Europe

On 25 March 2008, the transparency group Alter-EU has accused the Commission of relying too heavily on business and industry lobbyists when drawing up EU legislation. In reaction, the Commission has said it will publish a list of individual experts who sit on its advisory groups by the summer. But, a European Parliament committee would like the EU to go further and called for a mandatory register of the estimated 15-20,000 lobbyists.
Background
The European Commission has long consulted (...)

The European Commission is preparing a practical guide on the full range of European funding available for research, development and innovation.
The purpose of this guide is to help project sponsors identify the funds best suited to their particular circumstances. The guide will review the various existing Internet sites and information points and explain to what extent several European funds may be combined.
The Commission has launched a public consultation on the draft guide, running (...)

15 March 2008 was celebrated as the European Consumer Day. It focused on raising awareness on consumers’ rights, and an EU Consumer Champion award capped the events organised at national level.
Member States were invited to hold national competitions for the best consumer campaign of the year using the the key theme of the European Consumer Day, "know your rights, use your rights". Each Member State would then submit their best consumer campaign to a short-list of the European Commission (...)

On 8 January 2008, the Presidents of the European Commission and Parliament José Manuel Barroso and Hans-Gert Pöttering together with Slovene Prime Minister Janez Jansa, launched the "European year of inter-cultural dialogue" (EYID). Over the next twelve months, € 10 million will be spent on information campaigns, activities and projects promoting culture, education, youth, sport and citizenship.
The EYID 2008 has two goals:
promoting inter-cultural dialogue to enable European (...)

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA) has published its annual report for 2006. The report outlines three main areas of progress: reinforcement of the agency’s tripartite governance structure; communication on occupational safety and health; and scientific research on emerging risks.
In 2006, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA) strengthened its tripartite governance structure and network by involving workers, employers and governments more closely (...)

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA) follows up its 2007 health campaign to tackle musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) "Lighten the load" with a publication ’Work-related muscoskeletal disorders: Back to work report’ focused on the retention, reintegration and rehabilitation of workers with MSDs.
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA)->http://osha.europa.eu/] published on 15 October 2007 the ’work-related musculoskeletal disorders: back to (...)

The Committee of Regions and European Commission (EC) DG Regional Policy will be organising a European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels on 8-11 October 2007.
The Open Days are organised by the EU Committee of Regions and the European Commission (EC) DG Regional Policy in partnership with a record 212 regions and cities from 33 countries.
The Open Days bring together different stakeholders such as EU decision makers, politicians, policy experts and civil society organisations.
The (...)

Following a series of monitoring reports Bulgaria and Romania will be welcomed by the European Commission into the European Union on 1st January 2007, however both countries are required to meet strict EU conditions if they are to escape "remedial measures."
A series of progress reports have been carried out by the European Commission, to assess whether Romania and Bulgaria were ready for EU membership. Although the reports go through the different aspects of the acquis communautaire, this (...)

*UPDATED with the results* Corporate Europe Observatory, LobbyControl, Spinwatch and Friends of the Earth Europe launch the Worst EU Lobbying Award 2006 which aims to identify the most dubious influence lobbying.
The 2006 edition of the Worst Lobby Award plans to grant a double Prize:
the worst EU lobbying, awarded for the lobbyist or lobby group using the most deceptive, misleading, hypocritical and irresponsible tactics. The winner is ExxonMobil for continuing to manipulate the EU (...)

On 11 July 2006, EPHA attended a hearing of stakeholders concerned by certain questions addressed in the European Transparency Initiative. The hearing was organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), at the request of and in close cooperation with the European Commission (EC).
Participants included representatives of civil society organisations, consultancies, business sector lobby groups, law firms and think tanks, as well as the EC, the EESC and the office of the (...)