EU Publications

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"Science and Technology" - Special EUROBAROMETER 340 — 21 June 2010, 14:21 CET

According to this Eurobarometer report published on 21 June, nearly 80% of Europeans say they are interested in scientific discoveries and technological developments, compared to 65% interested in sport. Over 70% of Europeans want to see the expansion of EU-funded research in the future. But only 10% consider themselves well-informed about science, nearly 60% think scientists should put more effort into communicating about their work and 65% believe governments should do more to interest young people in scientific issues. Europeans overwhelmingly recognise the benefits and importance of science but many also express fears over risks from new technologies, the power that knowledge gives to scientists and human rights issues linked to science. Special Eurobarometer reports are based on in-depth thematical studies carried out for various services of the European Commission or other EU Institutions and integrated in Standard Eurobarometer's polling waves.

Guidance for writing standards taking into account micro, small and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) needs — 17 June 2010, 13:06 CET

This Guide provides orientation, advice and recommendations to standard writers on how to take into account SMEs needs. This document addresses the issues to be considered during the development process of standards.

Food Facility — 15 June 2010, 18:39 CET

With more than € 500 million already disbursed and 97 % of funds committed after only one year and a half from its adoption, the € 1 billion EU Food Facility has provided a fast and efficient response in tackling food insecurity. The Commission present today a booklet on the use of the Food Facility. It shows that around 50 million people all over the world are receiving support from the facility and results are starting to show. Faced with an impressive number of high–quality proposals but a limited budget, the European Commission is calling on other donors to help funding projects under the newly launched "Food Facility Auction Floor".

2009 Eurobarometer Survey on Entrepreneurship — 10 June 2010, 12:04 CET

The survey on entrepreneurship is about peoples' entrepreneurial mindset. It examines the motivation, choices, experiences and obstacles linked to self-employment. The results help EU policy makers to understand problems and develop future policy responses. The 2009 survey is based on data from interviews with over 26,000 persons in 36 states. The survey includes the EU27, the EEA/EFTA countries (Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland), Turkey and Croatia. As in the past the United States of America were also covered by the survey. For the first time countries from Asia (Japan, South Korea and China) were also included in the Eurobarometer.

European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER) — 03 June 2010, 15:46 CET

The European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER) asks managers and workers' health and safety representatives about how health and safety risks are managed at their workplace, with a particular focus on the newer ‘psychosocial risks’, such as work-related stress, violence and harassment. This summary highlights a selection of the main results from a first analysis of the data, which is drawn from 36,000 interviews carried out in 31 countries. EU-OSHA's Europe-wide establishment survey aims to assist workplaces to deal more effectively with health and safety and to promote the health and well-being of employees. It provides policy makers with cross-nationally comparable information relevant for the design and implementation of new policies in this field.

Your guide to the Lisbon Treaty — 02 June 2010, 23:46 CET

After decades of war that cost millions of lives, the foundation of the EU marked the beginning of a new era where European countries solve their problems by talking, not fighting. Today, members of the EU enjoy a wealth of benefits. The rules on how to run the EU, however, were designed for a much smaller EU, and an EU that did not have to face global challenges such as climate change, a global recession or international cross-border crime. The EU has the potential, and the commitment, to tackle these problems, but can only do so by improving the way it works. This is the purpose of the Lisbon Treaty. It makes the EU more democratic, efficient and transparent. It gives citizens and parliaments a bigger input into what goes on at a European level, and gives Europe a clearer, stronger voice in the world, all the while protecting national interests. This leaflet explains what the Lisbon Treaty means to you as a citizen.

Spring 2010 update: COM(2010) 255, 26.05.2010, Report on recent developments on crisis aid to the financial sector — 27 May 2010, 16:56 CET

The reliance of financial institutions on emergency support through state guarantees is declining. This early indicator of a gradual return to market conditions in the banking sector is the key finding of the spring state aid scoreboard issued by the European Commission today. Altogether, the Commission has approved crisis measures put forward by Member States for an overall maximum volume of €4131.1 billion. Guarantee umbrellas account for over three quarters of this volume, amounting to €3149.8 billion. The effective use of the possibilities for state guaranteed funding and of recapitalisation measures taken together amounted to €1235.2 billion, significantly less than a third of the total. The scoreboard contains a set of detailed statistical tables and indicators for all EU Member States. The Scoreboard is the Commission’s benchmarking instrument for State aid, measuring progress towards the goals of the Lisbon agenda of March 2000 which called on the Commission, the Council and Member States to "further their efforts to … reduce the general level of State aid, shifting the emphasis from supporting individual companies or sectors towards tackling horizontal objectives of Community interest, such as employment, regional development, environment and training or research".

Communication: Analysis of options to move beyond 20% greenhouse gas emission reductions and assessing the risk of carbon leakage (May 2010) — 26 May 2010, 16:06 CET

This Communication, adopted on 26 May 2010, presents an analysis of the costs, benefits and options for moving beyond the EU's greenhouse gas reduction target for 2020 of 20% below 1990 levels to 30% once the conditions for this move are met.

Future steps in bio-waste management in the European Union - Communication from the Commission - COM(2010)235 final — 18 May 2010, 18:18 CET

On 18 May 2010, the Commission published a Communication on its analysis of the bio-waste management options and possible future steps in this area. The text of the Communication is accompanied by an annex providing more detailed analysis of the current situation and scenarios in bio-waste management.

Type-approval of hydrogen-powered motor vehicles - Commission Regulation (EU) No 406/2010 — 18 May 2010, 18:05 CET

2010/406/EU: Commission Regulation (EU) No 406/2010 of 26 April 2010 implementing Regulation (EC) No 79/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on type-approval of hydrogen-powered motor vehicles (Text with EEA relevance)

Reinforcing economic policy coordination in the EU and the euro area - Communication COM(2010)250 final — 12 May 2010, 15:02 CET

The recent financial crisis and the need for financial support to the Greek economy have underlined the interdependence of the EU's economies, in particular inside the euro area. Urgent action has been taken to deal with the immediate needs of the crisis, but far-reaching lessons should be drawn from it to strengthen the EU's system of economic governance for the future, says the European Commission. The Commission has releases a Communication aimed at reinforcing economic policy coordination. The Commission puts forward concrete, broad-based initiatives to strengthen economic policy coordination in the wake of the Greek sovereign debt crisis.

Project Europe 2030 - A report to the European Council by the Reflection Group on the Future of the EU 2030 — 08 May 2010, 20:12 CET

The European Union must introduce measures, modify behaviour and correct dynamics if it wants to allow its institutions to really make life easier for its citizens, as well as restoring their enthusiam for, and confidence in, a project which is going through one of its most difficult periods, recommended the ex-Spanish president Felipe González, in a report presented in Brussels on 8 May 2010. The report by the Reflection Group, elaborated over a period of 18 months, analyses the future of Europe.

European Economic Forecast - Spring 2010 — 05 May 2010, 10:29 CET

The Commission issued on 5 May its spring economic forecasts. The economic recovery is underway in the EU, although it is set to be a gradual one. The economic recession came to an end in the EU in the third quarter of last year, in large part thanks to the exceptional crisis measures put in place under the European Economic Recovery Plan, but also owing to some other temporary factors. The speed of recovery is forecast to increasingly vary across EU countries, reflecting the extent of the housing-market correction needed, the size of the financial-services sector and the degree of internal and external imbalances.

The 2009 Elections to the European Parliament – Country Reports — 29 April 2010, 17:55 CET

EUDO is pleased to announce the publication of "The 2009 Elections to the European Parliament". How much ‘second-order’ were the European Parliament Elections 2009? Does this election mark continuity with the 2004 election? How can the gains and losses of various parties be explained? What will the direct consequences of this election be for national politics? The explanations for these and other phenomena can be found in our new academic production. Based on the voting advice application EU Profiler|, the majority of the researchers involved in this project contributed to the e-book. It contains 5 introductory chapters, investigating various aspects of this election comparatively, and 24 country reports, offering reliable analyses written by country experts. The originality of this publication is twofold. First, given that a huge part of the citizenry expects comparative, reliable information on this election, and given that other groups in society, including politicians and journalists may also like to have clear, succinct, and understandable analyses which they can use in their own work, the authors of this volume particularly wanted to avoid using overly academic vocabulary and sophisticated statistical analyses so that these chapters are easily understandable as possible. Each chapter is therefore relatively short (5-7 pages), and follows the same structure being composed of four clearly-defined sections: Background, Issues, The Election Campaign and Results. Second, what is particularly worth-mentioning is that this publication will be available on line for free. This way, the range of potential readers is likely to be very large, and will also reach ordinary citizens.

EU citizen's attitudes towards alcohol — 21 April 2010, 14:21 CET

Alcohol consumption in the European Union is at a similar level to four years ago, this Eurobarometer survey shows. Three out of four respondents said they consume alcoholic drinks up to three times a week. Young people aged 15-24 years are more likely than older age groups to have five or more drinks at a time, and frequent binge drinking is widespread across the EU. Awareness of specific health risks varies. There is high awareness that harmful consumption is linked to liver diseases but low awareness that it also causes cancer. Since 2006, the European Commission has worked with national authorities, NGOs and industry to reduce alcohol related harm. The Special Eurobarometer survey on alcohol was carried out in October 2009 with 27 000 respondents.

World Economic Outlook (WEO) - Rebalancing Growth — 21 April 2010, 10:46 CET

The World Economic Outlook (WEO) presents the IMF staff's analysis and projections of economic developments at the global level, in major country groups (classified by region, stage of development, etc.), and in many individual countries. It focuses on major economic policy issues as well as on the analysis of economic developments and prospects. It is usually prepared twice a year, as documentation for meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, and forms the main instrument of the IMF's global surveillance activities.

Innovative financing at a global level — 06 April 2010, 16:33 CET

In view of key global challenges with significant budgetary implications, this European Commission staff working document assesses main options for innovative financing related to the financial sector, climate change and development.

Quarterly report on the euro area - March 2010 — 31 March 2010, 19:44 CET

This special issue provides a comprehensive assessment of the impact of the crisis on external divergences in the euro area: After a decade of steady divergence, the global economic crisis has triggered a partial rebalancing of current accounts in the euro area. The narrowing of current account differences between Member States has both structural and cyclical causes and could be partially reversed with the recovery. It has so far been associated with only modest correction of past divergence in price competitiveness. As a result, significant adjustment needs continue to exist and call for a comprehensive policy response tailored to the specific needs of each Member State.

Europeans, Agriculture and the Common Agricultural Policy — 30 March 2010, 23:18 CET

European citizens broadly support the new aims of agricultural policy as conducted at European Union level and a majority are in favour of maintaining its budget. This is one of the main findings of a survey of people's attitudes to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Following two similar, recent polls carried out in 2006 and 2007, this latest survey confirms that the guiding principles and aims of the CAP are supported by a majority of people. The survey was carried out between 13 November and 9 December 2009 by TNS Opinion at the behest of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development. Following the traditional Eurobarometer method, a thousand individual interviews were conducted in each of the twenty-seven Member States of the European Union.

More women in senior positions - key to economic stability and growth — 25 March 2010, 19:53 CET

The recent financial crisis has brought to light the lack of women in economic decision-making positions in Europe. In banking, business, politics and public administrations men continue to outnumber women in senior positions despite the increased number of women among university graduates and in the labour market. This report examines the current situation and trends and also considers ways in which the advancement of women can be supported and accelerated to get more women in senior positions. This publication is available in printed format in English, French and German.

Data Protection: A Practical Guide to UK and EU Law — 25 March 2010, 12:13 CET

Now in its third edition, this invaluable handbook offers practical solutions to issues arising in relation to data protection law. It is fully updated and expanded to include coverage of all of the significant developments in the practice of data protection, and takes account of the wealth of guidance published by the UK's Information Commissioner since the last edition. The third edition includes new material on the changes to the Commissioner's powers and new guidance from the Commissioner's office, coverage of new cases on peripheral aspects of data protection compliance and examples of enforcement, the new code on CCTV processing, the new employment code, clarification on the definition of "personal data", the binding corporate rules on the exemption to the export data ban and the new ICT set of model contractual provisions for data exports, and the proposed action by the EU against the UK for failing to implement the Data Protection Directive appropriately. There are new chapters on terminology and data security.

European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) 2009 — 17 March 2010, 23:42 CET

Most EU Member States until 2008 were steadily improving their innovation performance. The economic crisis may, however, be hampering this progress, according to the 2009 European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) published today. Early indications show that the worst hit are Member States with lower levels of innovation performance, potentially reversing the convergence process witnessed over recent years. Meanwhile, the latest statistics show that the EU is having difficulty in catching up with the US in innovation performance, although it maintains a clear lead over the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China, despite rapid improvements in China. The European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) and the Innobarometer. The EIS attempts to benchmark, on a yearly basis, the innovation performance of Member States, drawing on statistics from a variety of sources, primarily the Community Innovation Survey.

The attitudes of Europeans towards tourism 2010 - Eurobarometer survey — 11 March 2010, 12:07 CET

Some 80% of Europeans continue to travel for their holidays according to a new Eurobarometer survey on 'The attitudes of Europeans towards tourism 2010'. Only 20% of over 30,000 randomly selected citizens were almost certain that they will not travel in 2010, which is significantly below the proportion of non-travellers in 2009 (33%). EU citizens increasingly prefer to spend their holidays in traditional tourist destinations (57%), while 28% would rather go "off the beaten track" to emerging destinations. Tourism is one of Europe's most important service industries, accounting for 5% of Europe's GDP and 6% of employment.

International climate policy post-Copenhagen: Acting now to reinvigorate global action on climate change - Communication — 10 March 2010, 23:18 CET

The European Commission has set out a strategy to help maintain the momentum of global efforts to tackle climate change. The Communication proposes that the EU swiftly begin implementing last December's Copenhagen Accord, in particular 'fast start' financial assistance to developing countries. This communication takes stock of some lessons after the Copenhagen Conference, which fell short of initial ambitions, but which nevertheless show the substantial and widespread support to step-up efforts to address climate change. The Communication also maps out the steps going forward in the near- and medium-terms, and crucially signals the Commission's determination to continue its efforts to ensure adequate action is taken globally in keeping with the seriousness of the global challenge confronting us.

Effectiveness of EDF support for Regional Economic Integration in East Africa and West Africa - Special Report No 18/2009 — 23 February 2010, 11:35 CET

In this report, the European Court of Auditors analyses the Commission’s approach to regional economic integration in East Africa and West Africa, its management of the support provided and the results of a sample of projects. The report contains recommendations which aim at helping the Commission to improve its approach to, and management of, regional economic integration programmes.

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Libcast’s Online Video Platform in the limelight at BETT 2015 — 28 January 2015, 16:17 CET

Libcast of France will be showcasing its Online Video Platform at BETT 2015 in London, in January. The specialist company’s innovative and versatile solution enables users to host, manage and broadcast lectures live or in streaming mode. With 200,000 users, Libcast’s technology has already been chosen by many universities and schools, including leading colleges in France and Norway.