Citizens’ rights: the Commission’s report”To make the Charter work in practice, people need to know their rights and how to apply them so that justice can be done”, Vice-President Viviane Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner thus commented on the Annual Report on the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights Charter issued by the Executive a few days ago. The Charter has become legally binding following the enforcement of the Lisbon Treaty (December 2009) primarily on the EU institutions (European Parliament, Council and the European Commission) when preparing new European laws, but also on national authorities if they are implementing EU law. The Commission thus drew up a Report on how the Charter is applied. “The EU is not a fundamental rights supercop – Reding explained – The Charter applies primarily to the EU institutions. Rights must be enforced by national judges under national constitutions in the first instance”. The report is structured into six chapters reflecting the six titles of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: Dignity, Freedoms (including freedom of speech and of information; freedom of religion…), Equality, Solidarity (healthcare, consumer protection), Citizens’ Rights and Justice.Asylum-seekers: record-breaking France and GermanyIn 2010, there were 257 800 asylum applicants registered in the EU27 slightly less than in 2009 (264 thousand). The data was released by Eurostat, which completed calculations on the EU27 precisely when the arrival of refugees from the Magreb to the European shores of the Mediterranean flared up the debate on refugees’ residence status (an item on the agenda of the European Parliament gathered in Strasbourg on April 4-7). Eurostat figures show that in the EU there have been 515 applicants per million inhabitants. According to nationalities, the main countries of citizenship of these applicants were Afghanistan (20.600, or 8% of the total number of applicants), Russia (18 500 or 7%), Serbia (17 700 or 7%), Iraq (15 800 or 6%) and Somalia (14 400 or 6%). The highest number of applicants were recorded in France (51.600 – a fifth of all applications) followed by Germany (48 500), Sweden (31 900), Belgium (26 100), the United Kingdom (23 700), the Netherlands (15 100), Austria (11100), Greece (10 300), Italy (10 100) and Poland (6 500). When compared with the population of each Member State, the highest rates of applicants registered were recorded in Cyprus, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Austria. In 2010 in the EU27, 222 100 first instance decisions were made on asylum applications. There were 167 000 rejections (75% of decisions), 27 000 applicants were granted refugee status, 20 400 subsidiary protection and 7 600 were granted authorisation to stay “for humanitarian reasons”.A programme that draws the EU close to its Eastern partnersEast-Invest programme is “the new regional tool for the economic development of the Eastern Partnership region”. The 8.75 million project is the EU’s new regional investment and trade facilitation initiative for the economic development focussing on support to small and medium size enterprises from countries such as Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbajan, Georgia, Ukraine, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia (namely, 16 countries along with 85 economic and social partners). “It is one of several concrete programs that will accompany and support the Eastern Partnership Countries on the road of economic transformation towards economic integration with the EU”, explained Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Stefan Füle. The objectives of the East-Invest program include business networking and support to small and medium size enterprises from Eastern Partnership regions.Space policy, advantages for everyday lifeA “first step of an integrated Space Policy to be developed with the new legal basis provided by the Lisbon Treaty”: it is the European Commission communication presented April 4, with positive effects on various areas of the economy and on the daily lives of European populations (in the areas of communication, car safety, banks and enterprises, employment and the environment). “Article 189 of the Lisbon Treaty gives the European Union an explicit role in designing a policy for the exploration and exploitation of space in order to promote scientific and technical progress, industrial competitiveness and the implementation of its policies”, the Executive explained in a release. “Improving the safety and daily lives of European citizens thanks to radio navigation, guiding tractors by satellite for high-yield crops, optimizing response to humanitarian crisis… This is not science fiction but just a few examples of innovations related to space technologies developed today”, said the Commission.
