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The crisis laid bare the limits of self-regulation, demonstrating the need for strong EU economic governance, surveillance and policy co-ordination, and also the need to involve the European Parliament more closely in decision-making, says a mid-term report approved by Parliament's Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis (CRIS) on Wednesday. EU and national recovery plans should pay special attention to small business needs and innovative energy projects, it adds.

The value of EU27 exports to South Africa increased steadily from 11.8 billion euro in 2000 to a peak at 20.5 bn in 2007, and then fell to 16.0 bn in 2009. Imports rose from 14.7 bn in 2000 to a peak of 22.4 bn in 2008, and then fell to 14.9 bn in 2009.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the Euro Area increased 0.4 percent in August to 112.5 (2004 = 100), following a 0.8 percent increase in July and a 0.5 percent increase in June.

Portugal has made major progress in modernising its economy over recent years but has been hit hard by the crisis, according to the OECD’s latest economic survey of the country.‬

The European Central Bank (ECB) is publishing the results of a survey entitled “Euro Money Market Survey 2010”, which highlights the main developments in the euro money market in the second quarter of 2010, in comparison with the second quarter of 2009.

Member States still perform well in writing Internal Market rules into national law, but the positive trend of recent years has stalled according to the European Commission's latest Internal Market Scoreboard. On average 0.9% of Internal Market Directives for which the implementation deadline has passed are not currently written into national law, up from 0.7% in March 2010. This means that Member States are still in line, but only just, with the 1.0% target set by Heads of State and Government in 2007. As regards application of EU law, there has been a slight fall in the number of infringements compared to six months ago. Recognising the importance of citizens' mobility in the Internal Market, a section of the scoreboard focuses on the effective application of EU rules in the area of mutual recognition of professional qualifications.

In July 2010 compared with June 2010, the euro area (EA16) industrial new orders index fell by 2.4%. In June the index increased by 2.4%. In the EU27, new orders declined by 2.3% in July 2010, after a rise of 2.5% in June. Excluding ships, railway & aerospace equipment, for which changes tend to be more volatile, industrial new orders fell by 0.6% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU27.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Germany increased 1.0 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) decreased 0.1 percent in July.

Shoppers in Europe are finding more green products on the shelves thanks to promises made by European retailers to promote more environmentally sustainable consumption patterns. A report monitoring the achievements of voluntary targets set by members of the European Retail Forum – a European Commission and Retail sector initiative – shows retailers are delivering on their commitments. As well as putting more sustainable products on supermarket shelves, retailers have also made progress in reducing their environmental footprint, paying particular attention to resource efficiency measures. Communicating with consumers on sustainability issues, however, is considered an area for improvement. The report recommends setting up an award scheme to reward best practice.

European households can expect not to have their gas cut off in any future gas supply crisis, thanks to EU-wide co-ordination and interconnection arrangements laid down in legislation approved by the European Parliament on Tuesday. The legislation also aims to improve the general management of such crises.