There has been evidence that tariffs imposed from last October have been avoided by shipping Chinese bicycles through Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Tunisia, the Commission said in the EU Official Journal.

The investigation will also examine whether bicycle assembly operations using Chinese bike parts have moved to Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Tunisia just to avoid payment of EU duties.

The challenge for the EU is more than ever to take full advantage of the remaining potential for growth and job creation that exits in the single market.

Europe desperately needs a functioning single market to exit the crisis, EU policymakers stated at the conference "Step up for a stronger Europe", organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on Tuesday (25 September).

Hollande recently announced he would stick to the promises made during is electoral campaign on the refurbishment of one million houses per year from the existing building stock.

The money needed for this refurbishment will mostly come from the auctioning of France's CO2 allowances, as enshrined in a recently published paper. 

“We celebrate all the languages that are spoken within the European Union on this day, whether they are national, regional languages or minority languages or languages spoken by immigrants,” said Vassiliou, the EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.

However, she also insisted that immigrants should respect the language obligations of the countries in which they reside.

Those countries have adopted a hard line stance on the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), proposing a reduction of the European spending to the tune of €100 billion.

They view austerity measures as the harsh medicine needed to solve the European debt crisis. However, the government of François Hollande has been less clear.

“In a country where austerity is a four-letter word, France is hiding a bit”, explained a European diplomat.

In a statement issued on Tuesday (25 September) after a meeting of their finance ministers in Helsinki, the three AAA-rated countries set out the terms under which they would be willing to allow the euro zone's permanent rescue fund, the ESM, to recapitalise at-risk banks.

Thousands gathered in Neptune plaza, a few meters from El Prado museum in central Madrid, where they formed a human chain around parliament, surrounded by barricades, police trucks and more than 1,500 police in riot gear.

Police fired rubber bullets and beat protestors with truncheons, first as protestors were trying to tear down barriers and later to clear the square. The police said at least 22 people had been arrested and at least 32 injured, including four policemen.

Civil rights activists from Georgia and neighbouring countries accused the country’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, of preparing massive fraud for the 1 October parliamentary election (see background).

Activists representing the organisation GUAM (named after the names of participating states Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova), made their case in Brussels yesterday (25 September), accusing the EU institutions of “keeping their eyes wide shut” on Georgia.

"I am planning to present a plan to the secretary-general, a proposal, a new one on the gas exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbon reserves," Eroğlu said through a translator of his scheduled Saturday meeting with Ban Ki-moon.

Eroğlu, speaking in the unrecognised nation's offices housed within Turkey's mission to the United Nations, would not provide details when pressed about his ideas.

Northern Cyprus signed an agreement with state-run Turkish Petroleum Corporation, or TPAO, in April to launch onshore exploratory drilling.

The draft directive, seen by EurActiv, heaps more scrutiny on certification bodies that authorise devices used for health purposes, but shies away from imposing a US-style system which subjects them to central pre-authorisation.

MEPs called for a stronger authorisation system earlier this year in the wake of the scandal involving the sale of Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) breast implants in France.