Developments in European information issues: Networks and relays – Services – Products, April 2001

Representation of the EC in the UK web changes

The Representation of the European Commission in the UK has completely revamped its website at http://www.cec.org.uk/ giving it a totally new look. The main access headings listed now are: About us, Press Office, Information Centre, What's new, How to work with the EU, A-Z index, Links, Feedback and Search. Rolling the mouse over the main headings brings up sub-menus where many of the old favourites from Euromyths to Press Watch can be found. The useful Background briefings are now called Policy briefings. As usual for those accustomed to the old site, it takes a little time and exploration to become familiar with the new layout. However navigation through the site via the top menu bar is straightforward, and the A-Z index and search facility offer additional access routes.
The level of detail included in the index varies. For example EPICs, Carrefour, and Innovation Relay Centres are listed but not Euro Info Centres or European Documentation Centres. Full contact information is however available through the Commission's linked website, European Information Network in the UK at http://www.europe.org.uk/info. There are index entries too that lead directly to some of the Policy briefings, but not all. No doubt more work will be done on expanding and improving the consistency of the index in due course. One other minor gripe in relation to the Policy briefings is that there is now no indication of when they were written and hence how up to date the information is.
For those who use the online catalogue of publications, this can now be viewed at http://www.cec.org.uk/info/pubs/catalog.htm#2 and orders can be submitted electronically via the order form at http://www.cec.org.uk/info/pubs/catalog.htm#Order Form/.
One addition to the site expected to appear any day now is the eagerly awaited revised edition of the London Office's guide Funding from the European Union. As well as being made available in electronic format, free paper copies will also be supplied to order.

UK European Parliament Office new look

The Representation of the Commission is not the only one to sport a new look. The UK office of the European Parliament has also been updating its image and the results can be viewed at http://www.europarl.org.uk/index.htm/. It would appear that the site is simple to navigate with the main menu options easily accessible at the top of the screen. The current selection is highlighted and below, there is a changing menu bar of sub-options. Unfortunately the headings were virtually unreadable in the browser version used to investigate the new site, and many of the hyperlinks too were displayed as an illegible blue on black. Perhaps the site can be displayed more successfully in later browser versions and it is certainly true that it is much better behaved when viewed in Explorer where the menu options display clearly. It is a pity however that many Netscape users will be more or less disenfranchised for the time being.

EUDOR delays

EUDOR has posted a warning to users on its website that the loading of 2001 COM Documents has been delayed. Users are directed instead to EUR-Lex and CELEX for the information.
EP Translation Service
2001 is the European Year of Languages. As its contribution to promoting languages, the European Parliament Translation Service offers some insights into its work at http://www.europarl.eu.int/trans/default_en.htm. For those who would like a taste of what the work entails or want to apply for traineeships, details and application forms can be found at http://www.europarl.eu.int/stages/default_en.htm.
New food safety website
The Directorate-General Health and Consumer Protection has developed a highly topical new website on food safety which covers animal health and the prevention and control of animal diseases. A useful source of the latest measures and statements on foot-and-mouth disease, it also carries information on swine fever and rabies and can be visited at http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/ah_pcad/ah_pcad_index_en.html/. Pity about the not overly appealing strap-line “From the farm to the fork”.
Regional links from European Ombudsman
A new section has been added to the website of the European Ombudsman at http://www.euro-ombudsman.eu.int/links/en/regomeu1.htm/ offering links to regional ombudsmen and similar bodies in the EU. This is in addition to the national ombudsmen links already in existence on the home page. Currently only six countries are offered - click on the appropriate flag to select.

State Aid Register

A new State Aid Register has been made public on the website of the Directorate-General Competition at http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/index_en.html. This is the first of two new transparency instruments which aim to open up easy access to current information on state aid. The Register is in two parts: the first part comprises a summary sheet in tabular format of cases registered after 1 January 2000; the second is a search facility which will allow simple searches for Commission decisions. Searching can be carried out according to a number of criteria - the case number, aid instrument, type of decision, legal base, member state or region, objective such as restructuring aid, or the sector or activity. The information is enhanced by links to a considerable amount of other information such as press releases, policy and legislation as well as the decisions. The Register is to be updated at short intervals.
The second instrument, which is still being developed, is a State Aid Scoreboard. This will analyse the State aid situation in member states and facilitate comparisons with the aim of encouraging more rigorous adherence to the rules.
Though initially the data includes only cases registered from the beginning of 2000, 1999 data is also to be made available. There is a further plan to create a more sophisticated search facility which will make possible the combination of search criteria.
For more information about the new Register see Commission Press Release IP/01/430 on the RAPID database.

New CELEX document numbers

Due to a number of recent legislative developments several new document types have been published. This is now being reflected in the expansion of the CELEX document number classification to incorporate the new document types. New letter codes have been created for example for acts based on title V (Common Foreign and Security Policy) and title VI (Justice and Home Affairs) of the Treaty on European Union, and for acts of the European Central Bank. The new classification codes came into effect from 1 March 2001 and will permit more precise searching of the database. Existing documents are being renumbered but they are to remain searchable by the old numbers as well as the new ones. A three page table of the new codes is available to download in pdf format from the CELEX News page.