Diplomatic Economic Club^{® Since 1997}

Commission published EU Cohesion Policy which shows how the EU funds are assisting the member states and SMEs to weather the crisis and produce growth. The Commission 2013 Strategic Report is an overview of the EU Structural Funds performance in the 27 member states. For example, about 53 thousand R&D projects and 16,000 business-research projects received investment from these funds.

Labour costs among the EU-27 ranged from about € 4 to almost € 40. Among the lowest are Bulgaria, Romania and two Baltic States (Latvia and Lithuania). The highest levels of salaries are in Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, etc.

The article under the title „Believe in Europe or die“ appeared recently in numerous European states (France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, etc.). It was written by a French philosopher and intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy in cooperation with other public figures, such as Salman Rushdie, Umberto Eco, Gabi Gleichmann and several others

At a conference of the Heads of Government of the Baltic Sea States on Environmental Protection in Saint Petersburg Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for Regional Policy underlined positive steps taken by the adjacent member states to safe and protect marine environment.

The leaders of 11 states that surround the Baltic Sea have been unanimous about the main idea: the Baltic Sea shall be clean before 2020. The marine environment of the fragile Baltic Sea is important to the well-being to millions of people.

The new European universities listing (U-Multirank) differs from existing rankings by assessing the universities according to a broader range of performance factors, aimed at providing a more realistic and user-friendly guide to offered education and training.

European Resource Efficiency Platform is created in the EU, consisting of the Commission members, member states’ ministers for environment, MEPs, leading energy –resources figures (33persons in total).

The EU wants to keep delivering on citizens’ rights – therefore the Commission has dedicated a full year to the EU-citizens’ relationship. 2013 has been officially named «The European Year of Citizens».

At the EU-Moldova Forum which was organised by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik (Berlin, 22 October 2012), Stefan Füle, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood delivered his opinion about the Republic of Moldova’s development and the European Union-Moldova relationship.

The Commission’s President delivered the State of the Union address to the Parliament’s plenary session for the third time. In analyzing the present EU’s situation he underlined the ways out of financial, economic, political and social aspects of the European crisis.

Commission President’s call for a „federation of nations“ has aroused a new wave of reflections concerning European future. Politicians in the Baltic States are facing a tough time accommodating closer ties with the new „Union’s powers“.