European Union

ZAGREB -- The European Commission (EC) has temporarily frozen Croatian Phare projects. It has also reduced the funds allocated to the country via the IPA program by EUR 5mn because of weaknesses in creating a decentralized system of management of projects backed by EU funds.

In its 2007 progress report on Croatia, the EC said that the country had shown great weaknesses last year in implementing a decentralized system for management of pre-accession assistance, said Nagy and warned that Zagreb had to deal with these weaknesses as soon as possible.

Former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez wants to restore Europe's economic and geopolitical influence on the global stage as the head of a new 'reflection group' launched by EU leaders at a summit in December. However, the question of whether it will deal with enlargement remains open. Related: News:   UK, France clash on future EU vision Analysis:   Europe's future: a chance for wise men?

Press articles Financial Times: Rebel seeks innovators to shake up Europe (15 January 2008)

The proposed acquisition of online advertising company DoubleClick by Google, the Internet search giant, raises a host of privacy concerns that make the merger more than a mere competition case, legal experts have said.

The European Commission decided in November to open an in-depth investigation to verify the effects produced by the operation to the markets for intermediation and ad serving in online advertising. The deadline for the decision was designated 2 April 2008.

EU official documents European Commission: Provisional deadline for Google/DoubleClick decision (2 Oct. 2007) European Commission: Merger: European Commission opens in-depth investigation into Google'e proposed take over of DoubleClick (13 Nov. 2007) [FR] [DE]

Der folgende Beitrag stellt Auszüge aus einer Veröffentlichung von Michael Nollert in der „Zeitschrift für Politik“ (Jahrgang 44, S. 648 ff.) dar. Er befasst sich mit einer Untersuchung zu den Einflusschancen und Einflussmechanismen der Verbände bei den europäischen Institutionen. Dabei geht der Verfasser von der Beobachtung aus, dass sich aufgrund der gewachsenen Kompetenzen der Europäischen Union die verbandliche Interessenvertretung deutlich von der nationalen zur europäischen Ebene verlagert hat.

n this paper, Prof. Justin Greenwood analyses how European trade associations differ from those - often larger ones - operating at national level, their membership structure and the challenges they face.

Apple Inc. has agreed to scrap its online pricing policies across Europe for its iTunes music downloads, the European Union said Wednesday.

The maker of the popular iPod media players had been under investigation since April by E.U. authorities after a British consumer group complained that Apple and major record companies were unfairly restricting the choice and ramping up the cost of downloads at the company's European music stores.

E.U. regulators opened a probe into iTunes last year. They alleged distribution agreements Apple signed to sell music from its online stores in E.U. countries contained territorial restrictions which violated E.U. competition rules because consumers can only download music from the iTunes store in their country of residence.

Zagreb has taken steps to protect its coastal waters. Its neighbors and Brussels aren't happy.

Last week, the EU presidency, currently held by Slovenia, warned that Croatia could jeopardize ongoing negotiations on membership. Officials in Zagreb, however, dismiss suggestions that their efforts to protect marine resources could damage ongoing talks with Brussels.

Croatia's Protected Ecological Fishery Zone has been in effect for several years but only applied to EU states on 1 January. Neighboring Slovenia and Italy are most affected by the zone. Slovenia – which took over the rotating EU presidency on the same day, and which has clashed with Croatia on several occasions over disputed land and sea borders – contends that the zone infringes on its own water boundaries, while Italy argues it will hurt its substantial fishing industry.

EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn has called on Serbia to refrain from linking its EU integration process to demands on the Kosovo issue.

But Commissioner Rehn said such linkages should not be made. "It is disappointing that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement is misrepresented in the Serbian political debate," Mr Rehn told Reuters in an interview. "It is sad that Serbia's European future is being offered up on the altar of domestic power games," he continued.

Slovenia, currently at the helm of the European Union, is set to push for signature of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) - the first step to EU membership - with Belgrade in January.

Mr Rupel also announced the EU bloc would set up a special "task force" aimed at helping Serbia to speed up its progress towards the agreement, including the country's "even greater cooperation" with the International Crime Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Serbia's situation has been further politically complicated by the upcoming presidential race.

European institutions suffered a big loss of trust among EU citizens in the last six months, despite citizens' support for EU membership reaching the highest in over a decade, according to a Eurobarometer poll published on Tuesday.  

Links European Union Commission: Press Release: Standard Eurobarometer 68: Autumn 2007 (18 December 2007) Surveys and data Commission: Eurobarometer 68 (December 2007)

France has indicated that it is ready to support further enlargement of the European Union, with a series of countries from the Western Balkans lining up to the join the 27-nation bloc.

"We used to believe that a federal Europe was necessary for a more deeply integrated union and that enlargement would counter this and prevent Europe from working effectively. We have now overcome this contradiction," the minister said.

The words are likely to be seen as a strongly positive signal to Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, which have been promised eventual EU membership.

Slovenia is hoping the status of the Serbian breakaway province of Kosovo will be solved by the end of its EU presidency in June, and has indicated that an outcome other than independence for the province is unlikely.

It is "obvious" that a solution that satisfies both parties cannot be found and "it's not possible" to force Serbs and Kosovars to live together after the way ethnic Albanians were treated during the regime of former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, Mr Jansa was reported as saying by AFP. Kosovo will probably not obtain "total independence" right away though, he added.

A new education law in Bosnia might please the country’s European neighbors, but critics say it only locks in a broken system. SARAJEVO | The question of where the buck stops in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s education system isn’t easy to answer. The country has 14 ministries of education. There is one at the state level – technically in the Ministry of Civil Affairs – one in each of the country’s two entities, one in each of the 10 cantons, and one in the independent district of Brcko. It’s a recipe for bureaucratic chaos that hinders growth, and it’s hardly what European powers hoped for when Bosnia joined 28 other countries in signing the Bologna accords in 2003. Reached in 1999, the accords aim to establish a European Higher Education Area with more or less uniform quality and degree-granting standards.

Serbia is stepping up its resistance towards the idea of Kosovo becoming independent, with the country's prime minister Vojislav Kostunica sending a clear warning to the European Union - either it backs Belgrade or Pristina.

"The EU must choose...whether it will sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia or, under the United States' pressure, send a mission to implement [a plan for] supervised independence of Kosovo, snatching part of Serbia's territory", the statement says.

The European Commission has praised the smooth changeover to the euro in the two newest eurozone member countries, Cyprus and Malta, while the effect on their overall inflation rates is to be evaluated later.

In comparison, the 2007 switchover to the euro in Slovenia was followed by higher prices for some services, such as restaurants and cafes. Meanwhile, figures late last year indicated a significant rise in overall consumer price inflation in the ex-Yugoslav country, with the commission predicting an average level of 3.5 percent in 2007 and 3.7 percent in 2008, compared to 2.5 percent in 2006.