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Supporting the future of Syria and the region: EU pledges close to €4bn for 2017
The EU and its member states pledged €3.7bn (£3.2bn) for 2017 at an international conference on Syria on 5 April in Brussels, co-chaired by the EU, the UK, the UN, Germany, Kuwait, Norway and Qatar. The EU remains by far the largest donor to Syria. The conference agreed a holistic approach to handling the crisis, including significant financial assistance to respond to the humanitarian situation, backing for political work towards a resolution of the crisis, and a long-term vision to support a peaceful and stable future for Syria and the wider region.
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Booked a hotel room online recently? The EU is acting to make the market work for consumers
Recent measures affecting how online travel agents work with hotels have improved competition and led to more choice for consumers, according to the European Commission and ten national competition authorities, including the UK's. The regulators will re-assess the situation in due course.
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Comparison websites often mislead on flight and hotel prices, reveals EU screening
A coordinated EU "sweep" of 352 price comparison and travel booking websites has found that prices were not reliable on 235 of them, two-thirds of the total. The European Commission and EU consumer protection authorities launched the screening in October 2016. In many cases, additional price elements were added at a late stage of the booking process without clearly informing the consumer or non-existent promotional prices were offered. Authorities have asked the websites concerned to get into line with EU consumer legislation, which requires them to be fully transparent about prices, and present their offers in a clear way, at an early stage of the booking process. If they do not do so the EU's network of consumer protection authorities will take enforcement action.
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Commission Vice-President welcomes positive EP vote on wholesale roaming prices
European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip, welcomed the vote on 6 April with which the European Parliament endorsed the agreement reached in February on wholesale roaming prices, the prices that mobile operators charge each other when customers use other networks while travelling abroad. This agreement reduces prices by more than a third for voice calls, by half for text messages and by 85% for data. It paves the way for roaming charges to end on 15 June.
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Commission imposed anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled flat steel from China
The Commission decided on 6 April to impose definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of hot-rolled flat steel products from China. The new anti-dumping duties range between 18.1% and 35.9%, and are higher than the provisional measures already in place since October. These measures will shield EU steel producers from the damaging effects of Chinese dumping for an initial period of five years. Hot-rolled flat steel is commonly used for the production of steel tubes used in construction, shipbuilding, gas containers, cars, pressure vessels, and energy pipelines.
The UK steel trade group welcomed the announcement.
New EU rules on medical devices
On 5 April, the European Parliament agreed on two new regulations on medical devices which will ensure better protection of public health and patient safety. To ensure that all medical devices – from heart valves to sticking plasters to artificial hips – are safe and perform well, the new rules will improve market surveillance and traceability. The rules will also provide more transparency and legal certainty for producers, manufacturers and importers and help to strengthen international competitiveness and innovation.
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Unemployment in the EU at eight year low
Unemployment in the EU reached an 8 year low according to the latest figures published by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, on 3 April. The latest EU unemployment rate was 8% in February 2017, down from 8.9% in February 2016. Unemployment in the euro area was 9.5% in February 2017, down from 10.3% in February 2016. This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since May 2009.
The UK has the fifth lowest unemployment rate in the EU at 4.6%.
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Schengen Borders Code: Systematic checks of EU citizens crossing external Schengen borders become mandatory
As of today (7 April), member states are obliged to carry out systematic checks against relevant databases on EU citizens who are crossing the EU's external borders, in addition to the systematic checks already being carried out on all third-country nationals entering the Schengen zone. Proposed by the Commission in a direct response to the attacks in Paris in November 2015 and the growing threat from foreign terrorist fighters, the new rules strengthen the management of our external borders. The revision ensures a good balance between the current security challenges and the need to avoid disproportionate impacts on traffic flows at border crossings. Alongside the ongoing roll-out of the European Border and Coast Guard, the reinforcement of the Schengen Borders Code reflects the EU's joint commitment to preserving the freedom of movement within the Schengen area and ensuring the security of EU citizens.
All this week's key European Commission announcements can be found here
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