With 422 votes in favour, the European Parliament elected Jean-Claude Juncker in a secret ballot on 15 July as President of the new European Commission to take office on 1 November 2014 for a five year term. The minimum number of votes required was 376.
The latest Erasmus statistics released by the European Commission reveal that nearly 270 000 students – a new record – benefitted from EU grants to study or train abroad in 2012-2013.
Upon the call of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, representatives of Belgrade and Pristina met in Brussels to discuss the situation over Mitrovica north bridge and agreed to form a working group that would try to work out a solution, a spokesperson said in a statement.
The EU said it would join the commemoration of 19th anniversary of the genocide committed in Srebrenica and pay the respects on the “day of pain and grief,” reconfirming its support for continuing efforts to establish the truth about the war crimes committed in Bosnia.
On 1 January 2014, the population of the EU28 was estimated at 507.4 million, compared with 505.7 million on 1 January 2013, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. As a long-term trend, the population of the countries making up the EU28 has increased by around 100 million since 1960 (from 407 million to 507 million).
The European Union (EU), its 28 Member states as well as other donor countries – the United States, Canada, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, international financial organisations such as EBRD, EIB, IMF, WB and civil society held a coordination meeting on the international support to Ukraine.
Low-skilled workers encounter increasing difficulties to find a job, face lower job stability and are out-competed by medium-skilled workers even in elementary occupations. In contrast, job opportunities are growing in some high-skilled professions. These are the main findings of the recently published European Vacancy and Recruitment Report 2014.
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on EU drinking water policy, to see where improvements could be made. The consultation is a concrete response to Right2Water, the first successful European Citizens’ Initiative.
Five Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), and the Republic of Moldova have secured full access to the European Union’s new seven year research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020.
The European Council agreed to propose Jean-Claude Juncker to the European Parliament as candidate for President of the European Commission. In this context, it agreed the strategic agenda of key priorities for the next five years. It invited the EU institutions and the Member States to fully implement these priorities in their work.
