European Union News - Internal Market

Brussels hosted last March a meeting of experts and stakeholders in public procurement and innovation in Europe. They have now been published on the website of DG Enterprise of the European Commission.

The number of dangerous consumer products notified through the EU's rapid alert system for non-food dangerous products RAPEX rose by 7% in 2009 compared to 2008, as shows the Commission's annual RAPEX report. This rise from 1866 notifications in 2008 to 1993 last year shows that the capacity of the RAPEX system has increased again in 2009, following more effective market surveillance by Member States.

The Official Journal of the European Union has published on the 13 April the Decision that approves the acquisition of Black & Decker by Stanley Works.

The Constitutional Affairs Committee has given its support to a modification of the Lisbon Treaty that would allow 18 new Members of the European Parliament to take their seats during the ongoing legislature. They did not consider it necessary to call a Convention to discuss the treaty change

Barcelona to host Second European Forum on Cultural Industries over two days (29 and 30 March) as prologue to Informal Meeting of Ministers of Culture on 31 March More than 500 representatives of European culture seek new strategies to boost the sector

The European Commission has published the spring Consumer Markets Scoreboard, which reveals that EU consumers are still not reaping the full benefits of the internal market due to barriers to cross-border commerce. It also underlines the variation in the ability of consumers to afford goods and services from one country to another.

In order to determine whether changes are needed to make the SE Statute work better, the European Commission has launched a public consultation. With the review of the SE Statute, the Commission is aiming to increase the use of the SE across the European Union.

European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht has opened a conference focused on the European Union's trade policy towards developing countries. The objective of this conference is to discuss publicly how to maintain the effectiveness of the EU's General System of Preferences (GSP) in promoting development, how to make the most of regional trade agreements with developing countries, and how to encourage sustainable development.

Since 16 March, the online version of the "Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union", dedicated to European public procurement provides a new interface and new features to its users.

Very small companies could be exempted from having to draw up annual accounts, after MEPs approved changes to EU accounting rules in its plenary session. It would be up to each Member State to grant such exemptions, depending on the impact the directive would have in that country. Companies would in any case still have to keep records of their business transactions and financial situation.