EU web links

A collection of links to web sites of the European Union institutions and other European business web sites.

* * Premium Membership - all your content on EUbusiness.com for a year! * *

Work programme for the Swedish Presidency of the EU — 29 June 2009, 16:17 CET

Sweden takes over the Presidency of the EU on 1 July. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt presented on 23 June the work programme for Sweden's six months in the EU driving seat. It is firstly a question of leading the EU through the financial and economic crisis, dealing with unemployment in Europe and continuing the work to tackle climate change.

European Medicines Agency Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) — 25 June 2009, 18:38 CET

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) is responsible for preparing the European Medicines Agency's opinions on all questions concerning medicinal products for human use, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 726/2004. The CHMP plays a vital role in the marketing procedures for medicines in the European Union.

European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) — 22 June 2009, 11:03 CET

ETSC is a Brussels-based independent non-profitmaking organisation dedicated to the reduction of the number and severity of transport crash injuries in Europe.

Brussels European Council 18-19 June 2009 - Presidency Conclusions — 19 June 2009, 23:14 CET

Brussels European Council 18-19 June 2009 - Presidency Conclusions - Nr: 11225/09

EU Finance Day for SMEs — 18 June 2009, 13:00 CET

EU Finance Day for SMEs is a series of events in the Member States that the European Commission is organising to inform about the EU financial instruments for SMEs together with the national financial intermediaries that implement these instruments locally. The aim is to raise awareness about different sources of finance and provide a forum for sharing good practices in helping innovative SMEs get easier access to finance. One-day event will be organised in all EU Member State capitals in 2008-2009. A list of dates is provided regularly on this site.

BUILD UP - The European Portal for Energy Efficiency in Buildings — 17 June 2009, 13:41 CET

The European Commission launched on 16 June the BUILD UP web portal as a tool for sharing information on reducing energy use of buildings. Content will be regularly updated and enhanced by users themselves to cover a wide range of good practice in energy reduction and of information on legislation.

EU NAVFOR Somalia — 15 June 2009, 13:12 CET

Deeply concerned by the outbreak of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast, the European Union launched military operation EU NAVFOR Somalia (operation "Atalanta"), which is conducted in support of UN Security Council Resolutions 1814 (2008), 1816 (2008), 1838 (2008) and 1846 (2008) in order to contribute to: the protection of vessels of the WFP (World Food Programme) delivering food aid to displaced persons in Somalia; the protection of vulnerable vessels cruising off the Somali coast, and the deterrence, prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast.

Trade, Business Consulting — 14 June 2009, 20:50 CET

We are Trade and Business Consulting Company, identifying and exploiting new business opportunities in line with the company’s development and with business strategy organizing, establishing and relocating business to Switzerland.

Trade, Business Consulting — 14 June 2009, 20:40 CET

Are you interested in Switzerland as a business location? Then you've come to the right place! The process of basing a foreign business in Switzerland involves a large number of strategic decisions and administrative tasks. We are here to support such companies and private investors by providing the type of preliminary information they will need. We inform potential investors, entrepreneurs and interested parties on Switzerland as a business location. We work together with the cantonal business promotion representatives in selected markets and industry clusters to actively pursue marketing for Switzerland as a business location.

Bathing water quality - Annual report, 2008 bathing season — 11 June 2009, 18:29 CET

Every summer millions of Europeans head for the beach to enjoy the sun and to cool down in refreshing clean water. To allow Europeans to make an informed choice on which beach to choose a yearly report is published on the quality of coastal and freshwater bathing areas as reported by Member States for the beaches located within their territory. This year the report is being published by the European Environment Agency (EEA), which is also making available on its website maps and tables with detailed information on specific bathing areas.

USA: internet gambling ban and its discriminatory enforcement — 11 June 2009, 00:49 CET

US laws on remote gambling and their enforcement against EU companies: European Commission report

EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region — 10 June 2009, 18:40 CET

The European Commission adopted a Communication on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region on 10 June 2009. This is the first time that a comprehensive Strategy, covering several Community policies, is targeted on a 'macro-region'. The Strategy aims at coordinating action by Member States, regions, the EU, pan-Baltic organisations, financing institutions and non-governmental bodies to promote a more balanced development of the Region.

Results of the 2009 European elections — 08 June 2009, 00:33 CET

Results of the 2009 European elections - numbers of European Parliament seats by political group and by EU Member State

EmployRES - The impact of renewable energy policy on economic growth and employment in the European Union — 02 June 2009, 22:48 CET

Reaching the 2020 renewable energy targets is expected to lead to around 2.8 million jobs in the renewable energy sector and generate a total value added of around 1.1 per cent of GDP. This is the main conclusion of a European Commission study on the impact of renewable energy policy on economic growth and employment in the European Union (Employ-RES) which is available in the internet from today. EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said: "This shows that benefits of renewables in terms of security of supply and fighting climate change can go hand in hand with economic benefits".

EC Communication on agricultural product quality policy — 28 May 2009, 16:04 CET

The Commission Communication adopted on 28 May 2009 lays down strategic orientations to improve the EU agricultural product quality policy. The Council is expected to react by providing political orientations. This will open the way to future EU initiatives (guidelines, legislative proposals…) - COM(2009) 234

PRESSEUROP.EU — 27 May 2009, 13:10 CET

The European Commission and a consortium led by Courrier International (with Internazionale in Italy, Forum Polityka in Poland and Courrier Internacional in Portugal, with the support of Cafebabel) on 27 May 2009 launched PRESSEUROP.EU, the first multilingual website containing press articles on EU affairs. PRESSEUROP offers, in at least 10 languages (up to 23), a multilingual selection of articles published on the same day or the day before. These articles will be complemented with analyses, comments and illustrations.

EU Energy Charter — 22 May 2009, 12:15 CET

The Energy Charter Treaty establishes a framework for international cooperation between European countries and other industrialised counties with the aim of developing the energy potential of central and Eastern European countries and of ensuring security of energy supply for the European Union. The Protocol on energy efficiency and related environmental aspects aims to promote energy efficiency policies that are compatible with sustainable development, to encourage more efficient and sound use of energy and to promote cooperation in the field of energy efficiency.

Facilitating the free circulation of euro cash — 22 May 2009, 00:10 CET

The Commission adopted on 18 May 2009 a White Paper on professional cross border transportation of euro cash by road between Member States in the euro area.

EC strategy for Creative Content Online — 14 May 2009, 23:21 CET

In 2008, the European Commission adopted a policy paper on creative content online - building on a 2006 consultation process and launching further measures to support the cross-border delivery of online content. The Communication launched the 2008 consultation process and identified 4 main areas requiring EU action: availability of creative content; multi-territory licensing of creative content; digital rights management systems (DRMs); and piracy / unauthorised file-sharing. The Communication also proposed a stakeholder discussion group - the "Content online platform" – to look at forthcoming challenges. The final report on the Content Online Platform has been published in May 2009.

Annual Activity Report of the European Court of Auditors 2008 — 07 May 2009, 19:10 CET

The Annual Activity Report provides an annual review of the European Court of Auditors's activities, the resources used and what has been achieved. It was produced for the first time in 2008. For the Court 2008 was marked by a significant number of key achievements and important developments in EU financial management. Among them was the ‘International peer review of the European Court of Auditors’, which concluded positively on the suitability of the Court’s audit management framework and on the independence and objectivity of its work.

EC Communication on Fair Trade — 07 May 2009, 17:35 CET

Contributing to Sustainable Development: The role of Fair Trade and non-governmental trade-related sustainability assurance schemes - COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE - COM(2009) 215 final

Lifelong Learning Programme — 05 May 2009, 17:11 CET

The European Commission has integrated its various educational and training initiatives under a single umbrella, the Lifelong Learning Programme. With a significant budget of nearly EUR 7 billion for 2007 to 2013, the new programme replaces previous education, vocational training and e-Learning programmes, which ended in 2006.

Spring forecasts 2009-2010 — 04 May 2009, 23:33 CET

The Commission issued on 4 May its spring economic forecast. In short, the EU economy is in the midst of its deepest and most widespread recession in the post-war era, but it is set to stabilise in 2010 as the ambitious measures taken by governments and central banks in these exceptional circumstances are expected to put a floor under the fall in economic activity this year and enable a recovery next year.

European Elections 2009 — 30 April 2009, 23:08 CET

June 2009 euro-elections for the European Parliament - EP elections website - background, debates and results

FP7 Progress Report 2009 — 30 April 2009, 22:51 CET

FP7 Progress Report (Communication and Staff Working Document on the progress made under the Seventh European Framework Programme for Research)