|
Europe Day 2013
Come and join us for Europe Day on May 9 in St Andrew Square, Edinburgh! From 11.30am til 4pm, the square will be alive with European song acts and dance displays. Over 14 European countries will showcase the best of Europe, along with information stands for both businesses and the public. Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, and The Lord Provost of Edinburgh, The Rt Hon Donald Wilson, will welcome all at 12pm.
|
| |
|
Communicating science: how can we share it?
With science becoming increasingly complex, Professor Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Adviser for the European Commission and formerly for Scotland, explored how to stimulate the debate between scientists and the public at a talk at the Edinburgh International Science Festival, 24 March.
|
| |
|
Edinburgh Medal awarded to Professor Peter Higgs and CERN
The Edinburgh Medal is awarded to men and women of science for both their scientific work and their wider contribution to society. This year it was awarded jointly to Professor Peter Higgs and CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research.
In 2012 the world awoke to the news that CERN's Large Hadron Collider had detected the existence of an elusive sub-atomic particle consistent with the Higgs boson, which was first proposed to exist in 1964. Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Director General of CERN, delivered the Edinburgh Medal Address on the collaboration and search for the 'God particle'. The EC Office in Scotland sponsored a reception in the Signet Library.
|
| |
|
Join the debate on Europe
The European Union - would your life be any different if it didn't exist? Watch this video and "Join the debate on Europe"
|
| |
|
Commissioner Oettinger visits Scotland
On 28 February and 1 March the EU Commissioner for Energy, Günther Oettinger, visited Scotland to discuss energy policy with the Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore, First Minister Alex Salmond and Secretary of State for Energy, Ed Davey. He also met with members of the Scottish Parliament Energy Committee and renewable energy stakeholders in Edinburgh. In Aberdeen, he gave a speech at The Energy Institute annual dinner and participated in a stakeholder's meeting on the North Sea Grid.
“Scotland is an energy powerhouse in Europe," said Commissioner Oettinger, "and Europe can help Scotland harness that potential, through its policies to promote renewables, to build the required North Sea networks, to develop an integrated internal energy market that provides a level playing field to market those resources."
|
| |
|
Bruce Millan 1927-2013
We were sorry to hear of the death of Bruce Millan, former Scottish Secretary and European Commissioner for regional policy and cohesion 1988-95. Commissioner Hahn said he was proud to follow in his footsteps and praised him an "old-school politician in the best sense of the term. He believed that a successful political representative must also be a good manager with the overriding obligation to ensure that public resources are used efficiently for the public good." He was "clearly a forerunner in giving regional policy the prominence it has today and in establishing the concept of a 'Europe of regions'".
President Barroso expressed his own sadness, saying the current negotiations for the Multi-Annual Financial Framework are a good reminder of the debt that the European Union owes to the remarkable work of Bruce Millan. "He made a major contribution as British Commissioner and was a staunch defender of the benefits that cohesion policy can bring to all parts of the European Union…I know from my own country, Portugal, the positive changes that he helped to create."
|
| |
|
Nobel Peace Prize 2012
The 2012 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the European Union for its contribution over six decades to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.
The EU was represented at the award ceremony in Oslo on 10 December by the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Parliament.
Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, said "At a time of uncertainty, this day reminds people across Europe and the world of the Union's fundamental purpose: to further the fraternity between European nations, now and in the future."
José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission, reinforced this, saying: "My message today is: you can count on our efforts to fight for lasting peace, freedom and justice in Europe and in the world." (See Address )
The full ceremony can be seen on Europe by Satellite: Video
The EU Nobel Peace Prize money will be used to fund educational projects for children in conflict areas: EU4children
|
| |
|
Commissioner Andor addresses the University of Edinburgh
László Andor, European Commissioner responsible for employment, social affairs and inclusion, addressed the University of Edinburgh on "Investing for a Job-Rich Recovery in Europe". Central to his message was the need to find a credible solution to the systemic crisis of the Economic and Monetary Union and to invest in skills to improve employment, particularly youth employment. His full speech can be found here: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-12-797_en.htm
|
| |
|
Commissioner Ciolos engages with Scottish farmers
On 19 and 20 September, Dacian Cioloş, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development visited Scotland on the invitation of George Lyon MEP. After discussing Scottish agriculture and CAP reform with Mr Lyon, Nigel Miller NFUS President and Scott Walker NFUS Chief Executive, the party visited Carneil Farm to see a dairy farm in operation. This was followed by meetings with the Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore MP and the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment, Richard Lochhead MSP. The visit ended with an opportunity for the wider agricultural community to express their views with a question and answer session at Ingliston House.
|
| |
|
Scotland Goes Global
Alyn Smith MEP speaks to an audience of secondary school students and their teachers at the National Union of Students (Scotland) – Scotland Goes Global event at The Hub, Edinburgh on 28 September 2012.
|
| |
|
State of the European union address
The president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso has delivered his 2012 State of the European Union address to the European Parliament.
On 19 September at 18:00, the President will answer citizens' questions on the State of the Union in a live interview hosted by Euronews. You can submit video or text questions for him to answer up until 11:00 on 18th September. Questions can be submitted - and voted on - via EUtube, the European Commission's YouTube channel. Euronews will select from the top voted video questions participants to put their questions to the President in person, live, via Google+ Hangout.
|
| |
|
Video clip
The European Commission has produced a video clip illustrating the role played and the actions performed by the EC during the economic crisis in Europe.
| |
|
European Union Youth Orchestra at the Edinburgh International Festival - 23rd of August, 2012
The exceptional young players of the European Union Youth Orchestra returned to the 2012 Edinburgh International Festival after many years to take on one of the largest and grandest piano concertos ever written. Busoni's vast creation, with a male chorus swelling its overwhelming conclusion, is rarely performed because of the demands it places on its performers. Conductor Gianandrea Noseda also brought on Debussy's magical Nocturnes and the Twenty-Seven Heavens, by Richard Causton.
|
| |
|
Commissioner Vassiliou in Edinburgh
European Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou responsible for Education, Culture and Multilingualism, Sport, Media and Youth delivered the keynote address to the world's first International Cultural Summit staged at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh from 13-14 August 2012.
Speaking to government ministers and artistic directors from nearly 40 countries she introduced "Creative Europe" and detailed how the programme is being extended to cover cultural links with all Mediterranean countries in direct response to the Arab Spring.
She also mounted a robust defence of public funding for the arts asking "What can the bureaucrat offer the poet" and "What regulation will inspire the composer?" Replying that the example of publicly funded television or cinema across Europe provided some of the best and most exciting drama, music and comedy proved that "public intervention and public money, is behind success and that the markets alone cannot deliver all that a civilised society needs."
|
| |
|
What does the European Commission Office in Scotland do?
We report back to Commissioners and officials in Brussels on EU-related aspects of Scottish political and business life and help people here in Scotland to have a better understanding of European issues and the Commission’s role in the EU.
A major task of the office is to follow the EU-related work of the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament. We have regular contacts with Ministers, MSPs and with the permanent staff of the Government and Parliament.
The Office handles a wide range of Scottish press and media enquiries on current EU issues. Press releases issued by the Commission in Brussels are readily accessible via the web here.
If Scottish journalists have any further questions, we are happy to hear from them and will advise on any aspect of EU policy with impact in Scotland.
|
| |
|
Need more information on the EU and Scotland? Here's where to look: http://www.europe.org.uk
|
| |
