The German weekly news magazine said that the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) would have two instruments like its predecessor, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), that would only allow public money to be used for particularly risky transactions such as buying Spanish bonds, while private investors would provide the rest.

The European Commission is preparing a new law to ensure women make up 40% of the boardroom in all EU countries by 2020.

The European Women’s Lobby backed the plans and said all EU member states should follow the example of the six European countries that have already adopted legislation.

The Commission’s communication, called 'Industrial Policy – a contribution to growth and economic recovery', identifies four key pillars: investment in innovation, better market conditions, access to capital, and skills.

Unlike previous industrial policy statements – included within the Lisbon Strategy and the Europe 2020 initiative – it also earmarks six “priority action lines”, specific sectors where it proposes immediate action.

The report by the 'troika' of Greece's foreign lenders - the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund - was expected during October, possibly before a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on 8 October.

The two main opposition parties had called on people to go mushrooming or fishing and abstain from voting in an election which they said would produce a token parliament to rubber-stamp directives by Lukashenko.

"Elections took place in the course of which 109 deputies were elected ...," Lidiya Yermoshina, head of the central election committee, told a news conference early today.

She said turnout had been strong at 74.3%, but made no comment on whether the boycott call by the opposition had had any effect.

The planned change implies the split of Gazprom into two entities, one selling natural gas to European customers, and another one transporting the gas. The Interfax news agency reported that the change could help Gazprom avoid EU claims under the Commission’s third package of energy liberalisation measures (see background) that prohibit gas companies from operating both distribution and transport networks.

The idea of a special budget for the eurozone was shared by many influential countries, including Germany and France, according to one senior EU diplomat, who was speaking to journalists on condition of anonymity.

“It’ an idea developing in all directions, still far away from the stage of a clear-cut proposal,” he said.

The diplomat said countries were discussing what type of income and expenditure the budget would cover, with the aim of putting in place an instrument for financial and macroeconomic intervention against “asymmetric shocks”.

Leaders meeting in Brussels yesterday (20 September) stressed the growing interdependence of their economies, where trade has doubled over the past eight years, making China Europe’s second largest trading partner. This year, Europe has also become the main destination for overseas investment for Chinese companies.

“China and the European Union are highly complementary economically," Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said after addressing the EU-China business summit.

Ambassador Kostiantyn Yelisieiev said his country was making efforts to be “as open as possible” and to convince the EU that it deserves support.

“If we sign the Association Agreement, we will stop the discussion whether Ukraine is going East or West. This will be the point of no return,” the diplomat said told journalists in Brussels on 19 September.

The Czech authorities are blaming bootleg spirits containing more than 20% alcohol that were tainted with the industrial chemical methanol. Authorities believe that some illegal home brews ended up in the mainstream distribution system.

The ban on hard liquor sales announced by Prime Minister Petr Nečas does not apply to the country’s renowned beer.

More than 20 deaths in Central Europe have been blamed on alcohol poisoning and more than 30 people have been hospitalised. Slovakia and Poland had earlier banned imports of the hard liquor from the Czech Republic.