European Union News - Regional Policy

Danuta Hübner, European Commissioner for Regional Policy, today opens an EU-Russia seminar in Moscow with Mr. Dmitry Kozak, Russian Minister of Regional Development. The two-day seminar, entitled 'Strategic and governance aspects of regional policy', involves experts from Finland, Germany, Portugal and Spain, together with representatives from Russian ministries, universities and regions. The event takes forward work in progress under a Memorandum of Understanding on regional policy dialogue that the European Commission signed with the Russian Federation in May 2007.

The launch of negotiations for a new agreement with Russia, preparations for the forthcoming EU-Russia Summit, and international issues will be high on the agenda when Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner visits Moscow on 3 and 4 June. In addition to meetings with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Foreign Minister Sergeij Lavrov, Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner will address Members of the Duma and representatives of the European business community.

The European Commission welcomes the adoption in Dublin on Wednesday 28 May of a multilateral convention to ban all cluster munitions within eight years. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy, commented: “The convention banning cluster munitions is an important step towards enhancing the security of victims of conflicts in many regions across the world. I hope that many countries will sign and ratify it. When entering into force, it will be an important contribution to the “Human Security Agenda”. The European Commission stands ready to assist in implementing the Convention."

Culture ministers and civil society representatives from the 39 members of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership are meeting in Athens on 29/30 May to exchange views on the cultural dimension of the partnership and to explore the substance and scope of a joint cultural strategy. They will be discussing the political processes and mechanisms that will lead to the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean Cultural Strategy.

This month the European Commission published online new information on its progress in implementing the The Trans-European Transport Networks, "TEN-T". The The TEN-T initiative comprises 30 priority projects which should be completed by 2020 and of these 30 priority projects, 18 are railway projects, 3 are mixed rail-road projects, 2 are inland waterways transport projects and one refers to motorways of the sea.

The European Commission has published an independent study on the ‘home-grown players’ rule adopted by UEFA. This rule requires clubs participating in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup to have a minimum number of ‘home-grown players’ in their squads. Compared with the '6+5' plan proposed by FIFA, which is incompatible with EU law, the Commission considers that UEFA has opted for an approach which seems to comply with the principle of free movement of workers while promoting the training of young European players. The Commission also notes that the measures are designed to support the promotion and protection of quality training for young footballers in the EU.

On the 22nd and 23rd May 2008, Valladolid hosted over 100 professionals who took part in an internation seminar on Rural Development. The "Present and future of territorial Rural development: somewhere overthere in 2013" seminar brought together sector leaders to share their knowldege and experiences, identify common resources and searach for the tool which will allow each and everyone of them to work more efficiently, make our rural space more valuable and optimize the resources that are available.

In the Official Journal of the European Union, the Commission published a notice relating to the establishment of the Administrative Cooperation between New Zealand and the European Community. The Official text was published on the 23rd of May 2008.

The European Commission's latest State Aid Scoreboard shows that Member States have increasingly used the possibilities offered by EU state aid rules to support environmental protection projects. State aid expenditure for the environment has increased significantly in the EU over the last seven years, partly due to a rise in reductions or exemptions from environmental taxes. This increase is in line with the Commission's efforts to encourage Member States to better target their aid. With new guidelines adopted in January offering greater possibilities to award environmental aid, the Commission expects an increase in the number of environmental measures notified by Member States.

The Operational Programme "Mediterranean Programme" or Transnational Cooperation Operational Programme under the European Territorial Cooperation Objective, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), between Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain (with participation from Croatia and Montenegro) will be in opperation from 2007 until 2013.