Workshop announcement "Traps of online shopping"

Online shopping has numerous advantages, but also disadvantages, the trend of online shopping is growing, and today the majority of young people do their shopping online. Taking into account that the Easter holiday is approaching, and consequently the consumption is increasing both in stores and in online stores.

Europe Direct Karlovac and the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the European Consumer Center of Croatia are organizing a workshop on the topic of "Traps of online shopping", which will be held on Thursday, April 6, 2023, starting at 11 a.m., in the hall of the Karlovac Chamber of Crafts, Jurja Haulika Street 14, Karlovac.

The aim of the workshop is to inform consumers about their rights and challenges when shopping online, and Danijela Marković Krstić, head of the European Consumer Center Croatia at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, will present useful tips and novelties related to the Consumer Protection Act.

You can apply until April 4, 2023 via the link: https://forms.gle/B9sx2DS79NxRyZPw5

The first HAWaton in Croatia was held in Karlovac

What is exactly HAWaton, who organizes it, and what is the result of HAWaton?
HAWaton is a competition that promotes information literacy and digital skills of young people with an emphasis on preserving Croatian digital heritage, which took place on March 21, 2023 at the Gymnasium Karlovac. The competition was created in cooperation between the National and University Library in Zagreb and the "Ivan Goran Kovačić" City Library Karlovac on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of the Croatian author Ivan Goran Kovačić. Thus, this competition is an opportunity for the City Library "Ivan Goran Kovačić" to celebrate 60 years since it was named after this famous author. The National and University Library in Zagreb participates in the organization through the departments of the Croatian Web Archive (abbreviated as HAW), User Services, and the European Documentation Center NSK, with partners Europe direct Karlovac, Gymnasium Karlovac and European Commission Representation in Croatia.
The main theme of HAWaton is "Ivan Goran Kovačić", and the contestants will collect online content that describes the character and work of the aforementioned writer. The final product of HAWaton is the creation and publication of a digital thematic collection on the Croatian web archive of the National and University Library in Zagreb. The content of the collection will refer to the character and work of the aforementioned writer, and it was the participants of HAWaton who were the main creators of the content. The thematic collection will be published in open access and available to all future researchers who will be interested in the life of Ivan Goran Kovačić.
Students from three classes of Gymnasium Karlovac competed in HAWaton, and the winners were those who collected the largest number of the most accurate online content about Ivan Goran Kovačić within the given time limit. Its winners pointed out that the competition was an educational but also a fun experience for them, and they also received valuable prizes, while the other contestants received consolation prizes.

HAWaton — competition of high school students in collecting online content

On the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of the Croatian author Ivan Goran Kovačić, the City Library “Ivan Goran Kovačić” Karlovac in cooperation with the National and University Library in Zagreb on 21 March 2023 is organising HAWaton — a competition of high school students in collecting online content. The competition will be held in Karlovac High School, and the task of participants will be to search, evaluate and select web pages related to the character and work of Ivan Goran Kovačić. Participants will, for a limited period of time, collect links to the web pages using computers, while respecting the selection criteria for cataloguing and archiving in the Croatian Web Archives.

This participative way of learning and gathering information in which the general public is involved, which is overseen by experts, is called civic science, represents the level of crowdsourcing, i.e. the work of the crowd.

The objectives of HAWaton are:

  • • Information literacy of young people
  • • Fostering the development of digital skills
  • • Developing Critical Thinking
  • • Popularisation of digital library services
  • • Promoting concepts of mass support in the context of civic science.

Three classes of Karlovac Gymnasium will participate in HAWaton, and each class will receive one winner, i.e. the person who has collected the largest number of the most accurate online content about Ivan Goran Kovačić in due time. The winners of HAWaton expect valuable prizes that will be awarded at the school library of Karlovac Gymnasium the same day after classes.

The final product of HAWaton will be the production and publication of the thematic collection “Ivan Goran Kovačić” on the Croatian Web Archives. The content of the collection will refer to the character and work of the aforementioned writer, and it is the participants of the HAWaton that will be the main creators of the content. The thematic collection will be published in open access and available to all future researchers interested in the life of Ivan Goran Kovačić.

The National and University Library in Zagreb participates in the organisation through the departments of the Croatian Web Archives (abbreviated by HAW), the Customer Service and the European Documentation Centre. Partners organised by HAWaton are the Karlovac Gymnasium, the Representation of the European Commission in the Republic of Croatia and Europe Direct Karlovac.

This is an event and an opportunity for the Ivan Goran Kovačić City Library to celebrate 60 years since it was named after this famous author.

The Security Union: : entry into operation of the upgraded Schengen Information System

An upgraded Schengen Information System (SIS) has started to operate today. SIS is Europe’s largest information exchange system for security and border management. It contains information on wanted or missing persons, third-country nationals who do not have a legal right to stay in the Union and lost or stolen objects (e.g. cars, firearms, vessels and identity documents).

The upgraded SIS is the cornerstone of the world’s most advanced border management system. Together with the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), SIS is part of an interoperable architecture.

The improved SIS is being improved to include new alert categories, biometric data such as palm prints, fingerprints and DNA records for missing persons, as well as additional tools to fight crime and terrorism. Improvements are important as they provide preventive warnings to protect vulnerable people and deter irregular migration. These improvements aim to provide more complete and reliable information to improve security and border management.

Enhanced Features:

  • • Improved information exchange and cooperation:New alert categories and more data will be shared through SIS, ensuring that more complete and reliable information is available. Clearer rules and improved structures for the exchange of information through national contact points (the SIRENE Bureaux) have been introduced.
  • • New possibilities for locating and identifying wanted persons and strengthening external border controls:In addition to photographs and fingerprints, SIS will also contain new types of biometric data (palm prints, fingerprints and palm prints and DNA records for missing persons) and other information to locate and identify persons registered in the system.
  • • Additional tools to fight crime and terrorism:New alerts on inquiry checks will allow national authorities to collect targeted information on suspects of serious crime or terrorism. For example, identification documents and car information used by suspects will be stored in SIS. There will be alerts on “unknown wanted persons” containing only fingerprints of unknown perpetrators from the locations of terrorist offences or serious crime.
  • • Additional tools to protect missing and vulnerable persons:National authorities will be able to issue preventive alerts in the system to protect certain categories of vulnerable persons (children at risk of abduction or potential victims of terrorism, trafficking in human beings, gender-based violence or armed conflicts/crimes), in addition to existing alerts on missing persons.
  • • Additional tools to prevent and deter irregular migrationReturn decisions will be part of the information exchanged in the system in order to improve the effective implementation of those decisions. Member States will have to enter an alert in SIS whenever they issue a return decision to third-country nationals who do not have a legal right to stay in the EU, allowing them to actively monitor whether the returnee leaves the territory of the EU effectively, paving the way for the mutual recognition of return decisions among Member States, as proposed by President von der Leyen ahead of the February European Council.
  • • Increased use of SIS by EU agencies:Europol and national immigration authorities now have access to all alert categories in SIS. Operational teams of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) have been granted access to SIS (implementation is still ongoing).

 

SIS has strict data quality and protection requirements. The system only contains data on persons and objects sought by EU countries and Schengen Associated Countries. National authorities monitor the application of data protection rules in their respective countries, while the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) monitors how data protection rules apply in the Central System managed by eu-LISA.

REPowerEU: deal on energy measures in national recovery plans

REPowerEU: deal on energy measures in national recovery plans
Measures to save energy, produce clean energy and diversify supplies
•Member states to allocate more funds to cross-border and multi-country energy projects
•Support for vulnerable households, SMEs and micro-enterprises

MEPs struck a deal with Council on the inclusion of REPowerEU measures in national recovery plans to support independence from Russian fossil fuels and the green transition.

Negotiators from the Budgets and Economic and Monetary Affairs committees reached a provisional agreement with the Council on Wednesday morning. The deal provides that EU countries applying to receive additional funds through an amended recovery and resilience plan will be required, after the entry into force of this proposal, to include measures to save energy, produce clean energy and diversify energy supplies, as foreseen in the EU’s REPowerEU plan..

Boost independence and fight energy poverty

Negotiators agreed that the new rules will cover measures retroactively from 1 February 2022, with some limited exceptions. MEPs made sure that these measures are designed to support investments to tackle energy poverty for vulnerable households, SMEs and micro-enterprises.

Cross border measures, climate and transparency

MEPs convinced EU countries to allocate at least 30% of their spending under REPowerEU to multi-country measures, addressing existing bottlenecks in energy transmission, distribution and storage as well as increasing cross-border flows, even if carried out by one EU country.

The Commission can grant a derogation from this rule under specific circumstances

The “do no significant harm” principle should apply to the REPowerEU chapters, with exemptions granted to measures that safeguard the EU’s immediate energy security concerns, minimise the potential environmental harm and do not jeopardise EU climate targets. Such measures should be in operation by 31 December 2026. EP negotiators also strengthened the existing provisions concerning the input from regional authorities, NGOs and social partners in defining REPowerEU measures. Finally, they introduced new transparency rules concerning final recipients receiving the highest amount of funding. These rules will apply to the whole of the recovery and resilience plans.

Funding

Parliament negotiators ensured that from the additional 20 billion euro in grants proposed by the Commission, 8 billion will come from an earlier auctioning of national emission allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System ETS), while 12 billion will be taken from the Innovation FundIn addition, no revenue raised through the ETS can be used for investments in fossil fuel.

More information here..

Thirty years of the single market: Commission reports confirm that a strong single market strengthens Europe’s ability to face its biggest challenges

The reports confirm that the Single Market remains an essential tool to address the current challenges facing Europe and stress the importance of continuously improving its functioning, as well as the importance of its impact.

As part of the anniversary of the Single Market, the Commission published today the The 2023 Annual Single Market Report highlights Scoreboard. The reports confirm that the Single Market remains an essential tool to address the current challenges facing Europe and stress the importance of continuously improving its functioning, as well as the importance of its impact in terms of increased added value for the EU economy.

Both reports will serve as a basis for discussions with Member States on strengthening the Single Market and for the Commission’s future work to ensure that the Single Market reaches its full potential by supporting the resilience and competitiveness of the European economy.

The 2023 Annual Single Market Report analyses the integration of the Single Market and its help to overcome current geopolitical tensions, improve the EU’s competitiveness and support the green and digital transitions of our economy.

The 2022 Single Market Scoreboard shows the benefits of the Single Market for the EU economy. It provides a detailed overview of the application of EU single market rules across the European Economic Area, with a view to identifying ways to improve the Single Market. The review focuses on progress in implementing EU law, general business conditions, integration of the single market and other key policy objectives such as growth and jobs, resilience, digital and green economy.

The main findings of the report are as follows:

  • A strong single market strengthens Europe’s ability to face its biggest challenges:The 2023 Annual Single Market Report highlightsthe need to harness the strength of the Single Market to ensure the availability of the essential goods, services, skills and capital needed for Europe’s parallel transition. It sets out that progress is needed in strengthening the resilience of supply chains, addressing strategic dependencies, in particular on critical raw materials, improving integration into the services market and ensuring that Europe has the technologies and skills to address these challenges. The Single Market Scoreboard provides further evidence of the results achieved so far in terms of competitiveness, trade, economic resilience and parallel transitions, highlighting areas for improvement. This includes, for example, reducing occupational barriers (e.g. providing legal services) or cross-border recognition of professional qualifications (e.g. tourist guides), improving public and private investment, supporting SMEs and making efforts at national level to support the twin transition.
  • Strong potential of digital tools and data to improve Single Market governancethis Annual Single Market Report highlights the fact that new approaches, including better use of digital technology and eGovernment systems, such as, inter alia, the Single Digital Gateway and the ‘once-only technical system’, will lead to increased trust among competent authorities and reduced burdens for businesses and administrations.
  • The Single Market brings increasing added value to the EU economy:the Annual Single Market Report and the Single Market Scoreboard assess the benefits and increased trade between Member States that the Single Market has enabled since its creation. The Scoreboard shows increasing trade integration in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic: in June 2022, intra-EU trade represented 60 % of total EU trade.
  • • Companies benefit from better enforcement of rules and general conditions, but difficulties remain:the Scoreboard showsthat the implementation and enforcement of single market rules is improving. This is reflected in the lower number of infringement procedures against Member States in 2021, which is the first time in four years. The Scoreboard also shows better use and application of several important Single Market tools such as the Internal Market Information System,the Single Market Transparency Directive,as well as the increased use of SOLVIT,helping to prevent or remove barriers in the Single Market. In addition, businesses in most Member States considered that the regulatory burden decreased in 2021, but are facing increasing problems with late payments by public authorities, in particular due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The context

The accompanying analyses in the annual reports will serve as a basis for the Communication “The Single Market after 30 years” to be published by the Commission in the coming weeks.

The Annual Single Market Report was published for the first time together with the updated Industrial Strategy in May 2021. It analyses the state of play of the European economy and assesses progress in implementing the 2020 European Industrial Strategy. The Commission is today publishing the third edition of the Annual Single Market Report, which also marks the 30th anniversary of the Single Market.

The Single Market Scoreboard was first published in 1997. The 2022 edition of the Single Market Scoreboard contains, in addition to traditional indicators, new indicators of the business environment in terms of administrative response capacity and regulatory burden, as well as information on access to services and services markets, labour mobility and access to finance. It also reports on other results achieved in the Single Market relating to growth indicators, employment and social indicators, integration of goods and services, economic resilience and the digital and green transitions.

More information

Annual Single Market Report 2023: thirty Years of the Single Market

Single Market Scoreboard 2022

PRESENTATION ON THE NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS

On January 25, 2023, a presentation on the topic of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) was held in the premises of the European Commission, Representation in Croatia, in cooperation with the North-West Croatia Regional Energy and Climate Agency (REGEA). The intention was to explain what the possibilities are for local and regional self-government units and other potential applicants, and how the application procedure works specifically.

The goal of the New European Bauhaus initiative is to develop a creative and interdisciplinary movement that connects the European green plan with the everyday life of EU citizens. The initiative is based on joint design in which citizens, experts, companies and institutions are directly involved.

As a contribution to the above, the presentation highlighted a unique example of the urban regeneration project of the former Luščić barracks in Karlovac, officially registered as "The Fantastic Forest Phenomenon", which competed for the New European Bauhaus award in 2021. Luščić would thus be the first settlement in Croatia, but also in this part of Europe, to be completely energy-efficient and sustainable, but also adapted and resistant to climate change while maintaining the comfort of life and housing.

It is important to note that the deadline for applications to the "New European Bauhaus 2023" award competition is January 31, 2023. Prizes will be awarded up to EUR 30,000 for ideas and projects that combine sustainability, aesthetics, inclusiveness - three complementary values of the New European Bauhaus.

More information about the New European Bauhaus of the Republic of Croatia can be found on the platform at the following link:  https://regea.org/nacionalna-platforma-za-novi-europski-bauhaus-republike-hrvatske/

The New European Bauhaus is an important catalyst for the European Green Deal and is planned to increase funding

The initiative has become a movement with a growing community from all EU Member States and beyond. With more than 600 official partner organisations ranging from networks at EU level to local initiatives, the New European Bauhaus reaches millions of citizens.

The Commission presents report on the New European New European Bauhaus,which analyses the achievements of the first two years of the initiative and the first assessment tool for the New European Bauhaus project, the New European Bauhaus New European Bauhaus CompassThe New European Bauhaus has created a broad community of organisations and citizens across Europe working on a shared vision of sustainability, inclusiveness and aesthetics. The main activities of the New European Bauhaus, including the New European Bauhaus Awards, the first festival and the New European Bauhaus laboratory, meet their goals and build a bottom-up transnational network. Small and large-scale New European Bauhaus projects are under way across Europe thanks to the already allocated European funds of over EUR 100 million. The Commission will only cover the period 2023. In 2024, add EUR 106 million to Horizon Europe’s dedicated funding.

The New European Bauhaus Movement

The initiative has grown into a movement with an active community that grows in all EU Member States and beyond.

The New European Bauhaus includes more than 600 official partner organisationsfrom networks at EU level to local initiatives, reaching millions of citizens. It brings together people from different backgrounds, from arts and design, cultural and creative industries and cultural heritage institutions to educators, scientists and innovators, businesses, local and regional authorities and citizens’ initiatives.

In addition, the New European Bauhaus has been an incentive and inspiration for local, regional and national actors to launch their own initiatives from the outset. To provide transparent access to information on dedicated calls for the New European Bauhaus, the Commission has created a New European Bauhaus browser for users and community membersi.e. a comprehensive database in the form of an interactive map.

The New European Bauhaus Community is also active in Ukraine Its activities include helping to find emergency housing solutions and long-term renovation planning. The New European Bauhaus laboratory is carrying out three pilot projects (emergency housing solutions, circularity and capacity building) and analysed the needs of Ukrainian municipalities and their stakeholders (e.g. architects, urban planners, students and construction companies) for short- and long-term renovations. Building on the results of the pilot projects in the first quarter of 2023, a number of capacity building tools will be developed for Ukrainians, New European Bauhaus partners and international reconstruction experts.

Significant EU investment has already yielded results

Thanks to targeted funding from different EU programmes, the New European Bauhaus has started to bring real change on the ground The first New European Bauhaus demonstrationprojects, i.e. large-scale and transferable local transformation projects, were selected and started in 2022 and were funded under Horizon Europe. For 2023, a further 10 projects under European innovative cohesion policy measures are planned. Together with smaller projects across Europe in the period 2021-2030. In 2022, more than EUR 100 million was invested in New European Bauhaus projects supported by different MFF programmes.

All Member States have included in their cohesion policy programmes for the period 2021-2021. In 2027, references to the New European Bauhaus pave the way for the allocation of cohesion funding to projects inspired by it.

The New European Bauhaus compass as a landmark for project development and evaluation

Today, the Commission is also presenting New European Bauhaus Compassan evaluation tool to assess the extent to which the New European Bauhaus approach has been integrated into a given project. It explains what the three values of the New European Bauhaus — sustainability, inclusiveness and beauty — mean in a specific context and how they can be integrated and combined with working principles of participation and transdisciplinarity. Based on this compass, more detailed assessment tools will be developed, starting with the built environment.

The Next Steps

The Commission will also continue to work to include the New European Bauhaus in EU programmes, including under shared management in cohesion policy, and to increase funding for the initiative. More than EUR 106 million will be allocated to dedicated calls for proposals for the New European Bauhaus under the mission and cluster of Horizon Europe in 2023 and 2024.

In the context of the European Year of Skills of the New European Bauhaus Prize for 2023, it will be thematically focused on education and will cover Western Balkan countries in addition to the EU Member States. The New European Bauhaus Academy will also be established this year and training on sustainable construction, circularity and biomaterials will be carried out to accelerate the transformation of the sector.

Ongoing projects, such as the New European Bauhaus laboratorywill continue in order to mainstream the New European Bauhaus in all policies. One of its important tasks is to increase its presence in countries and regions, including rural areas, where so far there have been few such activities.

Thanks to the New European Bauhaus paths under the Discover EU initiativewhich is part of the Erasmus+ programme, young Europeans will soon have the opportunity to discover beautiful European landscapes and cities and get acquainted with the projects of the New European Bauhaus.

More information

New European Bauhaus website

New European Bauhaus page on LinkedIn

New European Bauhaus page on Instagram

Recovery and Resilience Plan: The Commission paid another 700 million euros to Croatia

Today's grant payment to Croatia in the amount of EUR 700 million (not including pre-financing) was made after Croatia achieved 25 key milestones and targets associated with the second payment. This includes reforms and investments in the areas of public administration, justice, social policy, employment, education, skills, energy and energy efficiency, water management and connectivity.

As for all member states, payments under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism are performance-based and depend on whether Croatia implements reforms from the Recovery and Resilience Plans.

The overall plan for the recovery and resilience of Croatia will be financed with grants in the amount of 5.5 billion euros. On September 28, 2021, Croatia already received a pre-financing payment in the amount of EUR 818 million, followed by the first payment under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism in the amount of EUR 700 million on June 28, 2022. Amounts disbursed to Member States are published in the Recovery and Resilience Indicator Table which shows progress in the implementation of the overall Recovery Mechanism, as well as progress in individual Recovery and Resilience Plans.

Schengen area: Council decides to lift border controls with Croatia

Yesterday, on December 8, 2022, the Council of the European Union adopted a decision on the full application of the Schengen acquis in Croatia.

From 1 January 2023, checks on persons at internal land and sea borders between Croatia and the other countries in the Schengen area will be lifted. Checks at internal air borders will be lifted from 26 March 2023, given the need for this to coincide with the dates of IATA summer/winter time schedule.

From 1 January 2023 Croatia will also start to issue Schengen visas and will be able to make full use of the Schengen Information System.

Since its accession to the EU, Croatia has applied parts of the Schengen acquis, including those related to the external border controls, police cooperation and the use of the Schengen Information System.

The remaining parts of the Schengen acquis, which include the lifting of controls at internal borders and related measures, can only become applicable following a unanimous decision by the Council after it has been verified, in accordance with the applicable Schengen evaluation procedures, that they fulfil the necessary conditions. In December 2021, the Council concluded that the necessary conditions were fulfilled by Croatia.