The recent unanimous decision by EU leaders to open membership talks with Iceland was the subject of debate and vote today in Strasbourg. Pat the Cope Gallagher, (Fianna Fail, Ireland) Chairman of Delegation for relations with Iceland said "Iceland is uniquely placed to proceed quickly with negotiations as she has already adopted a significant part of the Community acquis due to its membership of the EEA.

 -Financial crisis exacerbated by ethical failings-

“The business world must focus more on its ethical responsibilities and on prioritising the recruitment of senior executives and financial staff with strong ethical compasses”, recent discussions revealed in a roundtable organised by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

RICS Global Real Estate Weekly

Whilst the next ECB interest rate decision is on Thursday 8th, RICS strongly doubts there will be any change at the next meeting and considers that fiscal measures are likely to hit euro area construction sector.

The key policy rate (the refinancing rate) has been on hold at 1% since May 2009.

Weaker sentiment has yet to be reflected in the hard data but confidence has already been hit and the medium term growth outlook is likely to have now been compromised.

Brussels, 02 July 2010 - Belgium has announced that social issues will be kept high on the EU agenda during the six months of its EU Presidency starting from 1 July.