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The European Commission said on Thursday that it is proposing a new long-term strategy for animal welfare. It said it's new approach is a "comprehensive" plan that wants to force members states to better apply existing rules that were introduced five years ago. Critics have repeatedly said the existing rules do not work because they lack economic incentives. The Commission now wants to introduce what it calls "cost-effective measures" to make it easier for member states to enact the European animal welfare rules. The new EU approach on Thursday immediately came under fire from animal welfare groups. The World Society for the Protection of Animals said it was seriously disappointed and criticized the commission for a lack of vision and a lack of political will.

STRASBOURG - Martin Schulz has only been in power for less than 24 hours and the new president of the European parliament is already facing a major challenge. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited himself to the plenary session in Strasbourg to defend what the Commission sees as an anti-democratic Constitution. Schulz’ priorities for his term and the Danish Presidency were supposed to be the main topics on the parliament’s agenda. Instead, the social democrat found himself chairing a heated debate on the state of democracy in Hungary. Hungary's Prime Minister attempted to deflect the criticism with legal and technical arguments, but failed to convince MEPs that he was respecting fundamental democratic values. Orban's political party, Fidesz, came to power in 2010. The country has been surrounded by controversy since then, especially during the first half of last year, when it held the rotating presidency of the European Union.

STRASBOURG - German social-democrat Martin Schulz on Tuesday became the 14th president of the European Parliament, beating two British MEPs with a clear majority. The victory of Schulz was no surprise. After the 2009 European elections, the two biggest parties in the parliament agreed to split the five-year presidency among them. Polish christian-democrat Jerzy Buzek held the presidency until today. Schulz is a former librarian from the German town of Aachen. He is known as an outspoken and fierce politician. He has repeatedly criticized the German-French domination in European policymaking. He has also intensely defended an increase of the parliament's powers. Schulz became widely known back in 2003 when former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi compared him to a Nazi during a debate in Strasbourg. The European Commission had a good ally in Jerzy Buzek, who was a member of the same political family as Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. Now that Buzek has been replaced, relations ...

The Danish presidency of the European Union comes at one of the most difficult moments in the union’s history. It’s biggest challenge: Keeping the EU construct together. The financial crisis has driven a wedge between euro and non-euro countries, with David Cameron’s UK seeking isolation from the rest of Europe at a time that the global economy is becoming increasingly interdependent. Denmark joined the EU in 1973, at the same time as the UK, and it’s the 7th time that it now holds the EU presidency. Like the UK, Denmark is not a member of the Eurozone. Its government is ready to take a back seat in the French-German-led efforts to solve the euro crisis. Yet….it’s also has positioned itself as a bridge builder, eager to keep the EU from breaking up further. The EU is braced for more contentious talks on changes to the EU treaty that would delegate more powers to Brussels to supervise member state budgets. Denmark will have no direct role in drafting that new treaty. The presidency is a ...

The European debt crisis in 2011 developed in such a way that some analysts now argue that the European Union is facing an existential crisis. EUX.TV Producer Laura Fernandez compiled key soundbites from the year that is now ending and talked to Janis A. Emmanouilidis, senior policy analyst at the Centre for European Studies in Brussels. Also read the year's review on EurActiv.com

Speaking after the EU-Russia summit, President of ~Russia's Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, on Thursday stated that Russia will offer Europe financial aid in order to help stabilize the European Union and the euro. "Russia will continue reinforcing financial stability of the euro area, first and foremost, through the IMF", Medvedev said. "The European Union is our major trading partner", he concluded.

President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, on Wednesday travelled to Brussels in an attempt to get European support on Palestine's UN membership bid. "We raised the Palestinian flag at Unesco. Now we hope EU will come when we raise the flag at the United Nations, with their support", Abbas said. For his part, President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, highlighted the Union's commitment to a two-state solution.

Speaking at the European Parliament's plenary session, president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, stated that the demands made by UK's PM, David Cameron, during last week's euro summit would harm the European market and, therefore, they were "impossible" to meet. This is an agreement of 27 minus", Barroso said.

During the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg, members of the European Parliament discuss about David Cameron's decision of not joining the intergovernmental agreement reached during the euro summit last week in Brussels.

During the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg, President of the ALDE group, Guy Verhofstadt, on Tuesday said that the UK should be in the negotiating table in order to achieve the "addition guarantees for the City" that Cameron wants.

During the European's Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday, President of the EFD's group, Nigel Farage, said that "this is an unstoppable momentum" to have a referendum in the UK to divorce ourselves from these failing structures". "We can replace it with a genuine free trade agreement", Farage stated.

The Dutch Minister for Immigration and former mayor of Maastricht, Gerd Leers, on Tuesday told journalists waiting outside the European Council that the Netherlands hasn't changed its mind regarding their opposition to Romania and Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen area. "I'm not and enemy of Bulgaria and Romania. I'm a friend of Europe, so I want to be 100% sure that no criminals and no corruption will interfere with our internal market", the minister said.

During a speech at the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, on Monday said that the globally binding agreement between all major emitters reached during the Durban Durban COP17 Summit has been "the result of a European position". "It was the European position that has consistently has stated that we could not agree with a new Kyoto commitment if there was not a commitment of all the major emitters", Barroso said.

Speaking to at the Council doorstep on Thursday, UK's Prime Minister, David Cameron, said that eurozone's stability is very important for both Europe and the United Kingdom. "We need to protects Britain's interests, these are my aims and what we are going to talk about", he said.

Speaking in a press conference in Frankfurt, President of the European central Bank, Mario Draghi, on Thursday announced that the ECB will cut interest rates to 1%. Mr. Draghi also added that inflation is likely to stay above 2%.

In an interview with EurActiv's Managing Editor, Daniela Vincenti, the Socialists and Democrats Groups's leader, Martin Schulz, said that all groups in the European Parliament are "against a treaty change". The Social-democrat also added that one of his major tasks as the next president of the European Parliament is to guarantee the democratic transparency of the European Union.

President of the European Commission, Jose manuel Barroso, on Thursday called for more unity in order to save the euro. Ahead of the EU Summit, Mr. Barroso also urged EU leaders to forget about national problems and propose "European solutions" to the current sovereign debt crisis. "The European Commission supports convergence and discipline", he said.

1st of July of 2013. This is the date in when Croatia will become the 28th member of the European Union. Exactly 8 years after its initial bid, accession talks between the ex-yugoslav country and the Union were finalized on Wednesday. Now, the 300 page long treaty is set to be signed by all European heads of state during the upcoming summit in Brussels. Unlike Romania and Bulgaria's accession in 2007, Croatia's treaty does not include a "safeguard clause" that would slow down the process if final requirements were not met by the croatian state. But recent scandals of corruption will see the Union closely monitoring Croatia's battle against corruption. In 2009, the former prime minister Ivo Sanader was accused of fraud as he allegedly sent money from state-own companies to a fund for personal use. Croatian authorities have independently decided to hold a referendum on the EU membership. Recent polls showed that 61% of Croats would vote in favour. The prospect of EU membership comes straight after ...

In the opening speech of the first ever innovation convention held in Brussels on Monday, president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said that investment in innovation, research and education is key to secure European competitiveness an growth. "We need smart fiscal consolidation, but it is not smart to cut in research and science", Mr. Barroso said.

Interview with David Pennington, Joint Research Center, at EurActiv Workshop "From Life-Cycle thinking to Action".

Interview with Jean-Pierre Birat, ArcelorMittal, at the EurActiv Workshop "From Life-Cycle Thinking to Action".

Interview with Johannes Drielsma, Euromines, at the EurActiv Workshop "From Life-Cycle Thinking to Action"

Interview with Annick Carpentier, Eurometaux, at the EurActiv Workshop "From Life-Cycle Thinking to Action".

Interview with Reinhard Bütikofer MEP at the EurActiv Workshop "From Life-Cycle Assessment to Thinking"

Europe is increasingly looking at assessing the economic, social and environmental impact of all products and materials – from raw material extraction to transport, consumption and final disposal. As part of the process, Life- Cycle Assessment (LCA) has emerged as a key concept to guide sustainable policymaking and business decision- making.

Around 50 thousand trade union members marched across Brussels on Friday to protest against austerity measures. In response to the current financial crisis, the newly formed Belgian government agreed last week to cut public spending by 11 billion euros and to liberalise labour regulations. The new budget for 2012 has been described by trade unions as "unbalanced" and "unfair". Frustration and anger were common feelings amongst the anti-austerity protesters, who feel that orders from the European Union are forcing national governments to adopt severe public cuts. "This government is directing its power towards the working class", they say. The deal includes restrictions on early retirement age and cuts on public services. The budget was agreed after markets and the European Commission applied high pressure on the government, threatening Belgium with a 700 million euros fine if they didn't commit to severe reductions by Mid-December. Despite the evident disappointment of Belgians, the demonstration ...

Greenpeace activists on Friday showed up at an important car manufacturers meeting in Brussels in which CEO's of major companies decided weather to block a key EU climate action law on clean engines. Dressed as storm troopers from the famous film Star Wars, the activists tried to simulate an old marketing campaign from Volkswagen, one of the stronger opponents to the law.

The European Commission presented today (30 November) its €80-billion research funding programme for the decade - Horizon 2020 - with the aim of boosting research, stimulating innovation and simplifying the way scientists and smaller businesses can get funding for EU-backed projects. The Horizon 2020 programme brings together all EU research and innovation funding under a single scheme running from 2014 to 2020. It replaces the Seventh Framework Programme for research (FP7), which expires in 2013. Defending Horizon 2020’s launch in a time of austerity, EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said the programme would serve as a driver for European growth.

2011 was a game changing year for the international response to AIDS and HIV, according to the latest report by the United Nations. The UN says there is is unprecedented scientific progress while political leadership is generating real results. New HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have fallen to the lowest levels since the peak of the epidemic around five years ago. The number of people dying of AIDS fell to to 1.8 million in 2010, down from a peak of 2.2 million around 2005. At the end of 2010, an estimated 34 million people were living with HIV worldwide, up 17% from 2001. The fight against AIDS has been particularly successful in sub-Saharan Africa, like here in in Rwanda. Sub-saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected by HJIV. With 68 percent of all HIV infections worldwide. The UN report says there is a notable decline in the rate of new infections. South Africa remains severely affected with an estimated 5.6 million HIV patients. The number of people living with HIV in ...

President of European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, on Monday described US-EU summit as "very useful". "We are real partners", Van Rompuy said referring to US-EU relations.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday showed his full support in helping the euro zone solve its current debt crisis. The American president also added that troubles in Europe make it harder "to create jobs in the US".

President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, on Wednesday unveiled the Commission's new proposal to issue eurobonds as opposed to national issuance by the 17 members of the euro zone. With this new plan, Mr. Barroso expects to decrease market fears on national sovereign debts and avoid continuous bail-outs of countries without financial stability. "The joint issuance of debt in the euro area could bring tremendous benefits. It could lead to greater financial integration and to the creation of a much larger and more liquid bond market – comparable to that which exists for United States Treasuries.", Barroso said. However, the Commission stated the the new plan comes together with a more intrusive national budgetary surveillance. The new proposal comes when countries like Spain, Italy and France have seen their borrowing costs rise significantly. Barroso's eurobonds hasn't so far convinced German chancellor Angela Merkel, who defends treaty changes rather than eurobonds as a more ...

Italy's Prime Minister, Mario Monti, on Tuesday reassured the EU that Italy is on the right track to achieve the commitments agreed during Euro Summit talks on 26th and 27th of October. After a meeting with president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, the Italian Premier said his new government can push ahead with bigger reforms than his predecessor. However, Monti also told journalists in his first visit to Brussels that his meeting with Barroso wasn't focused on weather Italy can achieve the economic reforms by 2013, but rather on potential institutional reforms in Europe as a whole. When asked about fiscal policies in Italy, Monti stated that all technical details will be discussed with Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, on Friday in Rome. For his part, president Barroso expressed his full support to Monti's determination of tackling the Italian problems. "In these times of crisis and despite huge economic head-winds, Italy is determined to tackle its ...

Greek Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos, on Monday reiterated that Greece will implement all the reforms agreed during the European Council Summit last month. Speaking in a press conference in Brussels, the Greek premier also said that “there is no doubt that the new Greek government is going to provide written commitment”, referring to the written guarantees on reform efforts that euro zone leaders are demanding from Greece. European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, stated that the second bail-out program for Greece should be concluded "by the end of the year".

"Les neiges du Kilimandjaro" by Robert Guédiguian on Wednesday won the LUX Cinema Prize for 2011. President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek,announced the winner during a plenary chamber ceremony in Strasbourg. The others two finalists were "Attenberg", by Athina Rachel Tsangari and "Play" by Ruben Östlund.

Speaking in a press conference on Wednesday in Lisbon, officials from the so-called Troika (EC-IMF-ECB) said that Portugal is taking the necessary steps to meet the conditions of its 78bn bailout programme. “We are very satisfied with the government’s commitment to the programme,” Jurgen Kröger, an EU representative said.

On Wednesday MEPs discuss the needs for a stronger EU economic governance with President of European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso and President of the Euro group, Jean-Claude Juncker.

President of the Euro group, Jean-Claude Juncker, on Wednesday said that the opinions that come out of the Council should be looked at "more closely". "Now it's not only about budget management.", Juncker said.

President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, on Wednesday admitted that the eurozone needs more integration in order to solve the current sovereign debt crisis. He also suggested that member states should sacrifice more sovereignty to Brussels. "Euro area Member States must now consult the Commission and each other before adopting any major fiscal or economic policy reform plans.", Barroso said.

Speaking during a European parliament debate on Wednesday in Strasbourg, president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, called for a more integrated economic union. Van Rompuy suggested that there is a need for " harmonization in a certain areas such as taxation or even some social field". He also added that a greater governance is possible within the limits of the current treaty.

President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, on Monday showed his support to the new prime minister of Italy, Mario Monti. Barroso said that Monti is "an extremely competent person and an expert on European issues", as well as a "committed European".

President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, on Monday said that Greece will have the support of the EU if they "respect the commitments agreed".

European Union foreign ministers agreed yesterday (14 November) to extend sanctions against Syria to 18 more individuals associated with its violent crackdown on dissent, but signalled that military action against the government was unlikely for now. EU ministers also sought to increase economic pressure on President Bashar al-Assad by approving plans to stop Syria accessing funds from the European Investment Bank (EIB). EU leaders warned last month that Syria could face new sanctions if there was no halt to the violence, in which the United Nations says more than 3,500 protestors have died.

European ministers for foreign affairs are meeting in Brussels on Monday to discuss tougher sanctions against Iran, only a week after the IAEA report said that Teheran is working on developing a nuclear bomb. Several foreign ministers agreed that a military intervention is not on the cards. However, Dutch foreign minister, Uri Rosenthal, told journalists ahead of the meeting that no option "should be excluded". Iran denies the charges by arguing that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes, such as producing electricity.

European commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, on Wednesday told EurActiv journalist Arthur Neslen that she would like to see "more American leadership" in the process of getting a legally-binding international climate deal. "We have to believe that at some point, the US will move in this field", Hedegaard said after a Greens Party conference at the European Parliament.

Johannes HAHN, EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, on Monday visited Pompei to take stock of reconstruction plans for the damaged historical site. Hahn says that the European Commission is making available 105 million euros to restore Pompei. Pompei was destroyed by an outbreak of the Vesuvius in the year AD 79.

European Commission's vice-president for economic and monetary affairs and the euro, Olli Rehn, on Monday told journalists waiting outside the European Council that it is essential for Greece to restore confidence between their European partners by establishing a coalition government of national unity.

The Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, on Monday told journalists waiting outside the European Council that Greece has a new government of national unity. He also highlighted that the new political situation in the Hellenic country is the "proof" of their "national capacity" to implement the rescue package agreed during the Eurozone summit.

President of the Euro group, Jean-Claude Juncker, on Monday told journalists waiting outside the European council that European finance ministers won't make any final decisions on the Greek situation after the first euro group meeting. He also thanked the Greek Prime Minister for "everything he has done in the last months".

Extracts from the press conference in Cannes by the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy.