The European Commission issued a detailed opinion against the Greek draft law on online gambling on 7 July 2011 (see link). This detailed opinion confirms that the Commission has strong concerns about the compatibility of the draft Greek legislation with EU law.

EGBA has identified a number of provisions which are highly doubtful under EU law. These include:

FoodDrinkEurope welcomes the vote on the report on “a more efficient and fairer retail market” in the European Parliament plenary today.

The report, drafted by Corazza Bildt MEP, recognises the importance of food in the retail sector given that food represents around 50% of total retail sales in the EU(1), and acknowledges the imbalances between the different actors in the food chain.

Reversing the vote of the ENVI Committee, the European Parliament has rejected the Eickhout report, which aimed to raise the threshold for reduction in CO2 emissions to 30% by 2020.

The Greens and other leftist groups voted against the report, after the European Parliament had approved amendments by Salvatore Tatarella, EPP Group Shadow Rapporteur. These amendments included an increase in the threshold reduction to 25%.

Year on year growth of hours worked by agency workers was +18.1% in April

Brussels 5 July 2011: The agency work industry in Europe grew by +18.1% in April 2011 compared with the same period in 2010. This is the thirteenth month in a row of growth for the sector, which is widely recognised as pre-empting shifts in the employment market at large.

"This is a good deal for industry, not for consumers" Kartika Liotard said after today's vote on new EU food labelling rules agreed between Parliament and Council.