Within the internal market of the EU, governments are in principal not supposed to intervene to support any particular enterprise or business, since this distorts competition. However in certain circumstances – such as the provision of services which are of interest to society as a whole – it is recognised that so-called “state aids” can be necessary to ensure a well-functioning and equitable economy.

The European Commission Directorate General for Freedom, Security and Justice is currently holding a public consultation on how to strengthen the rights stemming from citizenship of the European Union. Consultations like this are an important way for the EU to take stock of what citizens and stakeholders think of European integration, what are their concerns and expectations.

On 20th and 21th May 2010 in Paris, CEDAG participated to the second working meeting of the PASSO project.
The PASSO project (Participatory Assessment of Sustainable Development indicators on Good Governance from the Civil Society perspective) is funded by the European Commission within the seventh framework Programme for R&D.

After the economic and financial crisis, the case of Greece could set another important example of the ties and spill overs existing between EU national economies.
There are reasonable fears that Greece fiscal crunch may quickly spread out to other vulnerable economies such as Portugal, Italy or Spain, threatening the world’s biggest economic area.