European Union

In an unusually strong statement, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn has criticised Serbia's prime minister for blocking the signature of an interim, but highly symbolic, political agreement between Belgrade and the 27-nation bloc.

His strong criticism comes after Mr Kostunica said that a regular government meeting scheduled for Thursday (7 February), which was to give the green light to deputy prime minister Bozidar Djelic to travel to Brussels and sign the EU deal, will not be held. The prime minister requested an urgent session of the Serbian parliament instead, in order "to confirm the national unity in the defence of Kosovo-Metohija" and to avoid political destabilisation, according to the website of the Serbian government. Meanwhile, sixteen ministers as well as Serbian deputy premier Bozidar Djelic have sent Mr Kostunica a letter asking him not to block Thursday's cabinet meeting. "We hereby ask you to schedule a regular government session for Thursday, February 7, 2008, at which, among other things, the government will decide on its stance towards the political agreement on cooperation between the EU and its member countries on the one side, and Serbia on the other", the letter reads.

The Commission's interim reports on the progress made by Romania and Bulgaria on judiciary reform and fighting corruption and organised crime show that both countries must seriously step up their efforts ahead of the next detailed evaluation due in mid-2008. Otherwise they could face sanctions, Brussels warned. Related:

European Union Commission: Report On Progress in Bulgaria under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (4 February 2008) Commission: Report On Progress in Romania under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (4 February 2008) Commission memo: Interim Report on Progress in Bulgaria with Judiciary Reform and the Fight against Corruption and Organised Crime (4 February 2008) [FR] [DE] Commission memo: Interim Report on Progress in Romania with Judiciary Reform and the Fight against Corruption (4 February 2008) [FR] [DE] Commission: Assessing ongoing progress by Bulgaria and Romania [FR] [DE]

The European Union has taken a significant step towards deploying a 1,800-strong police and civilian mission in Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo following a meeting of EU diplomats in Brussels on Monday.

According to one EU diplomat, Monday's decision on the so-called joint action marks "an important step" in the process of launching the mission. "90 percent of preparatory work has been done", the diplomat said. However, the operation does not enjoy the unconditional support of the entire 27-nation EU bloc. Cyprus took advantage of a so-called "constructive abstention" mechanism, meaning that Nicosia will not participate in the mission, but will not block it.

Romania and Cyprus said on Thursday (31 January) that they would not recognise a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo. "Cyprus, for reasons of principle, cannot recognise and will not recognise a unilateral declaration of independence", Cypriot foreign minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis was quoted as saying by French news agency AFP.

On the same day, Romanian president Traian Basescu made an even stronger statement after a meeting with NATO secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Schefferat in Brussels. "My country will not be able to recognise an independence proclamation by Kosovo on any level (...) whether coordinated or unilaterally proclaimed", he said according to Serbian news site B92.net.

MEPs in the constitutional affairs committee generally agreed that the term should be defined as widely as possible. They also agreed that the European Commission and parliament should set up a common register of all the lobbyists in Brussels, with estimates suggesting there are around 15,000 of them in the city pressing their case at the European institutions.

or his part, Mr Stubb says he is not out to demonise lobbyists, whose activities have come to light recently during the ferocious lobbying on legislation that took place during the development of the chemicals, services and software patent laws. He points out that it is much easier to get information as a civil servant, but that as an MEP, "you are out of the [information] loop and interest groups are good sources of information."

The European Parliament's constitutional committee has given a green light to the new EU Lisbon treaty, suggesting it will make the bloc's rules more democratic and suitable for the future, while remaining "less clear and readable" for its citizens. MEPs in the key parliamentary body dealing with institutional affairs of the 27-strong union gave their political blessing to the document, with 20 votes in favour and 6 against on Wednesday (23 January)

The report argues that the new treaty will make the EU more democratic by boosting the role of European and national parliaments as well as strengthening the citizens' rights through a brand new Charter of Fundamental Rights attached to the document.

Mr Brown's government argues that a referendum is not needed as it is sufficiently different from the original constitution. But this argument has been dealt blows by two parliamentary committees. The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee over the weekend concluded that there was "no material difference" between the treaty and the foreign policy aspects of the constitution.

At the moment, it is not clear whether the president's post - essentially representing the European Union externally - should have some sort of staff. There are currently no provisions for this in the treaty. In addition, there is the thorny issue of all the pending EU laws that may be affected by the fact that the entry into force of the treaty will see MEPs have full co-decision rights.

The eurosceptic nationalist candidate of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), Tomislav Nikolic, won the first round in the country's presidential elections held on Sunday(20 January). Mr Nikolic obtained 39.57 percent of the votes, followed by current president Boris Tadic of the Democratic Party, who received 35.45 percent, according to preliminary results reported by Serbian news agency Tanjug.

As none of the candidates achieved 50 percent of the votes, the two men will face each other in a run-off on 3 February – a situation similar to what happened in elections four years ago.

The 3 February run-off between the radical and the moderate candidate is expected to be decisive for the country's EU future.

Rebel Labour MPs are expected to join forces with the Conservatives today (21 January) in a bid to force through a referendum on the new EU Reform Treaty, after a report by the House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee concluded that the text is the same as the abandoned EU Constitution.

The case for a referendum was further strengthened yesterday (20 January) with the publication of a report by the House of Commons' Labour-dominated Foreign Affairs Committee, which claims that the British government is misleading the public by playing down the significance of new institutions, such as the creation of a new full-time EU President and foreign affairs chief.  "We conclude that there is no material difference between the provisions on foreign affairs in the Constitutional Treaty, which the government made subject to approval in a referendum, and those in the Lisbon Treaty, on which a referendum is being denied," concludes the report. 

On Sunday (20 January), Serbian citizens will go to the polls to choose their new president in an election likely to strongly influence the country's EU path.

Currently, polls put the Radical candidate at 21 percent against 19 percent for Mr Tadic, according to French news agency AFP. A second round between them is expected to take place on 3 February. The end result is set to have a significant impact on the country's future EU path. Current president Boris Tadic is in favour of his country's European integration and has pledged to get Serbia into the EU. But Mr Nikolic – although he has softened his rhetoric lately – says he will oppose Belgrade's EU membership so long as Serbia is being "conditioned and humiliated" by Brussels over Kosovo, he recently told AFP.

The next president of Serbia may well be decided based on Prime Minister Kostunica’s endorsement. The country goes to the polls on 20 January at a time when Kosovo is just about to become an independent state supported by the United States and micromanaged by the European Union. At the same time, signs indicate that Serbia will be offered some fast-tracking in its bid for EU membership as a sedative designed to ease the pain caused by the loss of Kosovo.

As things stand now, Brussels will invite Belgrade to sign the recently initialled pre-membership Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) a week after the first round of Serbia’s presidential election. The EU does not expect any of the presidential hopefuls to win an outright majority. Polls suggest there will be a second round between old rivals: incumbent President Boris Tadic of the pro-EU Democratic Party and Tomislav Nikolic, who leads the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS). The EU hopes the imminent signing of the pre-membership agreement will give Tadic an edge over Nikolic. And with some 70 percent of Serbs favoring EU membership, a demonstration that the goal is realistic seems like a good strategy on Brussels’ part.

Die Kommission hat die Büros einer Reihe großer europäischer Pharmakonzerne überprüft, um herauszufinden, ob diese sich wettbewerbswidriger Praktiken bedienen, die Innovationen im Sektor und den Eintritt billiger Generika in den europäischen Markt behindern.

Sektoruntersuchungen sind Überprüfungen, die die Kommission für Wirtschaftssektoren anordnen kann, die scheinbar nicht so arbeiten, wie sie sollten, oder wenn es Anzeichen für wettbewerbswidriges Verhalten gibt.

Die gewonnenen Informationen dienen dem Verständnis des Marktes. Basierend auf der Überprüfung kann die Kommission unternehmensspezifische Untersuchungen in die Wege leiten, um sicherzustellen, dass die Gemeinschaftsregelungen für wettbewerbsbeschränkende Vereinbarungen und den Missbrauch einer marktbeherrschenden Stellung eingehalten werden (Artikel 81 and 82 des EG-Vertrags ). Sektoruntersuchungen wurden bereits in den Bereichen Energie - und Finanzdienstleistungen durchgeführt.