Smarter visa policyIn a strategic Communication presented November 7 the EU Commission proposes the full exploitation of common visa policy to promote the inflow of tourists into the EU Community. According to the Communication, "the implementation and development" of the common visa policy could help growth in the EU by facilitating travel opportunities for third country nationals willing to visit the EU". According to estimates by the European Commission over 18 million Europeans are employed in the tourist sector, while In 2011 foreign visitor spending amounted to 330.44 billion". According to estimates by the Executive, the sector is bound to grow, with positive impacts on the economy as a whole, through spending in accommodation, food and drink, transport, entertainment, shopping, etc. "Given the current economic downturn we should strive to increase tourist flows to Europe while continuing to ensure the security of our borders” said the Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström. "Facilitating opportunities for legitimate travellers, who do not pose a security risk, to visit Europe can only reinforce our position as the world’s number one tourist destination". Figures show that the number of visas issued has increased significantly in recent years and that visa refusals remain low". In Russia around 5 million visas were issued in 2011, compared to 3 500 000 in 2007. The number of visas issued in China, approximately 1 million, almost doubled compared to the 2008; around 460 000 Schengen visas were issued in India in 2011. Notably, the Commission proposes to "accelerate and abbreviate procedures" for the concession of tourist visa; streamlining and shortening the procedures and documents; Clarifying the definition of the competent consulate for processing the visa application; simplifying the application form; "improving consular organisation and cooperation".Citizens’ initiative: a signature to participate"I am pleased that 22 initiatives have already been proposed, of which 12 are registered". "It is good to see that these initiatives come from European citizens or grassroots organisations and not lobbies or big corporations as some would have expected and feared". "It demonstrates the appetite of ordinary citizens for being involved in the European debate", said Zita Gurmai, Hungarian MEP, one of two MEPs responsible for steering the legislation on this through Parliament, commenting on the first seven-month period of the new possibility offered to citizens through the Lisbon Treaty to intervene, albeit indirectly, in the development of EU legislation. Initiatives presented to date include also "One of us" (www.oneofus.eu), supported by numerous pro-life organizations, aimed at extending "the juridical protection of dignity, of the right to the truth and integrity of all human beings from the moment of conception in all areas of competence of the EU". Other initiatives regard the right to drinking water and sanitation, pan-European suffrage and single Communication Tariff act… MEP Gurmai pointed out that since past April European citizens’ initiative "allows citizens to call on Commission to propose new legislation in areas that fall within its competence by collecting one million signatures from at least a quarter of the EU member states. Information on the citizens’ initiative is available online, in all the official languages of the EU: http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative.Ministers decide the future of the Space agency"You, together with your 500 million fellow citizens from ESA’s 20 European member nations, are the collective owners of one of the world’s leading space agencies". It is the message of the executives of the European Space Agency, founded in 1975, which today is an intergovernmental organization "active in all areas of space: exploring space and safeguarding the terrestrial environment while also boosting our continent’s technical knowhow and economic competitiveness". A meeting of the European ministers of the space sector, scheduled to take place November 20- 21, is due to address the future of the Agency (investment, applications, new projects…). A video uploaded on www.esa.int explains the purposes of ESA, the ongoing projects, and the possible developments for space research. "ESA does a lot with very little – state the responsibles – for an investment equivalent to a cinema ticket for each of us per year". ESA works with the motto "We can do more, together". "From weather satellites to space-based telecommunications, navigation and environmental monitoring, the systems ESA has put in place have helped to strengthen Europe’s strategic independence and its place in the world, along with our quality of life and prosperity".
