European Union News - Internal Market

Incompatibility of chargers for mobile phones is a major inconvenience for users and also leads to unnecessary waste.

The main conclusion of the Electricity Supply Outlook Report is that there is no reason to expect electricity disturbances this Summer under usual weather conditions.

The OJ has published on 29th June the Regulation (EC) No 544/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 717/2007 on roaming on public mobile telephone networks within the Community and Directive 2002/21/EC on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services.

The European Commission approved, under EC Treaty state aid rules, an emergency recapitalisation worth €4 billion that the Irish authorities intend to grant to Anglo Irish Bank.

The European Commission through DG Enterprise and Industry has launched a public tender to study the structure of retail and production along the food supply chain in the EU; the impact of private labels (retailers' own brand products) on the competitiveness of the SMEs.

 The European Commission has decided to refer Austria, Ireland Italy and Spain to the European Court of Justice over non-implementation into national law of the Statutory Audit Directive. The Commission has also decided to send formal requests to Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Luxembourg, Poland and Portugal as they have failed to fully implement into their national laws the latest Directive in the field of accounting within the prescribed deadline. These formal requests take the form of "reasoned opinions", the second stage of the infringement procedure laid down in Article 226 of the EC Treaty. If there is no satisfactory reply within two months, the Commission may refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.

EU Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries meeting in Luxembourg between June 22nd and 23rd adopted conclusions on areas with natural handicaps, on the quality of agricultural products and on sustainable aquaculture. Council also reached political agreement on a proposed regulation on the welfare of animals at the time of slaughter or killing, and had a policy debate on the reform of the fisheries control policy.

Farmers and pet owners will soon get better information on the feed they buy, a step that will further strengthen food safety in the EU, after the Council of Agriculture Ministers adopted a regulation replacing the current legislation on marketing and the use of feed. The new legislation, based on a Commission proposal from 2008, considerably simplifies the existing procedures and it will help promote innovation and competitiveness in the European feed sector. It is also expected to lead to a more integrated single market for feed by reducing the administrative burden for feed operators. The regulation was endorsed by the European Parliament on February 5 and is expected to enter into force later this year.

The European Commission has launched on June 22nd, a public consultation to determine whether International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) should be adopted in the EU. This public consultation follows the results of an independent study published on the same day, which show that the benefits of adopting such standards would outweigh the costs. The Commission invites interested parties to respond to the consultation by September 15th 2009.

Following the adoption of Regulation (EC) Nº 479/2008 of April 2008, which established common organization of the market in wine, the European Union considered it necessary to amend Regulation (EC) Nº 1234/2007, the so-called “Single CMO Regulation”, in order to adapt the conditions of wine market regulations to the common conditions. These amendments have been included in the Regulation Nº 491/2009 of May 25th, published in the OJEU on June 17th, 2009.

According to Commission's Decision (2009/454/CE) of June 11th 2009, Decision 2008/938/CE where the list of the beneficiary countries which qualify for the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance was established is modified, excluding from such list the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.