EU relations with Moscow, Beijing and Seoul China, Russia, South Korea: in the span of a few days EU leadership held bilateral summits on the partnerships with Beijing, Moscow and Seoul, focusing on political issues of mutual interest. EU and China signed agreements to expand cooperation in science and technology, clean energies and small enterprises, and confirmed their “commitment to a project to showcase technology for generating electricity from coal without releasing CO2”- one of the main gases behind global warming. As relates to the financial crisis, Europe and China convened that “international institutions should have a greater role in monitoring economic risks, and that developing and emerging economies should have more say in these institutions”. The two sides also discussed “human rights in Tibet and conflicts in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan – three Countries where China wields political influence. The EU and Russia sought to overcome differences “on security, trade and energy supply” and partnership. Cooperation in the area of education and training EU Ministers of Education adopted a new strategic plan for cooperation, viewed as “crucial for the development of knowledge in society”. Although the single States are responsible of school education, “Member States share the same challenges”. “Cooperation means learning from each other’s experience”, is stated in a document signed by EU27 Ministers. Reforms are needed “in order to address foreign competition, technology development and population ageing”. Four strategic objectives were fixed for the period until 2020: ensuring ongoing formation and mobility; improving equality, social cohesion and active citizenship; encouraging innovation and creativity at all levels of formation. “Drop-outs should be less that 10%”, the Ministers said while “fifteen-year-olds with insufficient grades in reading, maths and science should amount to less than 15%” of the overall population.Althea, for stability in Bosnia and HerzegovinaEU Foreign and Defence Ministers welcomed “the continued positive contribution” of the EU military operation Althea (that refers to the goddess of healing of Greek mythology), to “stability and security in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. They stated that despite the changing political environment the Country’s situation has remained stable. The main task of the 2200-strong EU force (EUFOR) is “to ensure compliance with the 1995 Dayton-Paris peace agreement”. It also supports the international community’s High Representative Valentin Inzko, the highest political authority in the country. This Austrian diplomat is also the EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. “EUFOR troops offer assistance to local authorities in the implementation of various tasks, notably mine clearance and the control of low air space”. Bosnia-Herzegovna receives pre-adhesion aid from Brussels. European Parliament: citizens’ attention on the increase A TNS Opinion survey commissioned by the European Parliament May 4-15 across EU27 has shown that EU public awareness over EP elections is on the increase. The findings of the survey were posted on the webiste www.europarl.europa.eu. Accordingly, “EU citizens intention to vote” on June 4-7 is clearly up on February’s Eurobarometer survey. The poll points to a 49% turnout, up from 34% registered a few months ago. “43% of respondents said they were certain to vote and a further 6% said they were very likely to do so. 12% seem certain not to vote, down from 19% at the start of the year”. The findings revealed issues deemed significant in the electoral campaign: unemployment (57%) is the top concern for Europeans, followed by economic growth, insecurity and the future of pensions, which come well ahead of followed at inflation, purchasing power, climate changes and terrorism.
