A research study funded by the EU shows that the cost of electricity production would rise significantly if external costs such as damage to the environment and to human health were taken into account. The study estimates these external costs at about 1-2% of the EU's GDP, not including the cost of global warming.

Competition Commissioner Mario Monti threatens to start an investigation into a German law promoting renewable energy. According to German newspaper Handelsblatt, the Commission wants to initiate a state aid investigation into a piece of German legislation which is one of the cornerstones of the SPD-Greens coalition.

The Commission presented on Wednesday 18 July its political guidelines for the upcoming White Paper on the future common transport policy. The main objectives of the new EU transport policy will be decoupling of economic growth and transport growth and rebalancing the modes of transport.

After three days of difficult diplomatic negotiations, it is now up to the environment ministers from more than 180 countries to try and save the Kyoto Protocol. Climate talks president Jan Pronk expressed optimism that an agreement can still be reached, but green groups accused Japan, Canada and Australia of blocking the negotiations.

Commission selects 14 pilot cities which will benefit from 50 million euro funding in order to implement clean and innovative urban transport plans. This initiative is part of the Commission's CIVITAS project.

The resumed Sixth Conference of the Parties (COP6-2) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) opened on 16 July in Bonn. With the US and Australia having renounced the Kyoto Protocol and Japan wavering between its parental commitment to Kyoto and its economic relations with the US, it seems very unlikely that COP6-2 will lead to any succesfull conclusion.

German Bundesrat rejects a controversial proposal to introduce compulsory deposit on non-reusable drinks containers

Diplomats from some 180 countries resume talks on Kyoto Protocol and fight against climate change in Bonn

Commission creates multi-stakeholder committee to advise on energy and transport policies