BULGARIA FOREIGN MINISTER JELEVA UP FOR EU JUSTICE OR ENLARGEMENT COMMISSIONER

Bulgaria’s Foreign Minsiter, Rumiana Jeleva, is likely to get the position of EU Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs in the European Commission.

Jeleva is up for the Justice and Home Affairs job against Slovakian designate Maroš Šefčovič, according to a post on the blog of Jean Quatremer, the Brussels correspondent of the French newspaper Libération, as cited by dir.bg.

Whoever of the two does not get the JHA position, is expected to become the EU Commissioner for Enlargement.

Quatremer’s post is based on a preliminary list of the distribution of the different Commissioner responsibilities by EC President Barroso.

“European Voice” has reported that Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Sweden were competing for getting the next EU Commissioner for Enlargement.

Enlargement and energy are the two top Commissioner fields for which the Bulgarian government aspires.

EU scolds 14 Bulgarian sites in ringtone scam sweep

The EU's second sweep of the mobile phone content market - ringtones, wallpapers and other services – has revealed that fourteen Bulgarian sites are guilty of breaking European directives and misleading consumers.

The European Commission said twelve out of all fourteen Bulgarian sites have been “cleaned up”.

The names of the sites have not been revealed.

In an 18-month "consumer crackdown" 300 websites were investigated and most were not operating properly, the European Commission said in a statement.

A total of 159 websites were "corrected" while a further 54 were closed down completely.

The three main problems identified by investigators were unclear pricing, incomplete trader information and misleading advertising, in particular, advertising ringtones as "free" where the consumer is in fact tied into a paying subscription, the commission said.

The sweep was prompted by hundreds of complaints, often from parents hit with a big phone bill after their children unknowingly subscribed to a ringtone or other service. Many of the sites target the young.

"This EU-wide investigation was a direct response to hundreds of complaints coming in from parents and consumers from many different EU countries," said Bulgarian EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva.

"Young people should not have to fall victim to scams like misleading advertising that lure them into ringtone subscriptions they thought were free," she added.

Kuneva urged parents to take more care over their children's access to download sites.

"Parents should not find nasty surprises in their phone bill, when their children by accident have signed up to more than they have bargained for," she said.

Stockholm meeting builds trust and cooperation

EU and Russian leaders have been meeting Wednesday in Stockholm, Sweden, at a summit aimed at improving the relations between the two powers.

Russia’s President Medvedev announced as the one-day summit closed that they have reached agreement on all outstanding issues concerning energy co-operation.

"We spoke of the development of big economic projects including energy co-operation, and the development of energy safety.”

“Once again I drew the attention of our partners to the energy initiative, which was proposed by Russia in addition to existing energy agreements, including the Energy Charter,” Medvedev said.

" I intend that we continue our exchange of opinions in order to develop a quality international basis for future energy co-operation. What is more, we have lately reached very good results in the approval of the big energy projects."

The President pointed out that he envisages agreement on the "North Stream" project and that permission will be given by Denmark, Sweden, and Finland for its construction on the floor of the Baltic Sea, and also the South Stream project.

Russia's brief but violent war with Georgia in 2009 had cast a shadow over relations with the EU, but both sides have acknowledged that political reality means they have to move on.

The EU, which represents 500 million people, is Moscow's biggest trading partner and depends heavily on Russian gas. Moscow, meanwhile, is seeking more foreign investment.

EU welcomes Russia's intention to cut greenhouse gas emissions

The Russian Federation has expressed its readiness to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 by 20%-25% from the level in 1990.

This has been announced by European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, who has welcomed this news given by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during Wednesday’s EU-Russia Summit in Stockholm, Sweden.

Barroso has welcomed “the signal” given by President Medvedev just two weeks before the world summit on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark.