European Union News - Internal Market

The Member States recovered in 2010 a total of 530 million euro in State aid granted to businesses before they were notified to the Commission and later found to be incompatible with EU State aid rules. Although figures show progress on recovering these funds, this improvement mostly relates to new cases and not to the resolution of old ones. In 10 years, the total amount of aid recovered is estimated to 10.9 billion euro.

The European Commission is decided to tackle the low levels of consumer and business confidence in online transactions. For that purpose, it has launched an open consultation questioning about how electronic signatures, identification (eID) and authentication can help to overcome these reluctances by enhancing the way to verify people's identities and signatures. Interested parties can send their points of view to the Commission until 15 April 2011.

The European Commission has proposed to suspend import duties on certain cereals imported into the EU until the end of June 2011 in order to ease the pressure on the EU market, especially for animal feed. Backed by Member States on 17 February within the Management Committee, this decision aims to help maintain a good balance on the EU market. The suspension relates to existing tariff rate quotas for low and medium quality soft wheat and for feed barley, and reduces their respective preferential tariffs to zero for the volumes under the quota.

On 11 February, the European Commission opened two own initiative investigations to verify whether code-share agreements between four companies operating in the European Union complies with EU competition rules. The investigations relate, in particular, to the agreements between Deutsche Lufthansa  and Turkish Airlines in one case, and, in the second case, between TAP Portugal and Brussels Airlines.

Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda, has issued an urgent call to twenty one EU countries to rapidly introduce all the legislative measures necessary to allow the pan-EU deployment of mobile satellite services that could be used for high-speed internet, mobile television and radio or emergency communications to EU consumers and businesses.

During the European Parliament plenary session held in Strasbourg on 16 February, MEPs gave green light to the proposed Directive to prevent fake medicines from entering the legal supply chain. Under these new rules, manufacturers will have to include new safety features on the packages and new rules will apply to on-line sales, as well as to distributors and intermediaries.

Although Italian and Spanish MEPs tried to push for the European Parliament not granting its consent for a common EU patent system to be created using the enhanced cooperation procedure, the Chamber has finally given its approval. The Plenary voted in favour of the proposal which now has to be also approved by the Council. Further to it, the European Commission will put forward two proposals, one for the language regime and another for establishing the single patent.

Eurogroup members, meeting in Brussels prior to the celebration of the Council of Economic and Financial Affairs (Ecofin), decided on 14 February to increase the amount of the bailout fund that will integrate the permanent financial stability mechanism for the euro area. Under this decision, the mechanism which will come into force in 2013 will be supported by 500 billion euros.

This is one of the facts behind the data of a survey released by the European Commission which shows that three over four EU citizens are worried about the cost of using their mobile phone when travelling in the EU. Regarding mobile Internet-related services, not even 20% of Europens do consider that the costs of data-roaming for (Internet are fair. Based on these data, as well as the opinions sent within a recent consultation, the European Commission present the review of current EU roaming rules by June 2011.

On 9 February the Internal Market and Services Directorate General of the European Commission launched a public consultation seeking stakeholders' views on proposed measures to strengthen bank capital requirements for counterparty credit exposures arising from derivatives, repo and securities financing activities. The measures are based on the work of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, and will form part of the Commission's upcoming legislative proposal to implement Basel III reforms into EU law. Interested parties are invited to send their opinions by 9 March 2011.

The European Commission has launched on 9 February a public consultation about the improvements to be introduced in EU research and innovation funding in order to achieve higher level of participation, increase scientific and economic impact and improve value for money. The Green Paper put forward by the Commission covers all the “innovation chain” and aims to simplify procedures and rules in order to make it easier to access EU funding. Stakeholders will have until 20 May 2011 to send their points of view to the Commission.