Commission: Schengen and the economyEnergy, foreign policy, the economy and education are some of the themes addressed by European Commission in the past weeks. The presentation of a road map designed “to defend EU energy interests abroad” was scheduled to take place Septeber 7,but the Executive has other items on the agenda. On September 9 the Commission will launch “the Radicalisation Awareness Network” to prevent acts of terrorism, also in view of recent episodes across Europe. New proposals are scheduled to step up governance of the Schengen area in the areas of mobility and security, which will be discussed on Sept. 13. The “Interim Economic Forecasts” will be released on September 15. The Forecasts will take stock of GDP growth and the impact of recession on public budgets. These forecasts concentrate on major EU economies, namely Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland and Spain. On September 20 the Barroso Commission will present a strategy for the modernization of higher education in the EU. Contest for young translators “Knowledge of languages can open your mind to different cultures and boost your job prospects”. Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, explained the meaning of the annual competition “Juvenes translatores” (“Young translators”) promoted by the EU, to which secondary schools can enrol pupils by logging on http://ec.europa.eu/translatores/index_it.htm. The registration runs until 20 October. The online form is available in all official EU languages. The contest, now in its fifth year, will be held on 24 November at the same time in all selected schools. It is open to pupils born in 1994. “The contest promotes language learning in schools and translation as a career,” said Androulla Vassiliou. The pupils translate a one-page text based on their choice of any of the 506 language combinations possible among the EU’s 23 official languages. “This year the theme of the texts to translate will be volunteering, to mark the European Year of Volunteering”. Last year 2 800 pupils sat the contest. European Commission translators will mark the texts and select one winner per country. In March 2012 all winners will be invited to Brussels to receive their prize. The registration runs until 20 October. The online form is available in all official EU languages. The contest, now in its fifth year, will be held on 24 November at the same time in all selected schools. It is open to pupils born in 1994. “The contest promotes language learning in schools and translation as a career,” said Androulla Vassiliou. The pupils translate a one-page text based on their choice of any of the 506 language combinations possible among the EU’s 23 official languages. “This year the theme of the texts to translate will be volunteering, to mark the European Year of Volunteering”. Last year 2 800 pupils sat the contest. European Commission translators will mark the texts and select one winner per country. In March 2012 all winners will be invited to Brussels to receive their prize. Erasmus and Leonardo for universities “The new academic year is fast approaching and this year too – thanks to the Erasmus and Leonardo da Vinci programmes – thousands of young people are getting ready to study or work as a trainee in another EU country”, underlines the Commission in a release (www.ec.europa.eu), reminding university students of this academic opportunity. “Erasmus and Leonardo da Vinci are two flagship initiatives of the Commission’s education and lifelong learning”. Since the Erasmus programme was launched in 1987, it has enabled 2.5 million young people from across Europe to spend 3-12 months studying or working as a trainee outside their home country”. 4,000 universities in 33 European countries take part in the programme. Students receive a monthly grant of 250 euro a month; Back at home, they receive full academic credit for courses taken during the programme. The Leonardo programme is aimed at people looking to get professional training abroad”: Since it started 15 years ago, the programme has given out 710,000 grants. Environment, “there is progress to be made”The Sixth Environment Action Programme (2002-2012) of the European Union “was successful in providing an overarching framework for environment policy”. Despite “major accomplishments” there is “progress to be made”. The Commission draws a balance of environment protection policies and presents outlines for a common strategy in this sector. “Major accomplishments in the field of environment during the past ten years – states the evaluation document released by the Executive – have been the extension of the Natura 2000 network to cover almost 18% of the EU’s land area, the introduction of a comprehensive chemicals policy, and policy action on climate change”. “However, there is progress to be made in implementing agreed EU objectives and rules and in improving biodiversity protection, soil and water quality. The decoupling of resource use from economic growth has not led to a decrease in overall resources use”.
