European Union News - Internal Market

The European Commission has approved, under EC Treaty state aid rules, a German rescue package intended to stabilise financial markets by providing capital and guarantees to eligible financial institutions. Following close cooperation with the German authorities and the submission of a comprehensive set of commitments to ring-fence the application of the measures, the Commission found the scheme to be in line with its Guidance Communication on state aid to overcome the current financial crisis.

It has been published the Directive  2008/94/EC of 22 October 2008 on the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer at the Official Journal of the European Union on the 28th October 2008.

It has been published in the OJ the opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) on the Commission Decision of 12 December 2007 concerning the implementation of the Internal Market Information System (IMI) as regards the protection of personal data (2008/49/EC)

The European Commission launched on the 23 rd October an on-line survey to find out more about the actual experience of businesses and public purchasers with electronic public procurement ("e-procurement").

The European Commission has published in the Official Journal of the European Union of October 23rd, Regulation (EC) Nº 1039/2008 of October 22nd 2008, reintroducing customs duties on imports of certain cereals for the 2008/09 marketing year. This decision is based in the current level of FOB prices of common wheat in EU recorded in EU ports, and modifies Regulation (EC) Nº 608/2008, which in June, temporarily suspended such duties.

The Commission has decided to launch a reflection in a Green Paper on agricultural product quality: product standards, farming requirements and quality schemes (15/10/2008) on how to ensure the most suitable policy and regulatory framework to protect and promote quality of agricultural products, without creating additional costs or burdens As a first step it intends to launch a wide consultation on whether the existing instruments are adequate, or how they could be improved and what new initiatives could be launched.

Commissioner-designate Catherine Ashton faced a hearing at the European Parliament on Monday, October 20th. MEPs questioned Baroness Ashton on the future of the Doha Round, the financial crisis, bilateral trade negotiations, as well as on her own experience.

The European Commission published in the Official Journal of the European Union of October 21st, 2008, the invitation to a public consultation for all interested parties to send their comments concerning the draft Commission Regulation (EC) on the application of Article 81.3 of the EC Treaty to certain categories of agreements, decisions and concerted practices between liner shipping companies, the so called “consortia”.

The Official Journal of the European Union (C 265/6 - 18.10.2008) has published the guidelines on the assessment of non-horizontal mergers under the Council Regulation on the control of concentrations between undertakings.

The European Commission has decided to launch infringement proceedings against 10 Member States for failure to implement certain Internal Market Directives into national law. The Commission will refer Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom to the Court over non-implementation of a Directive on recognition of professional qualifications. The Commission will also refer Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland and Portugal to the Court over non-implementation of a Directive on reinsurance.

The European Commission has put forward a proposal modifying the provisions and extending the scope of the 2001 Regulation on cross-border euro payments, under which cross-border bank transfers in euro within the EU cost the same as domestic transfers. The aims of this initiative are to replace the existing Regulation in order to adapt it to market developments (emergence of the Single Euro Payments Area), to enhance the protection of consumer rights and to provide an adequate legal framework for the development of a modern and efficient payment system within the EU.