1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:17,000 The European Commission acted decisively to cut the cost of using your mobile phone in 2 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:18,720 another EU country. 3 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:23,560 Prices have begun to fall and big cuts will come in 2007. 4 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:27,320 Mobile phone operators have treated roaming, using your mobile phone while on the move 5 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:32,960 in the EU as a cash bonanza, charging excessive rates unrelated to the cost of providing the 6 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:33,960 service. 7 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:38,360 Prices for calling from one EU country to another were on average four times higher 8 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:48,000 than a domestic call. 9 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,740 A new EU regulation on health and food was agreed. 10 00:00:51,740 --> 00:00:56,360 It will help consumers to choose healthier foods and to tackle obesity. 11 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:01,060 The new EU law ensures that any claims about health or nutritional values on food labels 12 00:01:01,060 --> 00:01:06,180 or in advertising must be truthful and based on scientific facts. 13 00:01:06,180 --> 00:01:10,460 Claims such as low fat, low sugar have been harmonised so that they mean the same thing 14 00:01:10,460 --> 00:01:13,300 in all EU countries. 15 00:01:13,300 --> 00:01:18,060 Poor nutrition is one of the main causes of many avoidable diseases and obesity. 16 00:01:18,060 --> 00:01:23,140 Studies have shown that in Europe about 400,000 children become obese or overweight every 17 00:01:23,140 --> 00:01:23,540 year. 18 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:38,380 The EU agreed final arrangements to enable Bulgaria and Romania to join in January 2007. 19 00:01:38,380 --> 00:01:42,160 This raises the number of members from 25 to 27. 20 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:47,260 The 27-nation EU with a population of nearly half a billion citizens will become the world's 21 00:01:47,260 --> 00:01:53,340 largest economic area, providing new opportunities to all its citizens and businesses. 22 00:01:53,340 --> 00:01:58,140 After 15 years of bold and significant reforms, the two new countries are in a position to 23 00:01:58,140 --> 00:02:01,780 take on the rights and obligations of EU membership. 24 00:02:01,780 --> 00:02:07,100 Their accession is part of the EU's historic enlargement towards the East, finally overcoming 25 00:02:07,100 --> 00:02:14,100 the Cold War divisions in Europe and consolidating peace and stability. 26 00:02:15,100 --> 00:02:22,100 Slovenia passed the test in 2006 to become the 13th EU country to use the euro, the first 27 00:02:28,540 --> 00:02:31,980 of the 2004 intake of members to do so. 28 00:02:31,980 --> 00:02:36,740 The single currency is used by two-thirds of the EU population. 29 00:02:36,740 --> 00:02:41,980 The euro becomes Slovenia's official currency in January 2007. 30 00:02:41,980 --> 00:02:45,860 All EU countries can adopt the euro when they meet the criteria that have been agreed 31 00:02:45,860 --> 00:02:47,580 for a well-run economy. 32 00:02:47,580 --> 00:02:52,660 Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom have chosen not to join at present, while most 33 00:02:52,660 --> 00:02:57,340 other non-euro countries have set target dates for entry. 34 00:02:57,340 --> 00:03:02,140 To familiarise shoppers with the new currency, prices are given in both euro and the Slovenian 35 00:03:02,140 --> 00:03:08,060 toller for a limited period. 36 00:03:11,980 --> 00:03:18,980 The EU agreed new rules to make the manufacture and use of chemical substances safer for workers 37 00:03:21,460 --> 00:03:24,820 and consumers and less harmful for the environment. 38 00:03:24,820 --> 00:03:30,020 The new system, known as REACH, is a radical step forward, filling many gaps in our knowledge, 39 00:03:30,020 --> 00:03:34,540 especially with regard to chemicals that have been in use for a long time. 40 00:03:34,540 --> 00:03:40,300 The new system covers all substances imported into or produced in the EU, even in small 41 00:03:40,420 --> 00:03:42,420 quantities. 42 00:03:42,420 --> 00:03:47,020 REACH contains provisions for hazardous chemicals to be replaced by safer alternatives where 43 00:03:47,020 --> 00:03:49,340 these are available. 44 00:03:49,340 --> 00:03:56,340 REACH also imposes restrictions on the testing of chemical substances on animals. 45 00:03:57,340 --> 00:04:04,340 The EU introduced far-reaching measures in June to cut sugar prices and end overproduction 46 00:04:10,420 --> 00:04:15,820 as part of its long-term programme to reform its costly Common Agricultural Policy. 47 00:04:15,820 --> 00:04:19,900 The production cuts will bring supply and demand into better balance, so that the need 48 00:04:19,900 --> 00:04:26,060 for sugar in Europe can be met from European production and imports from developing countries. 49 00:04:26,060 --> 00:04:31,420 Unchanged for 40 years, the EU support system for sugar had resulted in internal prices 50 00:04:31,420 --> 00:04:36,340 that were three times the world level, while its subsidised exports of surplus production 51 00:04:36,340 --> 00:04:43,340 put downward pressure on world markets. 52 00:04:49,820 --> 00:04:55,660 In a significant expansion of its international role, the EU sent troops in 2006 to the Democratic 53 00:04:55,660 --> 00:05:01,180 Republic of Congo and South Lebanon, two high-risk regions. 54 00:05:01,180 --> 00:05:05,860 Sometimes criticised for its inability to respond to crisis situations, the EU and its 55 00:05:05,860 --> 00:05:10,940 member states sent a military force to the Congo to help maintain calm and stability 56 00:05:10,940 --> 00:05:15,940 during the presidential and parliamentary elections, the first in more than 40 years. 57 00:05:15,940 --> 00:05:20,140 The 3,500-strong force was under German command. 58 00:05:20,140 --> 00:05:26,140 The first round of the elections took place on 30 June, the second at the end of October. 59 00:05:26,140 --> 00:05:30,340 Following the fighting in South Lebanon between Israeli forces and the elements of Hezbollah 60 00:05:30,340 --> 00:05:36,700 in July and August, a number of member states, led by France and Italy, contributed 7,500 61 00:05:36,700 --> 00:05:43,700 troops to strengthen the United Nations' interim force in Lebanon. 62 00:05:44,700 --> 00:05:51,700 EU governments and the European Parliament have concluded a major deal to open up the 63 00:05:53,540 --> 00:05:59,820 EU market to trade in services. As a result, companies in the services sector will be able 64 00:05:59,820 --> 00:06:03,780 to establish themselves in other European countries or send workers from their home 65 00:06:03,780 --> 00:06:09,620 country for limited periods. The services sector includes activities like catering, 66 00:06:09,620 --> 00:06:15,900 advertising, management consulting, travel agencies, construction services and many more. 67 00:06:15,900 --> 00:06:20,500 The new law is part of the EU's unfinished business to create a single European market 68 00:06:20,500 --> 00:06:27,380 for trade in services. Services account for 70% of economic activity in the European Union. 69 00:06:27,380 --> 00:06:34,380 The law, expected to be formally adopted in 2007, could create up to 600,000 new jobs. 70 00:06:40,620 --> 00:06:47,620 Galileo, the EU's very own satellite navigation system, received its first test signals from 71 00:06:48,460 --> 00:06:54,580 space in January 2006. The signals came from an experimental satellite placed in orbit 72 00:06:54,580 --> 00:07:01,580 at the end of 2005. When it becomes operational in 2008, Galileo, the biggest industrial project 73 00:07:01,900 --> 00:07:07,380 ever organised at European level, will provide navigation assistance to land, sea and air 74 00:07:07,380 --> 00:07:13,940 traffic and other users at any location around the globe. Galileo will offer users, from 75 00:07:13,940 --> 00:07:19,380 drivers, yacht crews or mountaineers to professionals, the ability to determine their position or 76 00:07:19,380 --> 00:07:22,780 the location of any moving or stationary object to within a metre.