Sweden inherits EU rotating presidency The meeting between the EU Commission and the new rotating presidency of the European Council, which will pass over to Sweden in the second half of 2009, has been established for July 1st. In view of this engagement, Frederik Reinfeldt, Swedish Premier, submitted to the Parliament of Stockholm the Agenda of the presidency focusing on a series of issues that include the economic crisis and climate change. "Sweden will take on the presidency in particular circumstances", he said in the seat of Stockholm recalling the effects of recession on employment along with the need "to counter climate change", considering the commitment of the 27 to reach a common stand in view of Copenhagen’s summit in December. The premier underlined the "institutional changes that will be implemented in the coming months". These include the establishment of the European Parliament, the choice of the future Commission and "the lack of certainties as relates to the Treaty of Lisbon". Budget in the red because of the crisis The economic crisis is perceivable also through "the deterioration of public finances" in EU Member States. "The budgetary situations are worsening and reflect the recession under way and the measures for the revival of the economy" adopted at national level within the EU’s action framework. In the past days the Commission made known that stability and convergence programs in a number of countries had been examined, and proposed as envisaged by EU Treaty the establishment of measures for excessive deficits in Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Romania. "Government balance in the EU and elsewhere said Commissioner for Monetary Affairs Joaquìn Almunia have deteriorated in the course of the past year and are worsening still this year, considering the crisis and the economic recovery measures justly adopted" by the States. However, Almunia declared, " ways to improve the measure of their critically-adjusted budgetary balance ought to be found as soon as the economic situation starts to improve, which is expected to take place gradually starting in 2010". In July ECOFIN Council will examine the recommendations submitted today by the Commission.Europe-Africa: partnership on transportation"The African continent has the highest transportation costs in the world", almost four times those of industrialized countries. "In African land-locked countries like Malawi and Chad the situation is even worse since transportation costs reach 50%". To this must be added a series of flaws that continue marking the continent’s transport system. Roading is limited, the railways system is poorly connected and 15 villages are cut off from railway access. Only three airports serve one of the first 150 world airports in terms of passengers, and the "fleet is outdated". On the basis of these figures, on June 24 the European Commission proposed "a strategic partnership". Commissioner Antonio Tajani presented a "communication" aimed at stepping up Euro-Africa cooperation in this field. "The objective is to establish an interconnection between trans-European and African networks". The Commission "will share its experience in the field of transportation policies so as to contribute to the implementation of more efficient systems, that are crucial for the development of the African continent". "With the appropriate infrastructures and high-quality systems, transportation will become one of the engines boosting the continent’s development" thus contributing "to the stabilization of migration flows".CoE: migrations towards the "Old Continent""Migrations construct Europe" and contribute to its "economic and social prosperity". Patrick Taran, from the International Employment Organization, is one the authors of the book "Economic migrations, social cohesion and development: towards an integrated approach", that is published by the Council of Europe. The volume is aimed at providing "a snapshot of migration" in the Old Continent, "its consequences, advantages, its scope and the cost of the measures" needed to address this phenomenon "in the interest of the countries of origin and those of arrival". Accordingly, "over 45 million people living" in the 47 Member States of the CoE come from Third Countries. "Less than half, namely 22 million of immigrants, are dependent or autonomous workers, thus contributing to the economic development and prosperity" of Europe. The volume highlights the problems related to migration phenomena underlining its advantages and proposing different paths of intervention to CoE Countries (economic, juridical, social), to "ensure the protection of the rights of migrants and of social cohesion" in Europe. Information on the volume is available on the website www.coe.int.
