Tamás Fellegi, Hungarian minister for national development, gave his support to European Commission plans to adopt a directive on nuclear waste management in the first half of 2011.

The European Commission will table a draft directive in October, an EU official confirmed.

Speaking at a Budapest conference entitled 'Nuclear Energy in Europe: From Acceptance to Ownership', Fellegi said his country was ready to take up the challenge and conclude negotiations on the directive with the EU's 26 other member states and the European Parliament.

The 2010-2015 strategy, unveiled on Tuesday (21 September), aims to translate the principles of the Commission's Women's Charter into specific measures to boost female potential and contribute to the EU's wider economic and social goals.

"Extraordinarily, despite staggering levels of confusion and distrust, the latest Eurobarometer poll suggests that the people of the EU have a much keener appetite for reform than their political leaders.

On 7 September, in his much anticipated first 'State of the Union' address to the European Parliament, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso reassuringly declared that the people of Europe could 'trust the EU to do what it takes' to secure their future. It was meant to be a rallying call for optimism and self-confidence.