Council agrees on immediate responses to financial turmoil

Christine Lagarde, French Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry and Employment, President of the Council © Council of the European Union

EU finance ministers meeting on 7 October in Luxembourg agreed on immediate responses to the current financial turmoil. They committed to take all necessary measures to enhance the stability of the European banking system and to protect the deposits of individual savers. To this end, Member States agreed that they would provide deposit guarantee protection for individuals for an amount of at least 50.000 euros.

Member states committed to support financial institutions of utmost importance to the financial system. They will coordinate their actions closely, taking into consideration potential cross-border effects of national decisions. They also agreed on common principles for future action:

More information:

Council Press release (en) (pdf)

Council webcast of Press conference

SESAR: Modernising air traffic management

At its meeting on 9 October, the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council adopted a resolution on the launch of the development phase of the SESAR programme, i.e. the new generation European air traffic management system. SESAR (Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research) is a Community initiative and is an element of the Single European Sky.

Air traffic is forecast to double by 2020. European airspace is fragmented and increasingly congested, which has harmful consequences for the competitiveness of air carriers. The new system should resolve this situation and respond to future needs by developing new technologies, capacity and infrastructure. That is why SESAR was launched in 2005 with the participation of the Commission and Eurocontrol (the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation), the aviation industry and carriers, and civilian and military bodies (airports, operators).

SESAR is the technological element of the Single European Sky, which aims to ensure safer, more efficient, more economical and greener air traffic control. For example, aircraft are currently obliged to follow pre-defined flight paths which do not take energy consumption into account. The new system will make air traffic control more automated, thanks in part to GALILEO navigation satellites, and will establish more direct flight paths and landing approaches.

With its approval of the launch of the second phase of SESAR, the Council has initiated the development of the system, due to cover the period 2008 to 2013. Cooperation with the United States concerning harmonisation between SESAR and the US NextGen project is also under discussion.

More information:

SESAR

Council Press release (pdf)

Council webcast of Press conference

Promoting energy efficiency through labelling and ecodesign

Improving the energy efficiency of products that citizens use daily is a powerful way to contribute to increasing energy security and achieving greenhouse gas emission targets in the European Union. Mandatory energy labelling of household appliances (such as refrigerators, washing machines and lamps) introduced in the 1990s and the efficiency requirements set for these and other types of energy-using equipment have already helped to eliminate inefficient appliances and encouraged the development of low-consumption products.

Meeting in Luxembourg on 10 October, the EU energy ministers stated in their conclusions that improving energy efficiency is the cornerstone for the achievement of all other energy policy goals. It will also play a key role in the modernisation of European economies and industries in adapting them more rapidly to the trend of rising oil prices and contributing to a worldwide response to environmental challenges.

The energy ministers stressed that the revision of the 2005 directive on the ecodesign of energy-using products, recently proposed by the Commission, and the future revision of the directive on energy labelling should further strengthen the synergies between these two sets of regulations. This especially concerns establishing criteria for assessing the energy efficiency of different products. Similarly, to reduce energy consumption, the ministers want the sale of incandescent lamps and all the worst-performing lights to be banned from 2010.

Finally, it will also be important to maintain a good mix of mandatory and voluntary measures, such as the EU Eco-label, in order to fully exploit the dynamics of the market. With these policies, the Council hopes to see the European energy-saving model become the best performing in the world by 2020.

More information:

Council webcast of Press conference

Forthcoming events:

General Affairs and External Relations Council, 13October in Luxembourg

European Council, 15 and 16 October in Brussels