Around the world, consumer demand for organic products is growing. Today, at grocery stores on both sides of the Atlantic, shoppers can choose from an ever-expanding range of organically certified produce: from fresh organic fruits, vegetables and meats, to organic frozen foods and beverages, and even organic wine. A recent World of Organic Agriculture 2012 study based on 2010 data estimates that the global market for organic food is worth more than $59 billion. Compared with 2009, the market increased...

Read more

EU and U.S. certified trusted traders will enjoy lower costs, simplified procedures and greater predictability in their transatlantic activities thanks to a mutual recognition agreement signed in Washington, D.C. today. "Today's agreement is a major step forward in the EU-U.S. trade relationship," said EU Taxation and Customs Union Commissioner Algirdas Semeta. "At a time when businesses need all the support they can get, this will make life easier and cheaper for many transatlantic traders. It will also help to ensure...

Read more

"The U.S. and the EU are primary targets for different kinds of cyber threats. And our governments, businesses and citizens are under siege from increasingly sophisticated attacks," said European Union Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström in Washington, DC today.Speaking at a conference organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the European Security Roundtable and SRA International, Commissioner Malmström stressed the importance of cooperation in this area and pointed to some early successes. The EU-U.S. Working Group on Cyber-security...

Read more

 Fancy a visit to Europe this spring? Then join the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, the Embassies of the 27 EU Member States to the U.S. and future EU member Croatia (joining in 2013) on May 12, 2012 for the sixth EU Open House Day. The annual event, during which EU embassies open their doors to the Washington public, is part of Europe Week, which means seven days of Europe-related events all over the United...

Read more

Brussels, 2 May 2012 – Galileo's second launch of 2 satellites is confirmed for 28th September 2012. The resulting 4-satellite mini-constellation will enable testing of the functioning of the vast Galileo infrastructure. This also means that European enterprises can start to develop and test innovative products based on the Galileo satellite navigation signals. Today's announcement by European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani together with Jean Yves Le Gall, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, in the presence of industry CEOs involved...

Read more

The extraordinary Economic and Financial Council of Ministers will start on Wednesday 2 May at 10.00 hrs. Proposal for a Directive on Capital requirements (CRD IV) On 21 July 2011, the Commission tabled a proposal aimed at strengthening the resilience of the EU banking sector while ensuring that banks continue to finance economic activity and growth (IP/11/915). The EU was the first jurisdiction in the world to publish its legislative proposal faithfully implementing the Basel III agreements that all G20 members have...

Read more

Climate scientists will launch a mission on May 4 to investigate the relationship between atmospheric chemistry and climate change from an airship above the skies of Europe. The European Commission-funded research project PEGASOS (Pan-European Gas AeroSOL Climate Interaction Study) involves twenty-six partners from fifteen EU member states. The project team will leave from Friedrichshafen in Germany and over 20 weeks fly across Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Slovenia, Italy and France to measure the chemistry of the air. The...

Read more

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.6% in April 2012 according to a flash estimate issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. It was 2.7% in March. Computation of flash estimates Euro area inflation is measured by the Monetary Union Index of Consumer Prices (MUICP). To compute the MUICP flash estimates, Eurostat uses early price information relating to the reference month from Member States for which data are available4 as well as early information about...

Read more

In 2011, the government deficit1 of both the euro area2 (EA17) and the EU27 decreased in absolute terms compared with 2010, while the government debt1 rose in both zones. In the euro area the government deficit to GDP ratio decreased from 6.2% in 20103 to 4.1% in 2011, and in the EU27 from 6.5% to 4.5%. In the euro area the government debt to GDP ratio increased from 85.3% at the end of 2010 to 87.2% at the end of...

Read more