EU Legislation, Initiatives, etc.
EU News: The European Commission has approved funding for 202 new projects under the LIFE+ programme, the EU's environment fund. The projects cover actions in the fields of nature conservation, environmental policy, climate change and information & communication on environmental issues.
PC&PE: Europe should set a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% on 1990 levels by 2020 in order to demonstrate political leadership in the run up to UN climate talks in 2015, when political agreement could be reached on a new international agreement to replace the Kyoto protocol. That is the verdict of the Energy and Climate Change Committee who have published a report looking at the future of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
EU News: In 2011, EU Customs detained almost 115m products suspected of violating intellectual property rights (IPR) compared to 103m in 2010. The number of intercepted cases increased by 15% compared to 2010 according to the Commission's annual report on customs actions to enforce IPR.
PC&PE: European Commission moratorium on desinewed meat was "heavy-handed & disproportionate", say MPs and they have called on the UK Government to make "every possible effort" to reverse the Commission's decision, which will have serious impacts on the UK's food industry and for consumers.
PC&PE: A new inquiry into reform of the EU banking sector was announced last week by the House of Lords EU Sub Committee responsible for looking into economic & financial affairs. The Committee has issued a call for evidence.
EU News: In the recent LIBOR scandal, serious concerns have been raised about false submissions of banks' estimated interbank lending rates. Any actual or attempted manipulation of such key benchmarks can have a serious impact on market integrity, and could result in significant losses to consumers and investors, or distort the real economy.
The European Commission has acted to address this kind of market manipulation, by adopting amendments to the proposals for a Regulation and a Directive on insider dealing & market manipulation, including criminal sanctions, initially tabled on 20 October 2011. The amendments will clearly prohibit the manipulation of benchmarks, including LIBOR & EURIBOR, and make such manipulation a criminal offence.
EU News: The European Commission initiated in mid-April the review of the auction time profile of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and proposed last week a Decision to clarify the provisions of the EU ETS Directive on the timing of auctions of emission allowances.
EU News: New EU rules to reduce legal headaches when a family member with property in another EU country passes away have been published in the Official Journal. This means that they are becoming EU law. The new regulation on cross-border successions, proposed by the EC will make it easier for European citizens to handle the legal side of an international will or succession.
EU News: GPS data can now be obtained via the internet in addition to access via the existing satellite signal. Last week saw the launch of the European Data Access Service (EDAS) - a new commercial service of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) – designed to make satellite navigation in Europe more reliable and thus more effective for use in commercial applications in difficult surroundings.
EDAS will support new services in numerous sectors including high-precision fertiliser spraying, automatic road-tolling, fleet management, inland waterway navigation, dangerous goods transportation or accurate area measurement. Access to GPS data will also be possible via hand-held devices, using wireless communication from added value service providers.
EU News: EFSA has launched an open consultation on its draft scientific opinion on dietary reference values for energy. Interested parties can submit written comments by 28 September 2012 – See ‘Consultation’ section for more information.
EU News: The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has invited individuals, NGOs, and other organisations active in the area of fundamental rights protection to submit comments in his ongoing inquiry concerning the EU Borders Agency, Frontex until 30 September 2012 – See ‘Consultation’ section for more information.
EU News: The EC has launched a consultation (closes on 14 October 2012) seeking answers to questions on transparency, switching & certain aspects of internet traffic management, with a view to its commitment to preserve the open & neutral character of the Internet – See ‘Consultation’ section for more information.
EU News: The EC is seeking the views of governments, businesses, citizens about their experiences and EU possible responses to cyber incidents which cause disruption to essential Network and Information Systems (NIS), including the internet.
The EC has launched a consultation (closes on 12 October 2012) to help it prepare a legislative proposal on network & information security, which will be an important element of the upcoming EU strategy on Cyber security – See ‘Consultation’ section for more information.
EU News: The Commission has launched an in-depth consultation (closes on 18 October 2012) on issues arising in the area of investment funds – See ‘Consultation’ section for more information.
EU News: In the context of its state aid modernisation initiative (SAM), the European Commission has launched a review (closes on 18 October 2012) of its Regulation applying to small aid amounts - the so-called "de minimis" Regulation (No 1998/2006) – See ‘Consultation’ section for more information.
