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EU
Condemns Japanese Whaling
 The European Commission this month
reiterated its concern over continued Japanese whaling and called on
EU Member States to agree on a common position on the protection of
whales before the next meeting of the International Whaling
Commission in June.
"The graphic images on our television
screens bring home the reality of whale hunting," said EU
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas. "This shows that more than
ever the EU needs to be united in opposing whaling. I call on
Member States to reach a common position to reinforce the efforts to
protect whales."
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U.S. Study: Europeans Benefit from
Globalization
 Commenting on a new study by the
American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union, European
Commission President José Manuel Barroso said that Europeans are
living better today than they were 20 years ago, thanks in part to
globalization.
"I am very happy to note that, using objective and quantifiable
data, this study shows that confidence in the European Union's
capacity to position itself in the world as a large, integrated and
open area is fully justified," said President Barroso. "The data
clearly show that Europe has taken full advantage of economic
globalization." President Barroso stressed the need for
globalization to be advantageous to the international community as a
whole and said he was convinced
"…that greater transatlantic
cooperation within the Transatlantic Economic Council, which was set
up to foster regulatory cooperation and convergence between the EU
and the U.S., could benefit the whole world community."
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EU
Research Shows Hydrogen Benefits
 An EU-funded research program has
found that using hydrogen energy could reduce total oil consumption
in road transport by 40 percent by 2050. The so-called HyWays
project, which brought together industry, research institutes and
government agencies, also concluded that substantial economic,
technological, and institutional barriers have to be overcome to
achieve this.
The report is published as the European Union
Member States are due to give their approval of a new 940 million
euro public-private research partnership for the development of
hydrogen and fuel cells.
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And
the Oscar Goes to: Europe
 At this year's 80th Academy
Awards, Oscars in all four top acting categories went to Europeans.
Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor, Marion Cotillard Best Actress,
Tilda Swinton Best Supporting Actress, and Javier Bardem Best
Supporting Actor. The Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film went
to the Austrian-German co-production "The Counterfeiters" (Die
Fälscher), a film directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky from Austria.
Winning in a wide range of categories, Europeans were also awarded
Oscars for Short Live Action Film, Art Direction, Makeup, Original
Score, Original Song, and Sound Editing.
The EU's Media Program
provided significant support for several nominated and winning
films. The EU plays an important role in sustaining Europe's
audiovisual sector through the development and distribution of
thousands of films as well as training activities, festivals, and
promotion projects throughout Europe.
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EU
Clean Sky Program Takes Off
 The European Union unveiled its
initiative to move toward a new generation of greener, more
environmentally efficient aircraft this month. Clean Sky is one of
Europe's largest research programs, with a budget of 1.6 billion
euros. It represents a joint commitment from the European Union and
the aviation industry to make air travel more sustainable, by
encouraging aircraft manufacturers to develop and produce greener
products.
"The challenges that stand before us today, such as
boosting international competitiveness and tackling climate change,
are common to all European countries, and research is a major part
of the answer," said European Science and Research Commissioner
Janez Potocnik. "We stand a better chance of making a difference if
we work together. This is the basic logic behind Clean Sky and I am
delighted that it is now underway and ready to start its work."
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EU NewsBrief is an electronic publication issued regularly by
the Delegation of the European Commission to the United States. To
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