Documents by topic : Internal market and industry

Last Thursday (1 October) saw an agreement that will lead to the introduction of more efficient tyres for cars and lorries that will cut fuel bills and CO2 emissions. The deal between Members of Parliament's Industry Committee and the Swedish EU presidency paves the way for the A-G labelling system from 2012. The increase in fuel efficiency could lead to a CO2 cut equivalent to 1.3 million cars off the road a year. We caught up with Belgian MEP Ivo Belet who led the negotiations.

On the 17 September the EP will debate the diversification of energy supply to the EU. January's gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine exposed the EU´s dependence deep on Russian energy. Two new energy projects - Nabucco pipeline and Desertec - should help Europe diversify energy supply.

For those of you who like your fruit and vegetables to look as crooked, knobbly and curvy as possible 1 July was a good day. It saw the phasing out of minimum EU standards for 26 types of fruit and veg. The rules, intended to ensure proper marketing standards and help storage and transport, became the subject of ridicule with the press running "straight cucumber" stories. From now on everything from leeks and onions can be sold just the way nature made them.

Any advertisement promoting technical specifications of fridges, washing machines or ovens should indicate the product's energy consumption, said the European Parliament as it amended the Energy Labelling Directive. A product's energy classification should only be valid for 3 to 5 years and the classification thresholds should be regularly updated, add MEPs. The legislative report was adopted by 566 votes in favour, with 28 votes against and 39 abstentions.

MEPs force big cuts in mobile prices

Article - Information society - 22-04-2009 - 14:18

MEPs have just voted to force large scale cuts in the price of text messages whilst abroad and other data roaming services. From July the price of a text message will fall to €0.11 when abroad. It came in a vote taken by the European Parliament that will bring down dramatically the cost of using your mobile phone when on vacation or a work trip. After a family holiday or business trip many people get a nasty surprise when they get their phone bill.

Unless you are lucky enough to be sitting in a park with a laptop, then if you are reading this you are probably in one of the 160 million buildings in the European Union. In total they account for 40% of Europe's energy use and the room for savings is extensive. MEPs on the Energy Committee recently backed proposals that should see all buildings constructed after 2018 having to produce their own energy. The plans relate to proposed changes to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

The Russia-Ukraine gas dispute in January exposed the EU's energy dependence on Moscow. Some 17 countries were affected, leaving homes and hospitals without heating and leading to the closure of schools and factories. As MEPs prepare to discuss proposals to raise the share of renewable energy to 60%, we asked 3 MEPs about the effects of the gas dispute in their home countries and about energy policy.

Cold homes and closed business due to gas shortages across much of Central and Eastern Europe in January thanks to the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute has prompted a re-think of supplies. The crisis has pushed energy security up the political agenda. A workshop on 19 January brought together academics and MEPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss Europe's options.

The gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia has taken much of Europe’s gas supply hostage. While the EU is waiting for supplies to resume, MEPs will debate the lessons from the crisis on Wednesday afternoon from 1630 CET. Russia supplies around 42% of the European Union's imports of gas with 90% of Russian gas passing through Ukraine.

Tanks, guns, socks: the buying of military equipment like this from abroad is complicated due to export rules all being different. This means that Europe finds itself with 27 states and 27 different type of equipment. New rules being considered by MEPs on Monday will make it easier to buy from another country. Its supporters say it will ensure economies of scale and help cooperation between Europe's armed forces. Ahead of the vote, we spoke to Green MEP Heide Rühle who drafted the proposals.

Former astronaut turned MEP Umberto Guidoni of the leftist GUE/NGL group believes that the European Union should have a major role in space exploration. We spoke to him just as MEPs adopted a resolution urging a new specific budget line for the European Space Policy and more investments in space-related science and technology.

As weblogs represent an important new contribution to media pluralism, there is a need to clarify their status, and to create legal safeguards for use in the event of lawsuits as well as to establish a right to reply, says a recent own initiative report drafted by Estonian Socialist Marianne Mikko. Own initiative reports are drafted by individual MEPs and are not proposals for EU laws. The report was later adopted by Parliament's Culture Committee

Mikhail Gorbachev was in parliament Monday for the Energy Globe Award where he picked up a lifetime achievement award. The former Soviet president now has his own think tank and is president of the environmental Green Cross Foundation which promotes humanitarian causes. In an interview, he spoke of his fears for the environment and warned of the chaos that threatens the world. He also criticised the "poor decisions" of today's political elites compared to those of the 1980's.