European Union News - Internal Market

The proposed regulations presented by the European Commission lay down the terms and conditions for obtaining unitary patent protection, its legal effects and the applicable translation arrangements. According to the Commission, this will radically reduce the cost of patents in Europe by up to 80%. EC also hopes that Spain and Italy, who are not yet among the participants, will join the enhanced cooperation.

European Commission presented twelve instruments for the 2012 European Single Market with the theme 'together for new growth'.  The Single Market Act adopted by the European Commission aims to deliver twelve projects on which to relaunch the Single Market for 2012 in order to “make life easier for businesses, citizens, consumers and workers”.

After maintaining them unchanged for almost two years at historically low levels, Governing Council of the ECB decided to increase key interest rates by 25 basis points. The operation to be settled on 13 April 2011. The adjustment of the current very accommodative monetary policy stance is warranted in the light of upside risks to price stability.

The Court of Justice of the European Union, in a Judgement dated 5 April 2011, ruled over a question referred by the French Conseil d'État regarding the general prohibition to engage in canvassing for regulated professions, as regards to the application of the Services Directive. The Court considers that such prohibition, which in this particular case affected qualifies accountants, in relation to canvassing can be considered a total prohibition of commercial communications in conflict with the Directive.

The WTO Panel report proves that billions of dollars in US Federal and State subsidies granted to Boeing are illegal under WTO rules. This landmark ruling confirms, that between 1989 and 2006, the US Federal and State governments granted WTO-incompatible subsidies to Boeing.

The European Commission and the US Government have agreed on a set of ten fundamental principles for trade in information and communication technology (ICT) services. These principles, agreed under the framework of the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC), will be promoted worldwide in order to support the global development of ICT networks & services and allow service providers to compete for contracts with local incumbents on an equal footing.

After 1000 days in business, the Enterprise Europe Network has helped more than 2.5 million companies to make the most of the Single Market. Europe’s largest business support network contributes to the competitiveness of SMEs by making it easier for them to internationalise, innovate and access EU finance and funding. Close to 600 major players in the business support community have linked up in the Network to offer a one-stop service to help companies reach their full potential.

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation SAFRAN's proposed acquisition of the solid rocket propulsion business of French state-owned SNPE, composed of SNPE's subsidiary SNPE Matériaux Energétiques, SME and SNPE's participation in REGULUS, a joint venture between SNPE and the Italian company Avio. After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

The European Commission proposed on 24 March a series of measures intended to provide sugar operators in the EU with predictability for the next marketing year starting from October 2011. The package fixes a quantitative limit for the exports of out-of-quota sugar and isoglucose for the marketing year 2011/12. It also includes the opening of an import quota of 400.000 tonnes for industrial sugar. With these measures, sugar operators received a strong signal that it is attractive to grow and produce sugar.