EU Legislation, Initiatives, etc.

EU News: The European Commission will provide emergency food aid to more than half a million people at risk of dying from serious malnutrition in North Korea, amid growing fears of a worsening hunger crisis.  The terms for delivering the food assistance are unprecedented, with strict monitoring procedures in place.
 
The objective of the €10m aid package is to lift around 650,000 people, mainly in the Northern & Eastern provinces of the country, out of the hunger zone during the most difficult period of the worst year for food production in recent times.  The next main cereal harvest is due in October 2011.
Pres release & links
 
EU NewsEurope must do more to ensure the sustainable use of water or risk failure in its battle against climate change and an increasing risk of both droughts & floods.  This was the message from the Committee of the Regions (CoR) recently following the adoption of an opinion drafted by Nichi Vendola (IT/PES), President of the Puglia region, which also calls for a multi-level, cross-border approach to the management of river basins and proposes extending the Covenant of Mayors to include sustainable water use.
Press release & links
 
EU News: The European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) and Deutsche Bank recently announced the launch of the European Energy Efficiency Fund (EEEF) in Brussels.  The EEEF aims to provide market-based financing for commercially viable public energy efficiency and renewable energy projects within the European Union.
Press release & links
 
EU News: An interactive tool shows you at glance how much the EU spends in your country and on what.  It also shows where the money comes from and how your national budget has evolved compared to the EU one.
Press release & links
 
EU News: Drivers look set to be punished for traffic offences they commit abroad, including the 4 ‘big killers’ causing 75% of road fatalities – speeding, running red lights, failure to use seatbelts and drink driving – under a proposal recently voted on by the European Parliament.
 
EU figures suggest that foreign drivers account for 5% of traffic, but around 15 % of speeding offences.  Most go unpunished, with countries unable to pursue drivers once they return home.  The proposal for a directive on cross-border enforcement in the field of road safety aims to remedy that situation.  
Press release & links
 
EU News: The European Union is withdrawing from the market, and temporarily banning the import of, certain types of seeds from Egypt after Egyptian fenugreek seeds were linked to the E. coli outbreaks (O104 strain) in northern Germany and Bordeaux, France.  The decision follows a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report, published last week, establishing a link between the outbreaks and seeds from Egypt.
Press release & links
 
EU News: The EU, along with the US and Mexico, launched WTO dispute settlement proceedings against various export restrictions on raw materials' export from China.  The WTO dispute settlement Panel issued its report on 5 July 2011. The Panel supported the EU's claims against China.
Press release & links
 
EU News: The European Commission has published a new Neighbourhood Transport Action Plan to strengthen transport links with neighbouring regions to the East and South of the EU.  The plan proposes more than 20 measures, in the short & longer term, to make transport connections smoother, safer and more reliable.  For full details of the 20 measures are set out in the Action plan (see MEMO/11/488).
Press release & links
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