AGENDA/08/28

Brussels, Friday 25 July

Top News from the European Commission Special Second semester 2008

Background notes from the Spokesperson’s service for journalists

The European Commission reserves the right to make changes

Information:

As a supplement to the weekly Top News, you will find a list of up-coming events for the second semester 2008. More detailed information on the topics listed below will be available in the usual Top News format for four weeks ahead which will come back Friday 29^th August.

Figures and graphics available in PDF and WORD PROCESSED

SEPTEMBER 2008: Non-exhaustive and to be confirmed Top News list

Events with a set date:

02/09: First Meeting of the College of Commissioners after the summer break. It will take place at the European Parliament in Strasbourg

02/09 Simplification of maximum residue levels for pesticides. The Regulation of maximum residue levels of pesticides in products of plant and animal origin will enter into force. It brings together and harmonises in one text the levels that apply to different human or animal food products.

03-04/09: Commissioner Michel will attend the third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness; Accra, Ghana. "More, Faster, Better" aid is at the heart of the EU's development policy to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. This forum aims to focus global donors on the importance of effectiveness of aid delivery. This forum is designed to help developing countries in their fight against poverty by making aid delivery more transparent, accountable and results-oriented.

04/09: The International Energy Agency presents its review of EU energy policy. The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Mr. Nobuo Tanaka will make the official presentation of the first Review of the EU Energy Policy. It is the first time that IEA will make an in depth analysis of this EU policy area. Mr. Tanaka will present their study to Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, and then both will make a presentation for the press in our press room. Some issues of the book will be available for journalists.

04-06/09: European Civic Days: "Mobility, dialogue, participation: towards active European citizenship", La Rochelle, France. The French presidency of the EU will host this major event in collaboration with the European Civic Forum and the European Commission. The European Civic Days will focus on promoting Active European citizenship through mobility, dialogue and participation.

07-09/09: EU-Africa Energy Partnership Ethiopia and Nigeria. Joint trip Commissioner Michel and Piebalgs to extend partnership in the area of EU-Africa Energy partnership.

10/09: Commission proposal foreseen for new EU legislation to prevent illegally harvested timber and timber products from being placed on the European market. Illegal logging causes considerable environmental damage and biodiversity loss. It has serious implications for climate change, often ignores the rights of indigenous peoples and can make forests more vulnerable to fires.

11/09: Interim economic forecasts.

11-13/09: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Forum Media and Development. This forum, organised jointly by the European Commission and the African Union, aims to examine the importance of an independent media in development and good governance.

12-13/09: Ambassadors Event for 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (EYID): a joint creative event at Brussels' Flagey Centre, bringing together Ambassadors of the European Year, including Agnieszka Holland, Jack Martin Händler, Adam Michnik, Jordi Savall, Fazil Say. Going beyond an exchange of opinions, this event will illustrate dialogue between artists through creative performances - through music, film, art and literature.

15/09: Commissioner Figel' will attend in Budapest the inaugural meeting of the independent Governing Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). This meeting will begin preparations for setting up the first two or three Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), which could start work by the end of 2009. The EIT Governing Board comprises 18 experts that collectively embody a balance of excellence and experience from the worlds of business, research and higher education in Europe.

16/09: European Roma Summit in Brussels – the first event of its type, this high-level conference will examine the issues surrounding integration of Europe's Roma minority as a follow-up to the Commission's report on the Roma in the Renewed Social Agenda.

16-22/09: European cities and towns have the opportunity to participate in the most widespread event on sustainable mobility, the European Mobility Week. This year's theme is 'Clean air for all'. Air quality is a particular problem with car ownership and usage rates growing. There will be events in all major European cities

17/9: Communication on "Multilingualism - An asset for Europe. A shared commitment". This new strategy will propose a comprehensive language policy which brings together issues relating to inter-cultural dialogue, social inclusion and competitiveness. It could include targets for the number of foreign languages to be spoken.

17/09: Commission proposal foreseen for a Regulation on the supply of food to the most deprived persons in the EU. The objective of this measure is to make foodstuff available to charitable organisations which distribute them to poor persons in the Community.

17/09: Commission proposal foreseen on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing. In order to ensure animal welfare, EU legislation stipulates that animals must be killed in a way which avoids unnecessary suffering. The recent directive regulating slaughter and killing of animals needs to be revised as scientific and technical knowledge in this field has progressed.

18-20/9: EuroSkills 2008, "Skills for a strong Europe" will bring together hundreds of talented and skilled young people from across Europe, students and graduates in vocational education and training (VET), for a series of competitions and demonstrations at Rotterdam's Ahoy arena. Around 50 trades will be showcased at EuroSkills 2008, including florists and web designers, electricians, bicycle technicians and nurses.

22/09-04/10: European Job Days – for the third year running, hundreds of towns and cities around Europe will stage simultaneous job fairs and other events to promote job mobility. Major events are planned at the Berlaymont in Brussels (27/09) and at the Cité de la Villette in Paris (3/10).

23/09: Adoption foreseen of a Work-life balance package – A package of measures to promote better balance between work, private and family life for Europeans by improving parental leave arrangements, introducing news forms of leave (paternity, adoption and filial leave), and strengthening protection for pregnant women as well as a report on the EU's targets for childcare provision.

23/09: Communication on the Action Plan on Drugs and proposal for a new Action Plan on Drugs. The European model is reflected in the EU Drugs Strategy, which covers a period of eight years (2005-2012). This Strategy has been translated into more than 80 actions in the EU Drugs Action Plan (2005-2008). The drugs phenomenon is one of the major concerns of the citizens of Europe The EU has up to 2 million illegal drug users. The use of drugs, particularly among young people is at historically high levels.

25/09: High-Level Meeting in New York for the Millennium Development Goals with President Barroso and Commissioners Michel and Ferrero-Waldner. In last European Council, the European Commission and the EU Member States reaffirmed their commitment to reach a collective overseas development assistance (ODA) target of 0.56% GNI by 2010 and 0.7% by 2015. These commitments should see EU ODA double to over 66 bn euros by 2010

25/09: Award ceremony of the “Cultures on my street” photo initiative in the framework of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, Brussels. A professional jury consisting of artists experienced in capturing the world in pictures will select three winners in September. The competition invited everyone living in the EU to grab a camera and capture their vision of intercultural dialogue.

26/09: European Researchers' night. Special event to promote research in the Member States. More than 220 000 persons in 150 cities and towns attended the 2007 edition.

26/9: The European Day of Languages will be celebrated with a wide variety of activities in Brussels and the Member States, including a special event in Paris organised by the French Presidency. The purpose of this day is to draw the public's attention to the importance of language learning, raise awareness of all the languages spoken in Europe and encourage lifelong language learning.

29-30/09 (Paris): 2^nd European Equality Summit – equal opportunities ministers, heads of equality bodies, companies, media and NGOs from around the EU will meet for the second European equality summit to discuss follow-up to the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All.

Events with no set date:

- Launch of the European Children's Website on Animal Welfare: The website is targeted to kids aged 9 to 12 and aims to increase their awareness regarding the welfare of farm animals. It features a game called "farmland" which offers simulations on different aspects of farming and transporting animals and buying animal products in the supermarket.

- Quarterly report on the European labour market – analysis of the latest trends in employment and unemployment across the EU.

- Communication on a strategic European framework for international science and technology cooperation. Fifth initiative of the European Research Area package, to enhance international cooperation on research

- The Commission will make its annual proposals for fishing possibilities in the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. This year will also see the biannual proposal for fishing opportunities on deep sea species. Scientific advice has already been received for many stocks from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

- Commission Staff Working Paper on the use of ICT in lifelong learning. This document will describe the past experiences with e-learning in Europe and will focus on the future challenges of ICT in lifelong learning: (i) embedding ICT-based tools in education systems, (ii) enabling lifelong learning, and (iii) leveraging innovation into the core functions of education.

- Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2002/15 on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport activities.

- Taxation of savings. The Commission will present a report to the Council on the implementation of the Savings tax Directive. Following the report the Commission will, where appropriate, come with proposals to the Council for amendments to the Directive in order to ensure more effective taxation of savings income and to eliminate undesirable loopholes.

- Communication on "European Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research". EU Research and Maritime Policies have mutual benefits: European Research can contribute directly to the objectives of Maritime Policy by means of its horizontal, knowledge-intensive dimension cutting across the different policy facets. At the same time European Research will benefit from a Maritime Policy, which will improve the visibility of science, technology and development activities, and their impact on the society.

- Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Action plan to define a common approach shared among the various actors and supported by regulatory and financial instruments. Accompanied by a legislative proposal to set up a committee of Member States that will help accelerating ITS deployment in Europe. ITS can make a significant contribution towards better use of existing infrastructure, enhancing the environmental performance of road and improving road safety.
- Laboratory animals. The aim is to update the existing directive to introduce greater harmonisation in the EU and to improve animal welfare and promote alternative approaches to animal testing.
OCTOBER 2008: Non-exhaustive and to be confirmed Top News list

Events with a set date:

01/10: Launch of Europe for Patients theme in Brussels. This will mark the beginning of an intense three month period of focussing on healthcare and patients issues in Europe. The launch will unveil the logo for this period and introduce the different initiatives for the months to come.

02/10 Together with the European Parliament, the Commission will have a Seminar on the general job of EU Election Observation Missions (EOM) and lessons learned by those who went so far. EOM are a key instrument of EU foreign policy, and an area in which the close cooperation between the Commission and Parliament creates important synergies. Since 2004, the number of EU EOMs has grown year after year.

02/10: Second Nanotechnology Conference: The European Commission is organising in, Brussels the Workshop "Safety for success" which will bring together scientists, risk assessors, public authorities, industry, and NGOs to discuss the scientific state-of-the-art, international developments, risk governance, and to identify appropriate means to strengthen guidance in support of the responsible development of nanotechnologies.

02/10: Last meeting of the Pharmaceutical Forum: The forum is jointly chaired by Commissioner for Health, Androulla Vassiliou, and Commissioner for Enterprise, Günter Verheugen.

02-03/10: Commissioner Michel will attend the Annual meeting of the EU/ACP Summit, in Accra

06/10: Inauguration of the "Centre for Information and Migration Management", Bamako, Mali. Louis Michel will inaugurate the centre with Malian authorities and hold a press conference. The centre aims to allow Mali to better manage the migration issue in a partnership framework with neighbouring, European and other third countries.

06-09/10: OPEN DAYS European Week of Regions and Cities. A record 216 regions and cities from 32 countries have signed up as partners for the sixth annual OPEN DAYS, organised by the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and the European Commission's Regional Policy Directorate-General. The seminars and workshops will focus on first experiences of implementing the 345 cohesion policy programmes running from 2007-2013, worth a total investment of about EUR 500 billion in EU and national funds.

08-09/10: The European Commission will hold in Brussels a conference on Human Rights Defenders

10/10: European Day Against Death Penalty. Following the unanimous decision to join the UN and the Council of Europe in this celebration day, the Commission will underline its full commitment to play its role for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty.

14-15/10: Official start of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) This public-private initiative will speed up the development of fuel cells and hydrogen technologies in Europe. The Commission is expected to fund 470 M€ from the Seventh Framework Programme for a period of six years which will be at least matched by industry contributions.

15/10: Green Paper on regulating the quality of Agricultural Products foreseen. The green paper will explore ideas for farmers and producers who want to valorise their production or orient production towards quality and better meet consumer demand.

15-16/10: European Council in Brussels

21/10: White Paper on adaptation to adverse impacts of Climate Change foreseen following-up on the consultation of the Green Paper on Adaptation adopted by the European Commission in June 2007 and listing specific actions on adaptation to be initiated by the Commission. These adaptation measures aim to safeguard human well-being, to reduce vulnerability to climate change and to help adapt to its more probable impacts.

30-31/10: Ministerial conference "Fight Against Alzheimer's Disease and Similar Diseases" organised in Paris by the French Presidency with the European Commission in order to adopt a resolution to be submitted to the Employment and Social Affairs Council (15-16 December 2008) and adopted as Council Conclusions.

Events with no set date:

- A comprehensive "package" on legal and illegal migration and on integration. In particular the Commission will adopt a Communication on the third annual report on illegal immigration, a Communication-Report on the family reunification Directive, the Common Agenda for Integration and, finally, the communication on strengthening the Global Approach to Migration.

- The Commission will present a Community strategy on the prevention of natural and manmade disasters. This strategy will attempt to reinforce the added-value of EU action by enhancing the consistency of prevention instruments that already exist, whilst at the same time finding complementary instruments.

- Green Paper on the Future of TEN-T Policy. The Commission has launched a review process of the Trans-European Network (TEN-T) policy key issues of which are the questions of how to better respond to climate change objectives and how to meet future transport service demand in the most efficient way. The first major milestone of this process will be the publication of a Green Paper.

- Forum to discuss the implications of recent European Court of Justice Rulings on posting of workers/freedom to provide services.

- Regulation on a 'Freight Oriented Network'. It will propose measures to reinforce cooperation between Infrastructure Managers, to allow sufficient capacity to rail freight and to improve the operations relating to rail freight transport along international corridors. The objective is to provide more efficient and competitive rail freight services.

- "Energy Package" focused on security of supply. As a follow up of the first Strategic Energy Review (6 January 2007) the Commission will come up with the second strategic energy paper, together with a number of legal texts and communications related to security of supply, including likely, oil stocks legislative proposal, European energy networks/TEN-E Green Paper, Gas Security of supply Directive evaluation report, Action Plan on offshore wind and a reduced version of the Illustrative Programme Nuclear.

- Revision of Pharmaceutical legislation : a) Communication on the future of the single market in pharmaceuticals for human use; b) Directive on Pharmaceuticals - Information to patients; c) Strengthening and rationalising EU Pharmacovigilance

- Green Taxation package. The Commission intends to bring forward a package to include a review of the Energy Taxation Directive as well as measures to promote energy-saving products and services.

- Ageing population – the Commission will adopt a Communication on the needs of an ageing population in European society, looking at diverse issues such as housing and care.

- European Globalisation adjustment Fund (EGF) – The Commission plans to propose a revision of the rules governing the EGF, the EU's fund to support people who lose their jobs as a result of globalisation.

- Maritime package a)Communication on the future EU Maritime Transport Policy: b) Legislative proposal on a Maritime Space without Barriers c)Revision of Regulation 1406/2002 establishing a European Maritime Safety Agency . Considering its geography, its history and globalisation, the European Union is still very dependent on the maritime transport. Nearly 90% of its external trade and more than 40% of its internal trade goes by sea; the maritime transport sector employs some 3 million people in the EU.

- The Commission may propose a major overhaul of the control and enforcement framework for the Common Fisheries Policy. The CFP needs a simpler, and more effective, control system. Under the CFP, implementation and control of EU fisheries rules are the responsibility of the Member States.

- Action Plan on urban mobility, follow-up to the debate launched by the Green Paper 'Towards a new culture for urban mobility', adopted in September 2007. It will propose possible actions at the EU, national, regional and local level – including actions by the industry and individual citizens. The Action Plan will carefully identify the appropriate instruments for each action.

- Communication Beyond GDP. The Communication describes the actions the Commission is planning as a follow-up to the Conference "Beyond GDP", organized last November in Brussels, on how to complement Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with other high-level indicators to create a more accurate picture of society's progress.

- The Commission will propose a revision of two directives which address environmental and health hazards from waste and electronic equipment: the RoHS Directive (Restriction of the Use of certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and the WEEE Directive (Waste, Electrical and Electronic Equipment. The revision aims to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the directives.

NOVEMBER 2008: Non-exhaustive and to be confirmed Top News list

Events with a set date:

02-09/11: The European Youth Week 2008 will be celebrated in all 31 countries participating in the Youth in Action programme, with a set of activities being hosted by European institutions in Brussels.

03/11: Launch event for Comenius Regio, a new action under the EU's Comenius programme for school education, to take place at the Committee of the Regions, Brussels. It will aim at enhancing the European dimension of education by promoting joint co-operation activities between local and regional authorities with a role in school education in Europe.

03/11: Announcement of the winner in the competition to define a new urban design for the European Quarter in Brussels.

03/11: Commissioner Almunia will present the Autumn Economic Forecasts for 2008.

05/11: Enlargement strategy paper foreseen as well as progress reports on Croatia, Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo (Under the UN Security Council Resolution 1244)

05/11: Rare Diseases (RD) Action Plan. High-quality diagnosis, treatment and information for people suffering from rare diseases are priority issues for the European Commission. On the basis of present scientific knowledge, between 5 000 and 8 000 distinct RD affect up to 6% of the total EU population at one point in life. In other words, around 15 million people in the European Union (with 27 MS) are affected or will be affected by a RD.

10/11: Expected publication of the European Court of Auditors' annual report. The Court will give its audit opinion on the 2007 EU accounts and on payments made to and from the EU budget.

12/11: Common European Asylum Policy. Ensuring support to third country nationals needing international protection is an objective proudly carried by the EU. Foreseen proposals on: Amended Directive on Reception Conditions, Amended Dublin Regulation, Second amendment to the Eurodac Regulation, are in line with this objective.

12/11: Reforming the budget, Changing Europe. Following the recent public consultation on the EU budget reform, the results of the consultation will be presented at a conference in Brussels, where discussions on the European Union's future budgetary priorities will also take place.

13-14/11: The Education and Culture DG’s annual Europe for Citizens Forum will examine how active participation can make a difference to the EU. The Golden Star awards for exemplary participatory projects will be the highlight of the event.

15-17/11: The third edition of the European Development Days will take place in Strasbourg (France). This is the main European meeting of decision-makers in the field of international development cooperation.

18/11: The Agriculture/Fisheries Council is expected to reach a political agreement on the "Health Check" of the CAP, proposed by the Commission in May. The Health Check is an answer to three main questions: How to make the direct aid system more effective and simpler?; How to make market support instruments, originally conceived for a Community of Six, relevant in the world we live in now?; and How to confront new challenges, from climate change, to biofuels, water management and the protection of biodiversity?

18/11 (tbc): Closing event of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, Paris

20/11: Follows an invitation by the Council to develop new indicators in education and training, the Commission foresees a Communication proposing further steps towards a European survey on learning to learn skills of young people. Learning to learn skills are an individual's ability to pursue and persist in learning. They include, for instance, the ability to organise one's own learning, the awareness of one’s learning needs and the ability to handle obstacles to learning.

24-25/11: Demography Forum – this forum gathers experts in Brussels from around Europe to examine the challenges faced by Europe's ageing society. This second edition will focus on family policies and active ageing. The latest Demography Report on the situation in Europe will be presented.

26/11: Adoption of patient safety health package: Communication and Council Recommendations foreseen on patient safety and quality of health services including the prevention and control of Health care associated infections.

Events with no set date:

-The annual Employment in Europe report is one of the main tools to support Member States in their employment policies. It provides an overview of the job market situation across the EU and focuses on a number of topics that are high on the EU's employment policy agenda.

- Greenhouse gas emissions projection report. Report with actual emissions figures and projected figures for 2012 and beyond.

- Report on the application of Directive 2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move. This important report will provide a clear picture on how this directive has been implemented within the EU territory.

- Adoption of the Commission Proposal for a Council Recommendation on the smoke-free environment. According to our last Eurobarometer, more than 80% of European Union citizens are in favour of banning smoking in public places, both in workplaces and any other indoor public places. Passive smoking kills some 80 000 people a year in the EU.

- Communication on free movement of workers from Bulgaria and Romania – this report will assess the operation of the transitional arrangements for the first two years of Bulgaria's and Romania's membership.

- The 2008 Report on industrial relations in Europe will outline trends at national and European levels in collective bargaining, social dialogue and labour law. It will also discuss trends in the labour market and the contribution of social dialogue to economic performance.

- The Commission will make its annual proposals for fishing possibilities in the North-East Atlantic and the North Sea. These proposals will be based on scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

- Conference on a promising initiative launched by the Commission last November 2007 to promote research on low carbon technologies, in the framework of the Environment targets. Europe's potential to develop a new generation of decarbonised energy technologies, such as off-shore wind, solar technology, or 2^nd generation biomass, is enormous. However EU energy research is often under-funded, dispersed and badly coordinated.

- Organ Package: Commission Communication on strengthened coordination on organ donation and transplantation and Draft Directive on Quality and Safety of Organs.

- Communication "Towards an EU Framework on Invasive (Alien) Species". This communication will describe the problems caused by Invasive Species in terms of their environmental and economic impacts and, where relevant, their social impacts. It will present also basic elements of any strategy for tackling Invasive Species namely, Prevention, Early Warning, Eradication and Control and investigate to what extent existing legislation can be used. On this basis options for tackling Invasive Alien Species at EU level looking at the advantages and drawbacks will be further explored. This Communication is the first of 2 steps.

- Revision of the car labelling directive. The aim of revising the car "labelling" directive is to make ensure that information relating to the fuel economy and CO2 emissions of new passenger cars is made available to consumers.

- The European Commission will hold in Brussels a Ukraine Investment Conference.

- "Energy Efficiency package". In addition to different measures adopted during the year, the Commission will adopt a package of measures on energy efficiency that will include a revision of the Energy Efficiency in Buildings Directive; a Progress report on Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Directive implementation; new Guidelines on application of CHP Directive Annex; and a number of Comitology measures under the Eco-design directive.

- Action Plan on Galileo applications, follow-up to the 2006 Green Paper. Launched on the initiative of the European Commission and developed jointly with the European Space Agency, the Europe's satellite radio navigation programme Galileo will prepare for the development of a new generation of services in areas such as transport, telecommunications, agriculture and fisheries.

- The Commission will propose a regulation on the placing of biocidal products on the market. The aim is to harmonize the European market for biocidal products and to provide a high level of protection for humans, animals and the environment. This Regulation will repeal and replace Directive 98/8/EC concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market. The revision of the EU biocides legislation intends to tackle and, in some respect, anticipate problems with the implementation of the said legislation. It also takes stock of the recent changes in general chemicals legislation (REACH) and plant protection products directive

DECEMBER 2008: Non-exhaustive and to be confirmed Top News list

Events with a set date:

01-02/12: European Day of People with Disabilities conference in Brussels.

05/12: Commissioner Figel' will host the media launch event for the European Year of Creativity & Innovation 2009, in the Berlaymont press room in Brussels.

09/12: International Day of Children's rights. In order to celebrate this special day, Vice-president Jacques Barrot will reveal the identities of the winner in a competition aimed at all young people in the EU. They have been asked to create a poster on children’s rights to protection in the EU

09/12: Conference on European Research Infrastructures in Paris. The European Commission proposed in July this year a legal framework that will make it easier to set up European Research Infrastructures, such as observatories for environmental sciences, data banks in genomics or state of the art large super computers. The proposal was made in response to requests from Member States, who wish to jointly develop world-class research facilities in Europe.

10/12: Communication on an Updated strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training will set out the main challenges facing education and training systems in the years to come and describe how the EU and the Member States will work together towards the objective of ensuring that lifelong learning provides all citizens the knowledge, skills and competences needed to play an active role in today's economy and society.

11-12/12: European Council in Brussels.

15/12: Last Meeting of the College of Commissioners for 2008.

Events with no set date:

- Joint EMPL/EAC Communication on New Skills for New Jobs, aimed at developing a comprehensive and forward-looking picture of jobs and skills needs in Europe. The Communication will include a short preliminary assessment of these needs up to 2020.

- Mission for Flexicurity Report. In its final report, the Commission's Mission for Flexicurity initiative will present examples of national flexicurity strategies put in place by Member States and will seek to draw lessons for implementing the flexicurity approach at national level.

- Many shark species have been severely depleted by unsustainable fishing practices. The Commission will launch a shark Action Plan, with the aim of rebuilding shark stocks which are caught in EU fisheries, whether in directed fisheries, or as by-catch

- Annual progress report on the Lisbon Strategy for growth and employment: Evaluation of national reform programmes.

- European aquaculture has suffered from a period of stagnation in recent years, at a time when the industry is growing globally. Some of the challenges it faces, however – such as high sanitary and environmental standards – can also represent opportunities, if approached correctly. The Commission will adopt a new strategy for European aquaculture, outlining ways forward for the industry, and how these actions can best be supported by the public authorities, whether at European, national or regional level.

- Proposal on the rights of passengers and persons with reduced mobility in international bus transport. This proposal will deal with rights of passengers in case of delays, cancellations, and will prohibit price discrimination on the basis of place of residence. Liability in case of accidents for passengers and their luggage will also be covered, as well as the rights of persons with reduced mobility. Right to information and proper enforcement rules will complement these provisions.