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Newsroom - February 2012 |
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27.02.2012 Commission urges EU States to apply law aimed at attracting high qualified migrants and sanctioning employers of irregular migrants Despite having been warned in July 2011, Austria, Cyprus and Greece have not complied yet with EU rules on work permits for highly qualified migrants. Today, the Commission decided to formally request these States to transpose the rules of the Blue Card Directive, whose deadline for implementation expired on 19 June 2011. At the same time, some EU States are still failing to apply EU rules on sanctions and measures against employers of irregularly-staying migrants. Today, the Commission decided to advance infringement proceedings and issue reasoned opinions requesting Belgium, Luxembourg and Sweden to take action. For more information:
27.02.2012 Commission harmonizes issuing of short stay visas in Egypt Today the European Commission has adopted a decision to further harmonize issuing of short stay visas. From now on visa applicants in Egypt should present the same set of documents supporting their application for a short stay visa, irrespectively of which EU States' consulate is in charge of examining their application. 23.02.2012 Asylum - important judgement of the European Court of Human Rights In today’s Grand Chamber judgment, the European Court of Human rights gave its verdict in a case concerning Somalian and Eritrean migrants who had been intercepted at sea by the Italian authorities and sent back to Libya. The Court held unanimously that returning migrants to Libya without examining their case exposed them to a risk of ill-treatment and amounted to a collective expulsion. The Court also agreed that although the operation took place at high seas the applicants fell within the jurisdiction of Italy for the purposes of Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. For more information: 15.02.2012 Eurobarometer: Europeans consider corruption a major problem  According to the Eurobarometer survey published by the Commission today almost three quarters of Europeans continue to see corruption as a major problem, think it exists at all levels of government and has increased in the last three years. Eight percent of respondents say that they have been asked or expected to pay a bribe in the past year. Whilst the nature and scope of corruption varies from one EU State to another, corruption harms the EU as a whole. The economic costs incurred by corruption in the EU are estimated to amount to around € 120 billion per year. In June last year, the European Commission adopted an anti-corruption package calling for a stronger focus on corruption in all relevant EU policies . It also established a specific EU monitoring and assessment mechanism, an EU Anti-Corruption Report, which will give an account of the state of play of anti-corruption efforts in all member countries. The first report is scheduled for 2013. The Commission will soon propose further legislation, notably on the confiscation of criminals' assets, the reform of public procurement rules, more advanced statistics on crime and an enhanced anti-fraud policy at the European level. For more information:
09.02.2012 New Visa liberalisation reports for the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine The Second Progress Reports on the implementation by the Republic of Moldova and by Ukraine of their respective Action Plans on Visa Liberalisation were published today. For more info: 07.01.2012 Safer Internet Day 2012 This year, the various activities in countries on all continents focus on the topic "Connecting generations and educating each other". Young and old are encouraged to discover the digital world together...safely! For more information on activities in your region go to www.saferinternetday.org. |
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