The European Commission today announced it would be continuing with infringement proceedings against the Hungarian government for the proposed laws threatening the independence of the judiciary and the data protection authority, as well as seeking further clarification over a new law affecting the independence of the central bank (1). The Greens welcomed the decision but expressed concern that the Commission is continuing to ignore the wider concerns with constitutional changes, which are leading to a scale-back of democracy in Hungary.
Commenting on the European Commission's announcement to pursue investigations on the issues related to the retirement age of judges and data protection in Hungary, Joseph Daul, Chairman of the EPP Group, said:
Now in their 12th year, the SOLIDAR Silver Rose Awards 20121 this year honour four individuals or organisations whose extraordinary struggles contribute to social justice and solidarity in Europe and worldwide:
The EPP Group Bureau will meet on Thursday and Friday with key figures of the new Spanish Government, headed by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, in Palma de Mallorca, where they will also debate the role of SMEs as a motor for growth in Europe, the fight against corruption, the proposals on the future Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) and the financing of the Trans-European Networks.
COGEN Europe launches a wider debate on planning for heat in Europe
The EU total thermal energy demand consumes 60% of the primary energy resources in the EU but its energy and climate strategy has virtually no measures on heat. At its upcoming Annual Conference in Brussels on 3-4 May 2012, COGEN Europe will launch a wider debate among key representatives of the cogeneration sector on how the heat planning under the new Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) can help swing the balance towards more integrated energy thinking.
COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) and the European Science
Foundation (ESF) have been informed by the European Commission Directorate-General for Research & Innovation of their decision to allocate an additional EUR 10 million to COST.
This latest allocation raises the total budget for COST to EUR 250 million which was the maximum initially envisaged by the EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) subject to a midterm evaluation.
A new report carried out by the research and consulting group WIK on the state of play of Next Generation Access (NGA) has found that the target set by Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes for 50% of households to use ultra-fast broadband by 2020 may be at risk because fibre networks have not been effectively opened to competition.
2 March 2012, Amsterdam: A third of the world’s amphibian species face extinction and the European Union has a crucial role in helping stop the decline.
