EU Swedish Presidency Begins
7/1/2009
 Sweden assumed its six-month presidency of the European Union on July 1 with a call to tackle climate change and the financial crisis.
"The most important thing is to ensure that we are able to gather the EU together to respond to the challenges that people care about and where strong European cooperation can make a difference," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. "This is a matter of dealing with the financial crisis together and tackling the rising unemployment that is currently affecting the whole of Europe. It is also matter of doing our bit to rally the whole world to tackle climate change. These two priorities will dominate our Presidency." Read more; Website; Background
10,000 Erasmus Mundus International Study, Teaching Scholarships
7/1/2009
 The European Commission has just awarded almost 10,000 new grants to be funded by the Erasmus Mundus education program in the academic year 2009-2010. A total of 8,385 students and academics, including many Americans, will come to study or teach in Europe, and 1,561 Europeans will spend periods at partner institutions in countries outside Europe.
"Erasmus Mundus is going from strength to strength," said Ján Figel', European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture & Youth. "In the years since 2004, when it began, the program has been able to establish itself as one of the world's foremost international mobility programs. With its emphasis on quality and excellence, it is doing an outstanding job of promoting European higher education on the world stage. Read more; Background
|
"Wonky" Fruit & Veggies Return to EU Marketplace
6/30/2009
 EU rules governing the size and shape of many fruit and vegetables ceased to exist as of July 1, when specific marketing standards for 26 types of fruit and vegetables were repealed. The European Commission's initiative to get rid of these standards is a major element in its ongoing efforts to streamline and simplify EU rules and cut red tape. For 10 types of fruit and vegetables, including apples, strawberries and tomatoes, marketing standards will remain in place. But even for these 10, EU Member States could for the first time allow shops to sell products that don't respect the standards, as long as they are labeled to distinguish them from "extra," "class I" and "class II" fruit. In other words, the new rules will allow national authorities to permit the sale of all fruit and vegetables, regardless of their size and shape. Read more
|
|
|
|
Public Consultation: Scientific Hearing on Nanotechnology
7/2/2009
 In recognition of the importance of the field of nanotechnology, the European Commission is organizing a one-day scientific hearing, which will take place on September 10, 2009 in Brussels. The hearing will focus on the scientific aspects of the issues covered in the Scientific Committees' opinions related to Nanotechnology.
In particular, one of the expected outcomes of this scientific hearing is the identification of any possible topics which have not been covered in the opinions from the relevant EU Risk Assessment Committees and Bodies. Topics and comments are to be discussed at the hearing. Furthermore, it is expected that the discussions will help to identify what - according to current scientific knowledge - will be the main potential risks emerging from the use of nanomaterials in the future.
In view of the preparation for this hearing, the European Commission is now launching a public consultation and welcomes your comments in this topic.
The outcome of this Public Consultation will be presented at the hearing in September. Please note that, as this will be a scientific hearing, the focus will be on the Risk Assessment of Nanotechnology-related topics, and not on any regulatory issues. Read more
|
|
Ambassador John Bruton's Weekly Message: JULY 2, 2009
7/2/2009
Mr. Bruton discusses, among other topics, "the EU’s concerns about the proposed tourist tax to be included in the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 now before the House of Representatives. This is a discriminatory tax, in that it is only to be applied to visitors to the United States from other countries, and not to Americans themselves. It comes on top of other measures already being taken by Congress that will discourage travel by Europeans to the US, notably provisions of the FAA Reauthorization Bill that will substantially increase transatlantic airfares." Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 02 July 2009 )
|
