European Union News - Internal Market

The European Parliament adopted at its plenary session on July 7th the new Directive restricting conditions for payment of bonuses in the banking sector. These rules cap upfront cash bonuses and establishes that at least half of any bonus will have to be paid in contingent capital and shares. The Directive also This new regulation also strengthens rules on bank capital reserves. MEPs also called for an in-depth reform on financial supervision in order to prevent future crises.

In its plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament has supported the draft Directive intended to simplify and facilitate the administrative procedures for ships entering and leaving European ports. The provisions of the Directive will be phased in between 2012 and 2015. This Directive will contribute to making maritime transport more attractive and supporting maritime activity.

The Official Journal of the European Union published on July 3rd the announce for the notification of the proposed operation by which British Barclays and Swiss Credit Suiss would take control over Swiss SSCP Coatings SARL (Ionbond Group). Commission opens a ten days period for interested parties to present their observations.

The European Commission has extended its authorisation under EU state aid rules of the Dutch and Slovenian bank guarantee schemes and the Greek and Polish bank support measures, until 31 December 2010. According to these extended measures banks should pay higher premiums for the guarantees provided by the State. This measure is intended that banks choose to finance themselves without recourse to state aid and avoid market distortions.

The European Commission put forward on July 1st a proposal to reduce translation arrangements for a future EU Patent. This proposal which is the final element needed for a single EU Patent to become a reality, is based on the three language system at the European Patent Office (EPO) and, if adopted, would drastically reduce existing translation costs.

The European Commission has granted 30.3 M€ as 50% contribution for programmes running in 14 member states between one and three years, for the promotion of EU agricultural products including fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy products, honey, flowers, fibre flax, PDO, PGI and TSG and organic products.

Keeping Europe the world's top tourist destination is the objective of the European Commission. For that reason, the Commission has issued a Communication outlining a policy that aims at supporting this essential sector of the European economy and proposes initiatives to promote its competitiveness, its sustainable and quality-based development and the visibility of Europe as an outstanding tourist destination.

In its Opinion on the Internet of Things and reuse of Public Sector Information (2010/C 175/09) published in the Official Journal on July 1st 2010, the Committee of the Regions highlights the potential that commercial and non-commercial uses of PSI can have as an asset for citizens in future applications to enhance the value of the IoT domain.

A consultation on key questions arising from the issue of net neutrality has been launched by the European Commission on June 30th. The Commission wants to know more about potential problems linked with certain forms of traffic management and whether the new telecom rules are sufficient to tackle them, technical and economic aspects, quality of service considerations and whether net freedoms may be affected. Interested parties are invited to send their opinions by September 30th.

The European Commission has handed on June 2010 a mandate for the development of relevent standards on  common charging system for electric cars, scooters and bicycles to the European Standardisation Organisations bodies, CEN-CENELEC and ETSI. Thanks to this mandate plugs and connectors will use the same standard all across Europe, providing a true European solution independently of brands or countries. The Commission expects that the standard will be ready by mid-2011.

According to the 7th Annual Report presented by the European Commission to the Parliament and the Council of June 25th (COM(2010)334 final) which gives the overview of third country trade actions against the European Union, the number of new investigations and trade defence measures imposed in 2009 was very high. In the Commission opinion, the standards applied in a number of measures against EU exporters leave something to be desired.