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European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes presented to the EU's Council of Energy Ministers in Brussels on 15th February the final report on the energy sector competition inquiry, which was published in January 2007.

The European Commission has today proposed a broad package of measures to assure a smoother functioning of the internal market for goods. This will make it easier for companies, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, to market products in the European Union while assuring a high level of safety and quality.

The Conference Board reports today that the leading index for France declined 0.1 percent and the coincident index increased 0.2 percent in December.

GDP grew by 0.9% in both the euro area (EA12) and the EU25 during the fourth quarter of 2006, compared to the previous quarter, according to flash estimates published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In the third quarter of 2006, growth rates were +0.5% in the euro area and +0.6% in the EU25.

Seasonally adjusted industrial production increased by 1.0% in the euro area (EA12) in December 2006 compared to November 2006. Production rose by 0.3% in November and remained stable in October. In the EU25 output grew by 0.8% in December, after increasing by 0.3% in November and remaining stable in October.

The Conference Board announced today that the leading index for the U.K increased 0.1 percent, and the coincident index increased 0.2 percent in December.

Launched yesterday evening in Berlin, the EU's new MEDIA 2007 programme will provide a €755 million boost to Europe's film industry over the next seven years. Almost 65% of the total budget will help broader circulation of European works to other countries in Europe and worldwide.

In 2006 the European Investment Bank Group, the banking group promoting European objectives, continued its activities aimed at modernising the economies of the Member States and of the countries close to the Union.

A major new drive to fundamentally overhaul core EU consumer rules – including guarantees, refunds, cooling off periods - to adapt them to the challenges of a fast changing digital world has been launched today with the adoption of a European Commission Green Paper reviewing the existing rules.

The new edition of European business - Facts and figures, published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, gives a comprehensive picture of the structure, development and characteristics of European business and its different activities: from energy and the extractive industries to communications, information services and media. It presents the latest available statistics from a wide selection of statistical sources describing, for each activity, production and employment, country specialisation and regional distribution, cost structures, productivity and profitability, the importance of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), external trade etc.