European public affairs

Weekly EU news: Monday 2 November - Friday 6 November 2009


Monday 2 November

EU institutions closed

 

Tuesday 3 November

Conclusions of last week's European Council

The European Commission's autumn forecast projects that the EU economy will emerge from recession in the second half of this year, although for 2009 as a whole, GDP is still set to fall by some 4%. Press release

From 2 November, banks started to offer customers the possibility to make regular payments using the new SEPA Direct Debit scheme. Press release and memo. The European Commission has invited comments on a Commission working document that aims to provide further guidance to participants in the SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) scheme to ensure that collective financing arrangements applied within this scheme comply with EC Treaty competition rules. Details

Conclusions of the EU-US Summit

 

Wednesday 4 November

A new EU-US Energy Council was launched in Washington. This Council will provide a new framework for deepening the transatlantic dialogue on strategic energy issues such as security of supply or policies to move towards low carbon energy sources while strengthening the ongoing scientific collaboration on energy technologies. Press release and Q&A

Regional Policy Commissioner Pawel Samecki gave a speech on The cohesion policy – thoughts for today and tomorrow.

The European Commission announced the launch of a second phase of the ACP-EU Energy Facility under the 10 th European Development Fund (EDF) for the period 2009-2013. Details

 

Thursday 5 November

The European Commission launched a public consultation on possible ways to enhance co-operation between business registers. The objective is to improve access to business information and to increase legal certainty surrounding cross-border operations in the EU. Deadline for comments is 31 January 2010. Details

Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva gave a speech in Brussels: "A Blueprint for Consumer Policy in Europe: Making Markets Work with and for People"

The European Parliament and the Council of Ministers reached an agreement on the EU Telecoms Reform. The reform strengthens competition and consumer rights on Europe's telecoms markets, facilitates high-speed internet broadband connections to all Europeans and establishes a European Body of Telecoms Regulators. Memo and FAQ

 

Friday 6 November

Statistics

  • Between 2000 and 2008, EU27 trade in goods with India more than doubled in value: exports rose from 13.7 billion euro to 31.6 bn, while imports increased from 12.8 bn to 29.5 bn. More
  • In September 2009 compared with August 2009, the industrial producer price index fell by 0.4% in the euro area2 (EA16) and by 0.7% in the EU27. More
  • In September 2009, compared with August 2009, the volume of retail trade fell by 0.7% in the euro area (EA16) and by 0.4% in the EU27. More
  • Between the second quarters of 2008 and 2009, employment dropped by 1.9% to 222.7 million persons in the EU27 and by 1.8% to 145.5 million in the euro area (EA16). More

The European Union and India will hold their annual summit in New Delhi. This Summit will address major global issues such as climate change, energy security and fight against terrorism, besides regional issues. Furthermore, leaders will address questions of the international response to the global financial crisis as well as the reform of international financial institutions following the G20-Pittsburgh meeting. Press release

The European Commission Directorate General for Taxation and Customs Union organises a one day conference in Brussels on 'What taxation for a low carbon economy?' Programme

 

 

 

 

n provided by the German Länder of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein to HSH Nordbank AG. Details