2006 in the European Union

← 2005 2004 2003 2006 in the European Union → 2007 2008 2009
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See also:	Other events of 2006 Timeline of EU history

Events from the year 2006 in the European Union .

Incumbents

• President of the European Council
  • Wolfgang Schüssel (Jan – Jun 2006)
  • Matti Vanhanen (July – Dec 2006)
• Commission President
  • José Manuel Barroso
• Council Presidency:
  • Austria (January – June)
  • Finland (July - December)
• Parliament President
  • Josep Borrell
• High Representative
  • Javier Solana

Events

• 1 January: Austria takes the Presidency.
• 2 February:
  • The Commission launches a white paper on communication policy.
  • European Commission Vice-President Franco Frattini backs the freedom of speech of Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten during the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. ^[1]
• 16 February: The Commission's 'Bolkestein Directive' is approved at its first reading by the MEPs admit large protests outside the Parliament.
• 7 April: .eu domain opens to the public.
• 4 May: The Commission adopts a green paper on the European Transparency Initiative.
• 3 June: Montenegro declares independence, leads to separate relations and accession negotiations.
• 21 June: Barroso attends EU-US summit in Vienna.
• 1 July: Finland takes the Presidency.
• 12 July: Kroes gives Microsoft a 280.5 million euro fine for its anti-competitive behaviour.
• 24 July: The Council adopts a common position on the Bolkestein Directive
• 28 July: Polish President Lech Kaczyński calls for EU member states to reintroduce the death penalty. This angers the EU. ^{[2] [3] [4]}
• 15 November: European Parliament adopts the Bolkestein Directive at its second reading.
• 12 December: Parliament approves the Bulgarian and Romanian Commissioners despite concerns over the weakness of the Multilingualism portfolio.

References

1. "Statement by Vice-President Franco Frattini on cartoons published by a Danish newspaper". European Commission. 2 February 2006. Archived from the original on 12 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
2. "Polish leader backs death penalty". 28 July 2006.
3. "Polish leader angers EU with call to restore death penalty". 3 August 2006.
4. "Anger over new death penalty call". 5 August 2006.

External links

• Video: What has Europe done for you in 2006?