José Manuel Barroso re-elected as President of the European Commission The European Parliament has approved the appointment of José Manuel Barroso as President of the European Commission for a second term. Mr Barroso was elected by 382 votes in favour, 219 against and 117 abstentions in a vote held by secret ballot on Wednesday.

On the 17th of September in Brussels EU heads of state and governments met on the informal council to discuss common EU position for G20 summit in Pittsburg that is about to take place on the 24–25 September.

The European Commission is seeking proposals for two EIDHR Country-based Support Schemes with financial assistance from the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights 2009 Annual Action Programme.

On September 4th in Kyiv at the Main Communication Centre of the State Border Guards Service of Ukraine was held a ceremony of transfer of 24 mobile "Volkswagen" vehicle based thermovision border surveillance sets with the participation President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine, Ambassador Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira, Chairman of the State Border Guards Service of Ukraine Mykola Lytvyn.

This was the very first orientation meeting of its kind organised for future Erasmus Mundus students from Eastern Europe. The day-long pre-departure orientation, which took place at the EC Delegation in Kyiv, was attended by more than twenty newly admitted Erasmus Mundus students from Ukraine. The meeting was jointly organised by the European Commission Delegation to Ukraine and the CIS & Mongolia Regional Chapter of the Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association.

The European Commission has taken decision on the result of the third and the last call for proposals for Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window (EMECW) for mobility activities starting in the academic year 2009-2010 which was launched at the end of 2008. The 39 selected projects involve together 735 higher education Institutions and foresee 7 624 individual mobility grants to fund study, research and teaching visits at undergraduate, master, doctorate, post-doctorate levels and for academic staff.

On 2 July the European Commission proposed to set up a new microfinance facility providing microcredit to small businesses and to people who have lost their jobs and want to start their own small businesses.

On 30 June the European Commission adopted a proposal calling on all Member States to bring in laws to protect their citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke by 2012. Tobacco remains the largest single cause of premature death and disease in the European Union. According to estimates, 79,000 adults, including 19,000 non-smokers, died in the EU-25 in 2002 due to exposure to tobacco smoke at home (72,000) and in their workplace (7,300).

In the results of the first round of the EU-funded nationwide competition on the European Union among secondary school students "EUROPA NOSTRA", the winner was the team of Lilia Borovets. Borovets, a 10th grader from Velyki Mosty lyceum, Lviv region was the clear leader of the first round scoring 594 points. However the second round of the competition is ahead!

The Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine and the Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine have the honour to invite media representatives to a press conference to inform on the priorities of the Swedish Presidency of the European Union (from 1 July till 31 December 2009). The press conference will take place at 11:00 on 1 July 2009 at the Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine (10 Kruglouniversytetska Str., Kyiv). Participating in the press conference are: Ambassador of Sweden to Ukraine Stefan Gullgren Head of Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine José Manuel Pinto Teixeira, and Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Spain in Ukraine Rafael Osorio de Rebellòn Villar. For accreditation please send a е-mail to Ms Katja Lar sson-Vestergren, Embassy of Sweden, before 16:00 on Tuesday, 30 June 2009: katja.larsson-vestergren@foreign.ministry.se