Immediately after Mubarak's speech to the Egyptian people yesterday evening (10 February), EU Foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said that the demands and expectations of the Egyptian people "must be met".

"President Mubarak has not yet opened the way to faster and deeper reforms. We will pay close attention to the response by the Egyptian people in the coming hours and days," she added, noting that the lifting of the state of emergency was a step in the right direction.

"Like stock markets do a roadshow, we should outline the potential of investments in energy infrastructure," Oettinger told a European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) conference.

It would take place "in the context of the legislative proposal on infrastructure we will present before the summer," he added.

Stern warning

Two types of region – or three? That is one of the most controversial questions at the heart of ongoing discussions on the future of the EU's regional policy and the priorities for the next wave of structural funds – due to start in 2014.

The European Commission wants to change the system for allocating EU funds to the 27 member states and their 271 regions, by splitting regions into three separate categories based on their level of economic activity, as measured by GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per person.

"Together we can leverage the investment that has been made on these first generations (of CCS technology) and hopefully speed up their commercial-scale development," Doug Lammie, the CCS supremo in the province of Alberta, told EurActiv.

Marlene Holzner, spokesperson for EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, said that this was already happening. 

The study, supported by US technology giant General Electric, saw 1,000 senior executives interviewed in a dozen countries about attitudes to innovation.

Despite how innovative companies were in each country, views about the social benefits and drivers were critical, the study found.

In countries where innovation was seen as collaborative, creatively driven, fuelled by education and individual potential, business executives are more optimistic about the potential of innovation.

Europe must spend much more on new infrastructure to get renewables into the grids, but the system has to be commercially viable, the participants agreed.

The debate, hosted by Fondation EurActiv in the European Parliament, was held in the light of the EU's 2020 energy strategy, which was endorsed by EU leaders at the first ever energy summit on 4 February.

Speaking at a conference on the Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009, Barroso said member countries had opted for intergovernmental talks instead of using the slower 'Community method', which involves the EU institutions.

Opposition MPs from the Social Democrats and the Green Party have denounced the German government's secretive approach to eurozone reforms.

The German government had denied that the subject of the euro crisis would be on the agenda of the last European summit on 4 February. But France and Germany used the meeting to table joint plans for a "competitiveness pact" to address structural divergences in the euro zone.

The goal is to streamline four programmes totalling more than €143 billion in funding for innovation and research.

These include the Seventh Framework Programme for research (FP7), the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme, the Cohesion Policy aimed at regions, and funds made available by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.