European Union News - Internal Market

This model proposed by the Commission includes a fully private and accountable Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), accompanied by an independent judicial body, as well as a "G12 for Internet Governance" – a multilateral forum for governments to discuss general internet governance policy and security issues. This proposal aims to provide an alternative to the impending expiry of the agreement under which ICANN currently manages the governance issues on the Internet.

EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering, has commemorated the fifth anniversary of the expansion that joined 10 new countries to the EU. Pöttering stressed during the opening plenary session in Strasbourg, the importance of this historic moment as the "culmination of the reunification of Europe" and stressed that enlargement has strengthened the stability, democracy and the role of the EU in the world. The president also defended the role of the Treaty of Lisbon to meet the challenges of the future.

The Official Journal of the European Union, OJEU, has published on May 5th 2009 the notice of prior notification of a concentration between the Air France KLM Group and Royal Air Maroc (RAM), and Aerotechnic Industries S.A., controlled by RAM. Interested parties may submit their observations to the Commission within ten days after this publication.

In the Commission's spring forecast, GDP in the European Union is projected to fall by 4% this year and to broadly stabilise in 2010. The main factors behind the recession are the worsening of the global financial crisis, a sharp contraction in world trade and ongoing housing market corrections in some economies. However, with the impact of fiscal and monetary stimulus measures kicking in, growth is expected to regain some momentum in the course of 2010. Labour markets will be severely affected, with the unemployment rate expected to increase to 11% in the EU in 2010. The public deficit is also projected to rise sharply, to 7¼% of GDP in 2010, reflecting both the slowdown and the discretionary measures taken to support the economy, in line with the European Recovery Plan proposed by the Commission.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) willing to participate in the cooperation activities embodied within the Erasmus Programme as part of the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP), can already apply for their Erasmus University Charter. According to the Specific Call for Proposals published in the OJEU on May 1st 2009, those institutions must submit their proposals by June 30th 2009.

Five years ago, this central-european country started being part of the European Union. Now, the city of Kosice hosts the  "Five years of reaching to the stars".

Organic food meets fresh design: The European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development is inviting all design and art students from the 27 EU Member States to enter the EU-wide organic logo competition. The competition offers a prize that money just can’t buy: The winning logo will be introduced as the official logo for organic products throughout the European Union in July 2010.

On April 28th and 29th, Ministers responsible for higher education from 46 European countries will meet in Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, to take stock of the achievements of the Bologna Process, set a new agenda, and agree priorities for the European Higher Education Area for the next decade up to 2020. The latest Bologna Stocktaking Report put forward by the Commission, which is to be presented to Ministers during this event, concludes that good progress has been made in implementing the Bologna reforms, although pointing out that asymmetries still remain.

The European Central Bank has published in the Official Journal of the European Union on April 22nd, its Decision of March 19th on the establishment of the TARGET2-Securities Programme Board (ECB/2009/6). The T2S Programme Board is established as a streamlined management of the Eurosystem with the task of developing proposals for the Governing Council on key strategic issues and executing tasks of a purely technical nature in relation to T2S.

The European Commission has published an additional information notice concerning Lot nº 5 of the tender procedure of a framework contract for the evaluation of CAP measures concerning sectors subject to past or present direct support, dedicated to beef and veal, and dairy products.

The European Commission has published in the OJEU of April 20th 2009 its Recommendation including a set of data protection guidelines for the Internal Market Information System (IMI). These guidelines are not aimed at being an exhaustive list, but rather a easy to use consultation tool for IMI System users.