After fruitful bilateral negotiations the European Liberal and Democrat party welcomes today Fianna Fàil as a new ELDR member party. Fianna Fail Secretary General Sean Dorgan was warmly welcomed in Brussels today to finalize the application procedure of his party with the ELDR Council, the highest decision-making body of the ELDR Party in matters of membership.

April 27 – May 4, 2009 Bozar, Czech Permanent Representation, Berlaymont One World is today the largest and most important human rights film festival in Europe and is firmly established as one of premier cultural and media events in the Czech Republic. One World presents 123 films from all around the globe and seeks to promote the best quality documentary filmmaking on social and political issues. In 2007 One World was awarded UNESCO special mention for its contribution to human rights and peace education.

“No one doubts that the global financial crisis presents unique challenges for public services in the EU” says Michael Burnett, public service delivery expert at the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA), launching a new EIPA initiative. But, he predicts, “Some will find new ways of delivering services and new opportunities in this crisis”.

As part of this initiative EIPA will organise a new seminar on “Delivering public services in a time of financial crisis - Choices, challenges and opportunities” on 6 and 7 July 2009 in Maastricht (NL).

Appeal to Maltese Prime Minister reiterated after yesterday’s attack

Brussels, April 15th 2009 – BirdLife International [1] strongly condemned yesterday’s attack against a nature reserve ranger in Malta. In the early morning of April 14th, Ray Vella, working for the “Foresta 2000” afforestation project was shot on the head and his right ear by an aggressor when inspecting the project area in Mellieha [2]. Foresta 2000 is a partnership of BirdLife Malta, the Parks Department of the Maltese Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs and Din l-Art Helwa – the National Trust of Malta.

With over 20 GWe of CHP installed and a national target to double CHP by 2020, Germany is Europe’s champion. Recognising the benefits inherent in high efficiency cogeneration, the German
government has launched an ambitious initiative aiming to double the share of cogeneration in