The European Union has signed separate Association Agreements with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, which President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy called “milestones in the history of our relations and for Europe as a whole.”
On the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we wish to reaffirm the EU’s commitment to the prevention and eradication of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Torture is clearly and unequivocally prohibited under international law.
What is the speed limit on Spanish motorways? Do I need to wear a helmet when I cycle in Sweden? What safety equipment must I always have in the car when driving in Slovakia? From now on, holiday makers do not need to spend a lot of time searching for this information. They can have it at hand wherever they are with the European Commission’s new smartphone app “Going Abroad”.
Montenegro opened three more negotiating chapters in EU accession talks, but was warned that more results were needed on the ground, which should be seen and felt by the citizens.
At the General Affairs Council meeting today in Luxembourg, Ministers from the EU Member States have agreed – based on the recommendation by the European Commission (see report) to grant EU candidate status to Albania, subject to endorsement by EU heads of states at the forthcoming European Council on Friday in Brussels.
EU’s Foreign Affairs Council backed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s peace plan and plans to stabilise the country, High Representative Catherine Ashton said after the meeting, attended also by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.
More than 51 milliion people have been forcibly displaced – almost as the total population of five EU Member States. Half of them are children. The EU makes serious efforts to help the people affected, the European Commissioners Kristalina Georgieva, Andris Piebalgs and Cecilia Malmstrom said in a joint statement on the occasion of the World Refugee Day.
Only eight European countries – Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Malta, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden and Norway – guarantee a legal right to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) soon after a child’s birth, normally after the end of paid maternity or parental leave.
EU Member States granted protection to 135 700 asylum seekers in 2013 – Syrians main beneficiaries.
“When our citizens go to a hospital, they expect safe healthcare. The good news is that most Member States now have patient safety programmes in place.
