Commission guilty of 'maladministration' over car company letters

EUobserver reports that the European Commission has been found guilty of ‘maladministration' by the EU ombudsman for a second time for having refused to release correspondence between itself and European car manufacturers.
"By failing to grant full access to the parts of the ‘briefings' relating to carbon dioxide emissions from cars, the commission committed an instance of maladministration," the ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, said in a 15-page assessment of the EU executive's stonewalling over the issue.

Read more here: http://euobserver.com/9/31002/?rk=1

EU takes Britain to court over online data protection

Accordint to EUobserver.com, the European Commission on Thursday (30 September) said it is to take the United Kingdom to court for not fully implementing data privacy rules for online users and allowing service providers to use "behavioural advertising" based on the websites visited by web surfers.

The legal case follows complaints from UK internet users who claim to have been spammed with ads as a result of so-called deep-packet inspections revealing the patterns of their daily online activities. Despite requests made last year by the commission, London has so far failed to amend its legislation so that it complies with EU law.

Read more here: http://euobserver.com/9/30935/?rk=1

Insurance policies should not be based on sex, EU jurist says

EUobserver.com writes that insurers should no longer take a person's sex into account when calculating policies, an advisor to the European Court of Justice said on Thursday (30 September), provoking anger in the industry, which adjusts life and health contracts according to whether they are for men or for women.
The preliminary opinion, by Advocate General Juliane Kokott, said that statistics showing different risks for the two sexes may not be used as a basis for treating men and women differently because they do not show an innate difference between them.

Read more here: http://euobserver.com/9/30941/?rk=1

EU passes 'historic' agreement on bank supervision

Euractiv.com reports that European policymakers yesterday (22 September) reached the end of a long road to overhaul the supervision of the EU's banking sector, as MEPs gave their overwhelming backing to the creation of new financial watchdogs.



Read more here: http://www.euractiv.com/en/financial-services/eu-passes-historic-agreement-bank-supervision-news-498050?utm_source=EurActiv+Newsletter&utm_campaign=5647a2c9aa-my_google_analytics_key&utm_medium=email

Court rejects journalists’ calls for full EU transparency

Euractiv.com reports that the European Commission can restrict public access to the documents it files in lawsuits until after cases are decided, the European Court of Justice ruled yesterday (21 September), rejecting a request by a leading journalists' trade union based in Brussels.


The Commission can "refuse an application for access to documents, without being under an obligation to undertake a specific examination," the judges ruled.

But once a judgement has been issued, the Commission can no longer withhold documents from the public eye, the Court said.
The case relates to requests from journalists for access to European Commission documents regarding sensitive cases, including the EU’s ‘Open Skies’ package of legislation, which were first tabled by the Association de la Presse Internationale (API) – a group representing Belgium-based foreign reporters - in 2003.

Read more here: http://www.euractiv.com/en/pa/court-rejects-journalists-calls-full-eu-transparency-news-497992?utm_source=EurActiv+Newsletter&utm_campaign=eb7e459cc7-my_google_analytics_key&utm_medium=email

Reding ditches plans for US-style consumer lawsuits

According to euractiv.com, consumer groups have expressed dismay following Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding's announcement that plans for an EU "collective redress" system are now off the agenda. In an interview with FT Deutschland, Reding acknowledged that she has now effectively stopped the plans, although the proposal had been in the pipeline for a long time.

In her words, the decision was taken to ensure that Europe's economic recovery is not jeopardised by unnecessary burdens for businesses. The plan was designed to ensure that consumers harmed by illegal commercial malpractice are compensated for their losses, but was staunchly opposed by business organisations.

Read more here: http://www.euractiv.com/en/food/reding-ditches-plans-us-style-consumer-lawsuits-news-497997?utm_source=EurActiv+Newsletter&utm_campaign=eb7e459cc7-my_google_analytics_key&utm_medium=email

EU to tighten privacy rules on air passenger data

Euobserver.com writes that the EU commission wants to strengthen privacy rules for the sharing of personal data of air travellers to the US, Australia and Canada and to limit the use of the data strictly to fighting terrorism and serious organised crime.


"We need to have coherence between the usefullness of collecting this data in the fight against terrorism and organised crime, but carriers and passengers need legal clarity and high levels of data protection," home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said Tuesday (21 September) during a press conference in Strasbourg.

Read more here: http://euobserver.com/9/30862/?rk=1