The Conference of Presidents, comprising the EP President and the political group leaders, considered on Thursday 4 February the results of the complete set of hearings of the Commissioners-designate. The EP leaders confirmed that the vote on the ... (read more)

The EU Micro-finance Facility for business start-ups will be funded partly by its "Progress" employment and social solidarity programme and partly by unallocated margins in the EU budget, says a compromise agreement reached by MEPs and the Spanish... (read more)

Small firms have been hard hit by the economic crisis, and so must be given incentives and support, including easier access to credit, help with innovation, tax breaks and less red tape, MEPs on Parliament's Special Committee on the Financial, Eco... (read more)

Q: When will the Crisis End? A: When Employment Recovers!

At its recent informal Employment Council meeting in Barcelona, Ministers discussed the economic crisis and the different measures that are being taken to tackle it.

M... (read more)

A Eurochambres survey conducted among Chambers of Commerce throughout the EU shows that only 9 out of the 27 member states complied fully with the Services Directive by the 28 December 2009 deadline. Implementation in the remaining 18 countries is... (read more)

At their recent informal Employment Council meeting in Barcelona, Ministers expressed grave concern over unemployment rates in the EU. The European Commissioner for Employment, Vladimir Špidla, confirmed that "the Spanish Presidency is planning a... (read more)

A European Commission study, published on 1 February, recommends setting up a dedicated European body to oversee the implementation and enforcement of EU waste law. The study is part of a series of steps being taken by the Commission to improve wa... (read more)

Equal treatment of the Parliament and Council by the Commission, strengthening the position of Parliament's legislative initiative requests, agreement on measures to improve the accountability of the executive and enhancing Parliament's role in in... (read more)

The Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry has launched its new video award focusing on entrepreneurship. The award aims to encourage enterprising film lovers to prove their creativity and skills by producing a short video that deals with... (read more)

The European Parliament’s Rural Development Committee has voted on the last proposals from Member States/regions for using EU Recovery Plan and CAP Health Check funding and other transfers within the CAP to address issues including the economic ... (read more)

On 28 January, in a joint letter, the EU and its member states confirmed their willingness to be associated with the Copenhagen Accord negotiated during the UN climate change conference in December 2009. At the same time, the EU reiterated that it... (read more)

Agriculture can contribute to solving major problems such as climate change and the reduction of green house gas emissions, according to a European Parliament hearing. A report by Stéphane Le Foll MEP states that agriculture “has considerable p... (read more)

On 27 January, MEP's from the European Parliaments Fisheries Committee put forward a report stating that more responsibility needs to be given to fishermen to complement good fishing practice and improve the traditional quota system. The common fi... (read more)

On 26 January MEP's on the Internal Market Parliamentary Committee and 21 representatives of national parliaments debated the revision proposal on late payments in commercial transactions. According to many MEPs late payments eat into the cash res... (read more)

On 25 January the Institute for European Environmental Policy produced a report for DG Agriculture and Rural Development stating that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) plays a critical role in helping farmers to deliver environmental goods and ... (read more)

On 22 January Edite Estrela, the Rapporteur for the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality from the European Parliament put forward a working document on a revision of the directive on measures to encourage improvements in the safety and ... (read more)

On 22 January the Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee in the European Parliament met to discuss the combating of violence against women, paternity leave and maternity leave to protect women in the labour market. The committee discussed th... (read more)

On 21 January the European Commission President, José Manuel Barroso confirmed Mrs Kristalina Georgieva to be put forward as the Commissioner-designate for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response. The Bulgarian Government ... (read more)

On 20 January, the European Commission for Enterprise and Industry tried to implement an upgraded Standardisation Information Platform with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Brussels to raise the barriers facing many small and ... (read more)

On 19 January Eurostat produced a report which showed that e-commerce accounted for 12% of enterprises' turnover in the EU27 in 2008 and that Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) was used by 3% of enterprises in 2009. The share of enterprise turn... (read more)

When there was a difficult market situation faced by the dairy sector in July 2009, the European Commission decided to address these issues, and committed itself to adopt an additional round of daily products promotion programmes on the internal m... (read more)

On 18 January the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) put forward a public consultation on the classification and labelling of three chemical substances. They have opened up comments on the proposal until 3 March 2010. All comments will be taken into... (read more)

On 18 January the European Council minister for Agriculture discussed ways to improve the functioning of the food supply chain, in particular to avoid an escalation of consumer food prices as the recovery sets in. This comes about from the caused ... (read more)

On 18 January PCG, the representative body of UK freelancers, submitted comments on the European Commission's consultation "EU 2020" which aims to provide a new strategy for making the EU a smarter and greener social market. PCG stated its intenti... (read more)

On 18 January Antonio Tajani the commissioner - designate for Industry and Entrepreneurship from Italy was questioned from members of the industry, research and energy committee (MEPs from the European Parliament) on issues concerning European ent... (read more)

On 14 January John Dalli, the commissioner-designate for Heath and Consumer-Protection from Malta, went under a hearing from MEPs from the European Parliament in his bid to be Commissioner. In response to questions on his key priorities he respond... (read more)

On 13 January the European Commission published its official journal on the eco-label criteria for wooden floors. The approval was made in September 2009 by Member States and by the Commission in November 2009 and will be valid until 2013/14. The ... (read more)

Between 11 and 19 January, the European Parliament will hold a series of public hearing with the 26 candidate Commissioners put forward by the European Council and the European Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso.

MEPs (European Parli... (read more)

On 6 January, European Commission's Enterprise and Industry DG produced a paper on the safeguarding of workers and consumers, relating specifically to the Single Market. The DG emphasises that personal protective equipment helps to keep Europeans ... (read more)

The Conference of Presidents, comprising the EP President and the political group leaders, considered on Thursday 4 February the results of the complete set of hearings of the Commissioners-designate. The EP leaders confirmed that the vote on the ... (read more)