complex of houses is one of the best examples of 18th century Kosovo architecture left in Prishtinë/Priština. Emin-Gjiku is an ancillary ethnographic and cultural centre of the Museum of Kosovo. The European Agency for Reconstruction has provided EC funds for the recently completed rehabilitation works which have restored one 18th century guesthouse building back to its original state. It is intended to give local and international visitors an idea of domestic lifestyle in Kosovo over two centuries ago.

ENISA, the EU Agency for European Network and Information Security, launches its report on “Secure Printing’ with recommendations to business on secure printing and copying of confidential data. Printing/copying devices can be penetrated and hijacked for fraud so that sensitive data or identity is easily stolen. But 350 surveyed European organisations have little awareness of the costs and risks of uncontrolled printing, the Agency report shows.

The Justice and Home Affairs Council 5-6 June has reached political agreement on a Commission proposal for a Directive on the identification and designation of European Critical Infrastructure (ECI) and the assessment of the need to improve their protection. The entry into force of the Directive is envisaged before the end of 2008.