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European Council 28/29 June

29/06/2012 - Institutional affairs

Economic policy was the focus of the June European Council, while foreign policy, enlargement and other international issues were also on the agenda.

June 2012: Business and consumer surveys

28/06/2012 - Business / Economy, finance, tax and competition

The Economic Sentiment Indicator remained unchanged, at 90.4, in June in the EU. In the euro area it decreased by 0.6 points (to 89.9). The Business Climate Indicator (BCI) for the euro area decreased by 0.15 points to 0.94.

Tackling tax fraud and evasion: Commission sets out concrete measures

27/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition

Minimum sanctions for tax crimes, a cross-border tax identification number, an EU tax-payer's charter and stronger common measures against tax havens. These are just some of the concrete ideas that the Commission has put forward to improve the fight against tax fraud and evasion in the EU. |VIDEO|

Financial framework 2014-2020 to be discussed at the European Council

27/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition

The EU's new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) will be one of the topics to be discussed by the heads of state and government on 28 and 29 June 2012. This first debate on the substance of this issue at leaders' level was prepared by the General Affairs Council on 26 June. |VIDEO 1|2|

Main results of the General Affairs Council

26/06/2012 - Institutional affairs

The Council decided to open accession negotiations with Montenegro on 29 June 2012, subject to the endorsement by the European Council. It reached a second partial general approach on further elements of the cohesion policy legislative package for 2014-2020. It held a discussion on a revised version of the negotiating box for the EU's multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020. |PHOTOS|VIDEO|

Towards a genuine Economic and Monetary Union - Report by President of the European Council

26/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition

This report, prepared in close cooperation with the Presidents of the Commission, the Eurogroup and the European Central Bank, sets out a vision for the future of the Economic and Monetary Union and how it can best contribute to growth, jobs and stability.

Unleashing the huge potential of key enabling technologies for jobs

26/06/2012 - Science and technology

The European Commission tabled its strategy to boost the industrial production of KETs-based products, e.g. innovative products and applications of the future. The strategy aims to keep pace with the EU’s main international competitors, restore growth in Europe and create jobs in industry, at the same time addressing today's burning societal challenges.

Statement by the President of the Eurogroup - formal application for financial assistance

25/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition

We expect to give a mandate to the Commission, in liaison with the ECB and the EBA, to negotiate the necessary policy conditionality for the financial sector, including restructuring plans in accordance with EU state aid rules, which shall accompany the financial assistance. The IMF will provide technical assistance and regular monitoring.

Main results of the Foreign Affairs Council

25/06/2012 - External relations and foreign affairs

The Council discussed developments in the EU's southern neighbourhood, focusing on Syria and Egypt. It strongly condemned the brutal violence and massacres of civilians in Syria and urged the Syrian regime once more to immediately end the killing of civilians and to allow for a peaceful transition for the sake of the country.
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Main results of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council

22/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition

The Council approved draft recommendations to all member states on the economic policies set out in their national reform programmes, and draft opinions on the fiscal policies presented in their stability and convergence programmes. It also approved a specific draft recommendation for the eurozone as a whole. |PHOTOS 1|2|VIDEO|

Eurogroup: overview of the situation in the eurozone

22/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition

At the Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg on 21 June finance ministers discussed the latest developments in the eurozone, mainly in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. |VIDEO|

Website of the Eurogroup

Commission to recover € 426 million of CAP expenditure from the Member States

22/06/2012 - Agriculture, fisheries and food

A total of €436 million of EU agricultural policy funds unduly spent by Member States is being claimed back by the European Commission. In order to take account of financial pressures, a new regulation will allow Member States under financial assistance to delay, on certain conditions, reimbursement for up to 18 months.

Infringement decisions: monthly package

21/06/2012 - Institutional affairs

The Commission has taken 237 decisions, including 62 reasoned opinions and 11 referrals to the European Union's Court of Justice. |VIDEO|

EU takes key step to provide legal certainty for foreign investors

21/06/2012 - Business

Today's proposal establishes a legal and financial framework for "investor to state dispute settlement" as part of a broad investment policy which has become an exclusive EU competence under the Lisbon Treaty.

The European Commission boosts its humanitarian aid for Syria as Commissioner Georgieva visits Syrian refugees

20/06/2012 - External relations and foreign affairs

The European Commission is increasing its humanitarian aid by EUR 10 million for those affected by the escalating violence in Syria, Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva announced today during a visit to a refugee camp in Turkey. |PHOTOS|

G20 Leaders Declaration

20/06/2012 - External relations and foreign affairs

G20 leaders showed strong resolve to promote growth and jobs and the EU made an important contribution, setting out its sustained, crisis comprehensive response and policy action. |PHOTOS|VIDEO 1|2|

40 new measures for an EU strategy against trafficking in human beings

19/06/2012 - Justice and citizens rights

The Commission adopted the EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings (2012-2016), a set of concrete and practical measures to be implemented over the next five years. These include the establishment of national law enforcement units specialised in human trafficking and the creation of joint European investigation teams to prosecute cross-border trafficking cases. |PHOTOS|VIDEO 1|2|

Annual scoreboard confirms need for structural economic reform across Europe and surplus of ICT jobs

18/06/2012 - Science and technology

Greater data consumption and a shift to mobile technologies (such as smartphones) and mobile services (such as 3G internet, music streaming and webmail) are the most significant trends in the information & communications technologies (ICT) sector, which now accounts for 8 million jobs and 6% of EU GDP. |VIDEO 1|2|

Eurogroup statement after Greek elections

17/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition

The Eurogroup looks forward to the swift formation of a new Greek government that will take ownership of the adjustment programme to which Greece and the Eurogroup earlier this year committed themselves. |VIDEO 1|2|

Statement by Presidents Herman Van Rompuy and José Manuel Barroso on the result of the Greek elections

Joint EU-Mexico statement following the EU-Mexico Summit in Los Cabos

17/06/2012 - External relations and foreign affairs

The Leaders highlighted the maturity of their relation in the framework of their Strategic Partnership. Likewise, the Leaders stressed the reliability and the depth of the aforementioned relation as well as the convergence in values and positions in multiple issues of the international agenda. |PHOTOS 1|2|VIDEO|

Joint press statement by Presidents Barroso and Van Rompuy following the VI Mexico-EU Summit in Los Cabos

10 things we learnt in the June plenary

15/06/2012 - Institutional affairs

Is free movement throughout the Schengen area - one of the EU's biggest accomplishments - under threat from EU governments? Is austerity the only answer to the economic crisis? Do cyber attacks present a clear and present danger to critical infrastructure in Europe? These are just some of the questions that MEPs grappled with during the June plenary session in Strasbourg.

We must invest in jobs for people, says Parliament

14/06/2012 - Employment and social rights

MEPs call for investment measures to tap the potential for jobs and growth in the green economy, health and social services and the new technologies, in a resolution. They welcome the Commission's recent policy paper on a job-rich recovery, which advocates setting minimum wages to help the working poor.

Passenger rights: unfair refusals 'still a problem' for disabled air travellers says Commission

14/06/2012 - Transport and travel

As thousands of disabled Paralympians and spectators prepare to travel to London for the 2012 Olympic Games, the Commission has published guidelines to clarify their rights when travelling by air. |PHOTOS|VIDEO 1|2|

Euro area annual inflation down to 2.4%

14/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition / Statistics

Euro area annual inflation was 2.4% in May 2012, down from 2.6% in April. A year earlier the rate was 2.7%. Monthly inflation was -0.1% in May 2012. EU annual inflation was 2.6% in May 2012, down from 2.7% in April. A year earlier the rate was 3.2%. Monthly inflation was 0.0% in May 2012.

Economic governance with a wider vision

13/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition

The next round of economic governance legislation must be geared more towards growth and new European Commission powers to vet Eurozone countries' budgets should be better democratically controlled, MEPs said when adopting Parliament's position on the so-called "two pack". |VIDEO|

MEPs demand robust and flexible budget and reformed revenue system for the EU

13/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition / Institutional affairs

The EU needs a robust budget to meets its political goals, MEPs tell EU leaders, who discuss the 2014-2020 budget plan on 28-29 June. The long-term budget should be flexible enough to cope with new challenges and contributions from national coffers should be replaced by other ways of funding the EU budget, says Parliament in a resolution. |VIDEO|

Main results of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council

12/06/2012 - Agriculture, fisheries and food

As regards fisheries, within the framework of the common fisheries policy (CFP) reform package, the ministers reached a general approach on a proposal for a regulation on the CFP and a proposal on a common organisation of markets in fisheries and aquaculture products. |PHOTOS|VIDEO 1|2|

Time for big steps, Rehn tells Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee

12/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition

Commissioner Olli Rehn joined ECB chief Mario Draghi in calling for a clear path towards full economic and political union when he addressed Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. Questioned by MEPs, Mr Rehn also conceded that it was time to consider using bailout money to recapitalise banks directly, as had been done in the case of Spain.

ECJ: judgment in family benefits for migrant workers case

12/06/2012 - Employment and social rights / Justice and citizens rights

EU law does not prevent a Member State from granting family benefits to posted or seasonal workers in respect of whom it is not, in principle, the competent Member State.

More on EU workers’ rights

Eurogroup statement on Spain

09/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition

The Eurogroup supports the efforts of the Spanish authorities to resolutely address the restructuring of its financial sector and it welcomes their intention to seek financial assistance from euro area Member States to this effect. The loan amount must cover estimated capital requirements with an additional safety margin, estimated as summing up to EUR 100 billion in total.

Statement by Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Vice-President Olli Rehn

More growth through better single market governance and boosting services

08/06/2012 - Business

The Single Market is a key driving force behind economic growth. But to deliver growth and jobs, better implementation of existing rules is essential. This is why the European Commission has adopted a course of action to ensure that Single Market rules work better in practice.

Fishing opportunities for 2013: improvements for some fish stocks

08/06/2012 - Agriculture, fisheries and food

In a consultation document, the European Commission sets out its intentions for fixing fishing opportunities for 2013. The document shows that the Commission's efforts to phase out overfishing are starting to bear fruit.

European Commission plans to ease legal burden for cross-border successions to become law

07/06/2012 - Justice and citizens rights

The Commission's proposal to simplify the settlement of international successions received the final backing of the Council of Justice Ministers of the EU. The European Commission proposals will ease the legal burden when a family member with property in another EU country passes away.

Progress in reducing early school leaving and increasing graduates in Europe, but more efforts needed

07/06/2012 - Culture, education and youth

Member States must work harder if they are to meet the Europe 2020 education targets to reduce early school leaving rates to less than 10% and increase the share of young people with degree-level qualifications to at least 40%, according to figures for 2011 released by Eurostat.

EU-wide right to information at arrest is now law

07/06/2012 - Justice and citizens rights

This law ensures that anyone arrested or subject to a European Arrest Warrant in any EU Member State is given a Letter of Rights listing their basic rights during criminal proceedings. EU Member States now have two years to introduce the new rules in their national legal systems.

New crisis management measures to avoid future bank bail-outs

06/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition

The proposals adopted by the European Commission for EU-wide rules for bank recovery and resolution ensure that in the future authorities will have the means to intervene decisively both before problems occur and early on in the process if they do. |PHOTOS|VIDEO|

European central bank keeps interest rates unchanged

06/06/2012 - Economy, finance, tax and competition

The Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 1.00%, 1.75% and 0.25% respectively. |VIDEO|

How can we do more with less? Commission gathers high-level input on resource-efficient growth

05/06/2012 - Energy and natural resources / Environment, consumers and health

Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik launched the European Resource Efficiency Platform to provide high-level guidance and advice on policy measures designed to transform the European economy towards a more sustainable growth path. |PHOTOS|VIDEO|

EU-Russia: joint commitment to develop strategic partnership further

04/06/2012 - External relations and foreign affairs

During a two-day summit on 3 and 4 June in St Petersburg, the EU and Russia discussed perspectives for their relationship, economic and financial issues, and international developments. |PHOTOS|VIDEO 1|2|3|4|

New Regulation to enable cross-border electronic signatures and to get more value out of electronic identification in Digital Single Market

04/06/2012 - Science and technology

The proposed Regulation will ensure people and businesses can use their own national electronic identification schemes (e-IDs) to access public services in other EU countries where e-IDs are available. |VIDEO|

New report and survey give a snapshot of migration, asylum and free movement in the EU

01/06/2012 - Justice and citizens rights

The Commission is publishing a Report on the 2011 developments in the areas of immigration and asylum, accompanied by a Eurobarometer on European citizens' attitudes towards cross-border mobility, migration and security. According to the survey, 8 out of 10 Europeans agree that EU Member States should offer protection and asylum to those in need and that rules for admitting asylum seekers should be the same across the EU. |VIDEO|

April 2012 - Euro area unemployment rate at 11.0%. EU27 at 10.3%

01/06/2012 - Employment and social rights / Statistics

The euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11.0% in April 2012, stable compared with March. It was 9.9% in April 2011. The EU27 unemployment rate was 10.3% in April 2012, compared with 10.2% in March. It was 9.5% in April 2011.

Selected principal European economic indicators

Stories - June 2012

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