Europe Direct – SetúbalFórum sobre a Governação da Internet

Investimento das empresas em I&D em 2008: regista-se um aumento global, com as empresas da UE a ultrapassar as dos EUA e do Japão

O investimento das empresas em I&D a nível mundial aumentou 6,9% em 2008, não obstante a crise económica, de acordo com o «Painel de avaliação do investimento industrial da UE em I&D» de 2009, hoje publicado. Com um aumento de 8,1%, o crescimento do investimento em I&D das empresas comunitárias, definidas como empresas sediadas na UE, é significativamente mais elevado, pelo segundo ano consecutivo, do que o das empresas americanas que se situa em 5,7% e o das empresas japonesas que se situa em 4,4%. Duas empresas comunitárias figuram entre as dez do topo: a Volkswagen em 3.º lugar com um investimento de 5,93 mil milhões de euros e a Nokia em 8.º. O maior investidor mundial em I&D foi a Toyota Motor com 7,61 mil milhões. O relatório também revela que as empresas dos países emergentes têm o maior crescimento do investimento em I&D.
(IP/09/1716 e MEMO/09/503)

Fórum sobre a Governação da Internet: Comissão saúda o importante passo dado na construção de uma Internet verdadeiramente mundial

No Fórum sobre a Governação da Internet que decorre em Sharm El Sheikh (Egipto), a Comissão congratulou-se hoje com o importante passo dado no sentido de uma Internet verdadeiramente mundial (e local): o anúncio de que serão introduzidos «nomes de domínio internacionalizados» no nível de topo. Até agora, os nomes de domínio da Internet eram total ou parcialmente escritos no alfabeto latino de «a a z». A ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), que gere a lista central da Internet, anunciou que será lançado um processo acelerado para abrir os domínios de topo com código de país (como «.eu» de europa.eu) aos caracteres não latinos. Significa isto que os europeus, em especial os gregos, búlgaros e cipriotas, poderão ver nomes de domínio escritos nos seus próprios alfabetos. Viviane Reding, a Comissária europeia responsável pelas telecomunicações e a Internet, saudou este importante passo em prol do multilinguismo. Apelou também a que o período de vigência do Fórum sobre a Governação da Internet – uma plataforma única de diálogo entre as diversas partes interessadas – fosse prolongado.
(IP/09/1717)

EURES: matching people with jobs for 15 years

The European network of employment services (EURES) today celebrates 15 years of helping people find a job in another European country. EURES brings together public employment services from 31 European countries and offers direct online access to over 700,000 job vacancies every day. In parallel, job mobility experts from around the EU are gathering in Brussels to discuss the future shape of the service and its role in tackling unemployment in Europe.
(IP/09/1714)
Memo: President Barroso to stress the link between food security, climate change and global security at the FAO Summit in Rome
(MEMO/09/504)

The EU and Russia reinforce the Early Warning Mechanism to improve prevention and management in case of an energy crisis

As agreed by the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso and the President of the Russian Federation Dimitri Medvedev during the last EU-Russia Summit in Khabarovsk, the EU and Russia have strengthened the current dispositions under the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue to prevent and manage potential energy crises, with an enhanced Early Warning Mechanism. Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, and the Russian Minister for Energy, Sergei Shmatko, have signed today in Moscow the Memorandum on an Early Warning Mechanism that includes a clear definition of the circumstances that would trigger the activation of the mechanism, in terms of what constitutes a "significant disruption of supplies", be it due to maintenance of relevant infrastructure, accidents, or commercial disputes. On the same occasion, both parties also signed the 10th progress report of the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue.
(IP/09/1718)

EU27 deficit in trade in goods with Russia halved in first six months of 2009

In the first half of 2009 the value of EU27 exports to Russia fell to 31 bn euro, compared with 51 bn in the first half of 2008, and imports decreased to 52 bn from 91 bn. As a result, the EU27 trade deficit with Russia dropped from 40 bn in the first half of 2008 to 21 bn in the same period of 2009. This reduction was mainly due to a significant decrease in the energy deficit (-37 bn compared with -62 bn), partially offset by a lower surplus for machinery and vehicles (+13 bn compared with +25 bn). The fall in EU27 trade with Russia recorded between the first halves of 2008 and 2009 was steeper than the general downward trend in the EU27´s total external trade, leading to a decrease in the share of Russia in the EU27´s total external trade in goods to 6% of exports and 9% of imports in the first half of 2009, compared with 8% and 12% respectively in the first half of 2008, although Russia remains the EU27´s third most important trading partner, after the USA and China. It should be noted that between 2000 and 2008, EU27 trade in goods with Russia had more than tripled in value, and the share of Russia in the EU27´s total external trade in goods doubled. On the occasion of the 24th European Union - Russia summit, which will take place on 18 November in Stockholm, Eurostat issues data on trade in goods between Russia and the EU. Data on trade in services and investments can be found in the recent News Release published for the previous EU - Russia summit.
(STAT/09/163)

Fisheries: Commission welcomes ICCAT’s decisive action to save bluefin tuna and other marine species

Yesterday the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), which met near Recife, Brazil, adopted a number of new multi-annual management plans which align fishing opportunities with the latest scientific opinions. The European Commission is particularly satisfied with the consensus reached on the recovery plan aimed at Eastern bluefin tuna, whose total allowable catch (TAC) for 2010 has been reduced to 13 500 tonnes (as compared to 22 000 tonnes in 2008). This will be accompanied by drastic cuts in fishing capacity. ICCAT also approved additional management measures for Mediterranean swordfish which will, on the one hand, reinforce the protection of juvenile fish through more stringent closure of fishing activities at the end of the year and, on the other, foresee the adoption of a long-term management plan at the 2010 ICCAT meeting on the basis of up-to-date scientific advice.
(IP/09/1720)

Wide consensus among ICCAT Parties around EU proposal to save bluefin tuna

The international organisation in charge of the management of Atlantic tuna (ICCAT), adopted by consensus a proposal, tabled by the EU, establishing strong measures to guarantee the conservation of Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna. The EU proposed to reduce the annual Total Allowable Catch (TAC), for 2010, from the current 22 000 to 13 500 tonnes. In a plenary session, the ICCAT Contracting Parties unanimously endorsed the proposal. In addition to the 40% TAC reduction, this will bring about a number of other important changes. First of all, the fishing season for purse seiners will be reduced to one month (15 May to 15 June) and the option to extend the fishing season by derogation for bad weather will be abandoned. Secondly, the EU has asked other Contracting Parties to follow its example and take action against overcapacity aiming for a 50% reduction by 2011. Thirdly, the option to suspend the fishery will remain open in case new assessments show in the course of next year that there is a serious threat of fishery collapse. After a week of intense negotiations, several proposals on the others species are still being discussed in the last hours of the ICCAT plenary session. But today’s willingness to reach a compromise is worth noting. It is a clear sign that the international community acknowledges the scale and magnitude of the problem and is ready and willing to work constructively with scientists, environmentalists and the industry to find the best possible compromise that will ensure the sustainable exploitation of this fragile stock and the viability of the industry concerned.

Euro area annual inflation up to -0.1%

Euro area annual inflation was -0.1% in October 2009, up from -0.3% in September. A year earlier the rate was 3.2%. Monthly inflation was 0.2% in October 2009. EU annual inflation was 0.5% in October 2009, up from 0.3% in September. A year earlier the rate was 3.7%. Monthly inflation was 0.2% in October 2009. These figures come from Eurostat.
(STAT/09/162)

EU and Iraq: successful completion of negotiations on historic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement

The European Commission and Iraq today successfully finalised negotiations on the text of a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the Republic of Iraq. The deal establishes a comprehensive platform for enhancing ties and cooperation in a wide range of areas: from political matters such as countering terrorism and promoting human rights, to trade and investment in key areas such as energy and services.
(IP/09/1713)