European Union News - Internal Market

The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of McAfee, a vendor of information technology security, by Intel. The approval is conditional upon a set of commitments ensuring fair competition between the parties and their competitors in the field of computer security, a growing concern due to the exponential rise in the number of malware such as viruses.

This is the general period laid down by the draft Directive on Consumer Rights which has been agreed by the Council on 24 January 2011. With this new directive, Brussels aims to improve the functioning of the internal market, guaranteeing a higher level of protection for consumers in distance and off-premises contracts, including on-line contracts, mail orders, telephone, etc.

In order to support the activity of the three recently launched European Supervisory Authorities, the Commission has proposed to make targeted changes to legislation in the area of insurance and securities regulation. The proposal sets out in detail the scope for the Authorities to exercise their powers, ncluding the possibility to develop draft technical standards and to settle disagreements between national supervisors.

Economic and Financial Affairs ministers from the Eurogroup, meeting in Brussels prior to the celebration of the Ecofin Council on 17 January, did not manage reach an agreement regarding the possibility to increase the resources for the European Financial Stability Fund. They did, however reach an agreement about the need to undergo a new round up of stress tests within EU banking sector.

The European Commission has requested from a certain number of pharmaceutical companies information about the patent settlement agreements concluded between originator and generic companies in 2010. This second monitoring exercise carried out by the Commission after the competition sector inquiry of 2009 which pointed to significant risks for European consumers stemming from certain types of patent settlements.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation in order to gather opinions from stakeholders regarding Central Securities Depositories (CSDs) and the harmonisation of certain aspects of securities settlement in the European Union. This consultation whose results will inform the legislative proposals due in June 2011, will be open for participation until 1 March 2011.

The European Commission has launched on 12 January a public consultation to prompt the views of other European institutions, the Member States and private stakeholders on the findings reflected in the report on the application of the Directive and the technical paper attached to it. Interested parties can submit their opinions by 31 March 2011.

The president of the European Commission presented on 12 January the first release of the Annual Growth Survey, which focuses on the coordinated efforts to be made by Members states and institutions and identifies the priorities to develop Europe's comprehensive plan to respond to the crisis and to speed up economic growth. This first Annual Growth Survey is the start of the first "European Semester" which changes the way governments shape their economic and fiscal policies.

Members of the Internal Committee of the European Parliament voted on 10 January 2010 to endorse a new EU regulation on the marketing of construction products. According to these new rules construction products containing hazardous substances will have to be clearly labelled as such in order to protect the health and safety of construction workers and users of construction works.

The European Parliament's Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis will visit Lisbon and Madrid between 11 and 13 January to assess the impact of the debt crisis and debate possible ways out with national politicians, economic stakeholders, industry and social partners. The delegation will meet political representatives and citizens to gather facts for the Committee's report on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis (CRIS), to be completed in July 2011.

The European Commission launched in 7 January 2010 a public consultation on the Professional Qualifications Directive, an opportunity for stakeholders to highlight areas of the Directive they feel could be improved, seeking views on how to better integrate professionals working in the Single Market, and raises the option of a European Professional Card. The results of the Consultation will feed into an evaluation report and a Green Paper due this autumn prior to Commission's proposal for modernising the Directive in 2012.