18:56 EU Central Time 16.05.2008

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Google map service could face EU lawsuits

16.05.2008 - 09:28 CET

Global search engine colossus Google has been warned by the EU data protection chief that the "Street View" feature on its Google Maps service could run up against European privacy laws if it launches in EU countries.

EU to tussle with Latin America's 'Pink Tide' at Lima summit

15.05.2008 - 17:24 CET

Tussles over biofuels, trade and even capitalism itself are likely to take centre stage in Lima, Peru on Friday, as European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and some 60 heads of state from the EU and Latin America and the Carribean descend on the Peruvian capital for their fifth bilateral summit.

Highly indebted countries harming euro, warns Dutch minister

15.05.2008 - 17:49 CET

Public debt in eurozone countries should be monitored more strictly, as high-debt states may undermine the stability of the whole monetary union, Dutch finance minister Wouter Bos has said, in remarks echoing earlier warnings that future expenditure arising from aging populations could pose a risk to the survival of the euro.

Ukrainians hanker after visa-free travel with the EU

15.05.2008 - 17:35 CET

Ukraine has been celebrating Europe Day in several of its cities this week, while calling for closer ties with the EU and for a clearer recognition of its European identity. But for ordinary Ukrainians, the real priority is for the EU to let them travel freely within its borders.

EU ministers keen to clamp down on tax havens

15.05.2008 - 09:29 CET

EU finance ministers have given their political blessing to an overhaul of the bloc's rules on savings tax, in a bid to clamp down on tax havens. But while the revision blueprint is due to be proposed later this year, it is expected to undergo a long and stormy legislative procedure before a compromise is reached.

Poland to beef up European military club

15.05.2008 - 09:19 CET

Poland has opted to become a full member of the EU and NATO-linked military club, Eurocorps, in a move designed to spur on the creation of a significant European defence capability.

Ukraine has high hopes for French EU presidency

14.05.2008 - 17:32 CET

Expectations are high in Kiev that an EU-Ukraine summit in September in France will result in stronger ties between the two sides and boost progress in negotiations on a new bilateral agreement.

EU transport 'mega-projects' threaten nature sites

15.05.2008 - 09:15 CET

EU transport "mega-projects" are threatening over a thousand protected nature sites in Europe, according to a coalition of European environmental groups.

Brussels outlines plan for new Mediterranean club

Euro area on alert against wage increases

British queen praises Turkey's EU credentials

EU ready to support 'any initiative' for Burma

Dublin launches EU treaty 'yes' campaign

EU ministers urge peace on Georgia mission

This WEEK in the European Union

16.05.2008 - 17:41 CET

The EU executive will introduce two key proposals to the European Parliament gathered in Strasbourg this week: concrete measures for a review of the bloc's farm policy, as well as a basic framework for a proposed Mediterranean Union.

EU-US air liberalisation talks expected to take years

16.05.2008 - 09:11 CET

A new round of EU-US talks on further opening up the transatlantic aviation market are expected to take several years, according to US officials.

[Comment] The elephant on the European doorstep

16.05.2008 - 07:36 CET

The British Queen's visit to Turkey highlights the anomalous position of Ukraine, more European than Turkey, but on whom the door is presently shut. Despite calls for debate about ‘The Future of Europe,' there is little or no discussion of the next thirty or forty years and how a grand Europe of 42 states might look, says Peter Sain ley Berry.

Study sees no realistic Plan B in case of Irish EU treaty rejection

15.05.2008 - 17:25 CET

A rejection by Irish voters of the EU treaty in next month's referendum would be a "catastrophe" for Europe, as there is no credible Plan B, a new study has concluded.

Irish PM takes hard line on EU treaty rebels

15.05.2008 - 09:19 CET

Irish prime minister Brian Cowen has warned that he will not tolerate opponents to the EU treaty from within his own party Fianna Fail, raising the prospect of explusion for any rebels. His words came on the same day as a "no" organisation launched an eye-catching poster campaign.

NATO picks Estonia for high-tech crime centre

15.05.2008 - 09:25 CET

One year after government websites in EU state Estonia were crippled by a series of cyber attacks, NATO has moved to set up a centre on cyber defence in the country's capital, Tallinn.

Italy considers curbs on 'Schengen zone' free travel

14.05.2008 - 09:41 CET

Amid claims of rising crime, Italy has revived a tougher stance against migrants entering the country illegally and suggested the restriction of free movement in the Schengen border-free zone.

EU targets 'intelligent' light-bulbs in climate battle

14.05.2008 - 09:23 CET

Information technologies that improve the efficiency of everyday items such as light-bulbs, the heating of buildings and how electricity is distributed can produce large energy savings and are an important weapon in the struggle against climate change, the European Commission has said.

Verheugen raises doubts about EU car pollution targets

13.05.2008 - 09:26 CET

EU industry commissioner Gunter Verheugen has signalled that the European Commission may need to make more concessions on its green car proposals, as the automobile industry seems unlikely to start producing more environmentally friendly cars by 2012.