“Europe is our common objective”, Busek told Croatia’s presidentStepping up relations and cooperation in “advancing Croatia’s determined journey towards the membership in the European Union”, EU President Jerzy Buzek told Ivo Josipovic in a message of congratulations for his election as president of the Croatian republic. “”I wish you every success in the great work that lies ahead – Buzek wrote -. I hope that your election will provide a positive impetus to move forward the accession negotiations and to address all of the outstanding issues”. The Polish politician assured the President elect “the European Parliament’s continued support for the difficult implementation of ongoing reforms in Croatia”, especially “in the areas of the judiciary and the fight against corruption”. Buzek recalled the need to consider “the region’s perspectives and working constructively with your neighbours”. And he concluded: “The European future for the entire Western Balkans region should be our common goal and destiny”.Eurostat, unemployment rates surge across all EU Member StatesThe unemployment rate in the euro area (the 16 States that adopt the single currency) is up to 10%. These figures were released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union and refer to the end of November 2009, while no further unemployment rate decrease is envisaged in the coming months. The EU27 unemployment rate was 9.5% in November 2009. Eurostat estimates that some 100thousand more persons are unemployed while a total of 22 million 900 thousand people are currently unemployed. Unemployment in the EU went up by approximately 5 million. The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (3.9%) and in Austria (5,5%). On the opposite front Latvia’s unemployment rate amounts to 22.3% while Spain is at 19.4%. “Compared with a year ago, all Member States recorded an increase in their unemployment rate”, states the Report, with slight increases in Germany and Luxembourg. The highest increases were registered in the three Baltic republics. According to Eurostat the unemployment rate of the under-25s is more than 21% in Europe. The highest figures were recorded in Spain (43.8%) and Lithuania (36.3%).Barroso: “Culture is crucial to the EU project””Without culture, Europe and its citizens would lack the inspiration, creativity and spirit of innovation they need for their joint project”. On January 9 EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso, was in Essen for the inauguration of Essen as European Capital of Culture 2010, together with the cities of Istanbul (Turkey) and Pécs (Hungary). The President of the Republic Horst Kohler attended the ceremony. The opening of a cultural festival at the Zollverein industrial complex, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List was also in the celebrations’ program. President Barroso said, “Essen and the entire Ruhr Basin, with its old heavy-industry complexes, remind us of the beginnings of the European integration project: half a century ago, the first steps were taken towards the creation of the European Union, in the form of peaceful cross-border cooperation in the coal and steel sectors”. Barroso highlighted the need to value Europe’s culture, and to this regard, he said that Essen, Pécs and Istanbul act as “catalysts for change”. The city of Pécs inaugurated its celebrations on the 10th, while those for Istanbul are due to be held on the 16th of January.The Euro-parliament meets the Spanish presidencyThe program of the EU rotating presidency will be presented to the European Parliament on January 19. Spanish premier José Luis Zapatero will meet MEPs during the plenary meeting in Strasbourg (January 18-21). With the Lisbon Treaty, that established a “stable” EU presidency and stepped up responsibilities of the EU foreign affairs high representative, the rotating presidency will no longer chair the summits of the EU heads of government and state (the first of which is scheduled on February 11) nor the Council of foreign ministers. The other tasks of the presidency-in-office remain the same. The six-month presidency will also need to coordinate with the two successive ones (Belgium and Hungary), forming an 18-month-long ‘trio’. The Spanish government announced its working priorities which include the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the 2020 strategy for economic recovery and sustainability, financial markets supervisions, energy action plan, the implementation of the new Stockholm Programme (freedom, justice, security and migration), the enactment of the External Action Service (the EU diplomatic corps).
