"It is surprising that Europe has no common safety standards for road infrastructure and that there are such significant differences in the various Member States," said GUE/NGL MEP Helmuth Markov (Germany), during the debate on his report on road infrastructure safety management in the European Parliament last night. "Since when do roads end at national borders and shouldn't EU drivers be sure that they can drive safely on all European roads?" he asked.

The Confederation of European Paper Industries, CEPI, welcomes the adoption of the new directive on waste management and processing adopted yesterday by the European Parliament as it underlines the importance of recycling and will increase the efficiency of recycling in Europe.

The European Parliament has endorsed the compromise deal reached with the Council concerning the draft Waste Directive. “Throughout the process Orgalime has been sensitive about the proposal that member states might be able, at a national level, to take measures to encourage the design of products with respect to waste: this just risked undermining the coherent approach adopted in the Eco Design of Energy Using Products Directive which cover all environmental aspects including energy use and not just waste.

Brussels/Ljubljana, 17 June 2008: CompTIA – the Computing Technology Industry Association – held its European Innovation Forum in Ljubljana on 16 June 2008. National government officials responsible for innovation policy and IT industry leaders addressed issues of intellectual property, technology standards and e-skills as drivers of economic growth in Europe, with a special emphasis on the crucial role of SMEs.

"With the Irish “no” the message has been out thrice that Europe has failed to listen to its citizen. The European policies are in desperate need of a stronger social aspect considering the rights of workers to be a key issue to its success. Europe can no longer shape its future solely on the aspects of economic growth, while cutting on peoples´ social rights.”