European Union News - Internal Market

Most of European citizens are in favour of more competition in national and regional rail. The total support is above 60% in all but Netherlands and Luxembourg. 78% of EU citizens think that more competition will be good for passengers. The survey results published by the European Commission shows that tough less than half of Europeans are satisfied with their railway systems, satisfaction has slightly improved since 1997.

The European Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding which creates a dedicated framework to strengthen cooperation and coordination between the Commission and two of China's Anti Monopoly Enforcement Authorities, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC).

Comments from interested parties on commitments offered by four international publishers - Simon & Schuster (CBS Corp., USA), Harper Collins (News Corp., USA), Hachette Livre (Lagardère Publishing, France), Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck (owner of inter alia Macmillan, Germany) – and Apple, are requested by the Commission on the sale of e-books.

MEPs decided approved a regulation which allows Pakistan to export more goods duty free to the EU, so as to help the economic recovery of its flood-devastated regions. This exceptional measure, to apply until the end of 2013, will include fabrics, garments, linen, ethanol and leather. The regulation also includes safeguards for the EU textiles market.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an agreement with the Hellenic Republic that will facilitate up to €750 million of new EIB funding in Greece over the next few months. According to EIB President Werner Hoyer the agreement opens the way to new funding for key investments, which support economic development in Greece.

According to the proposal put forward by the European Commission, the European Central Bank will have the ultimate responsibility on supervisory tasks related to the financial stability of all Euro area banks while national will continue with their role in day-to-day supervision. The proposal also foresees the European Banking Authority (EBA) to develop a Single Supervisory Handbook to preserve the integrity of the single market.

The European Parliament endorsed a new EU energy efficiency directive that includes measures such as renovating public buildings, energy-saving schemes for utilities, and energy audits for all large firms. Furthermore, energy companies covered by the directive will have to achieve a "cumulative end-use energy savings target" by 2020.

The European Parliament adopted a new deal with the Council which intends to provide EU firms swifter access to standard solutions to technical problems. The new regulation aims in particular to enhance the use of standards in the service sector and speed up the development process for information and technology (ITC) standards.

MEPs gave the green light for informal negotiations with the Council on the 2014-2020 Consumer Programme while warning that the budget proposed for the 2014-2020 Consumer Programme (€197 million) is not enough to meet the new challenges that will face EU consumer policy in 2020.

Under the so-called clearance of accounts procedure, a total of €215 million of EU agricultural policy funds unduly spent by Member States is being claimed back by the European Commission. In particular, funds will be recovered from Germany, Ireland, Greece, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom.