Women account for upwards of 30% of the food producers globally yet face major handicaps, including restrictions on land and inheritance rights, plus unequal footing when it comes to finance and technology, says the report released by the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter.

The crisis-plagued 600 MW lignite TEŠ 6 coal plant in the northern town of Šoštanj is in line to receive €440 million of EIB loan guarantees – and another €200 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. 

But disbursement of the money has been delayed by ongoing corruption and fraud inquiries, as well as environmental concerns that the plant will sabotage any hope of Slovenia decarbonising by 2050. 

The EU has increasingly become a sanction-tool for countries that are incapable of respecting directives, Giuseppe Brescia told EurActiv in an interview yesterday (28 February).

Brescia, a 5SM campaigner and new member of the Chamber of Deputies, clarified his opinion about the EU by insisting that the process of European integration, in its current form, is untenable for his party and Italy.

Grillo, the Five Star Movement leader, has commented strongly on Italy’s problematic relationship with the EU and the euro currency in recent years.

The announcement of Füle’s trip came as a surprise. The commissioner had previously canceled a visit in the framework of the so-called “High Level Accession Dialogue” (HLAD).

This form of contacts has been put in place by the European Commission largely as a palliative to the accession negotiations. Macedonia has candidate status since December 2005, but has been unable to start accession talks due to the so-called ‘name dispute’ with Greece (see background).

Van Rompuy, who chairs the regular meeting of EU national leaders, said Britain had a chance to play a leading role in building the European economy now the euro zone had the "artillery" of economic tools to get itself out of the worst crisis in its history.

But Van Rompuy laced his speech in London's financial district with a clear warning to Cameron: Europe will not countenance any attempt by Britain to win an 'a-la-carte' membership, picking and choosing which of the European Union's rules it will follow and which to reject.

Two key partnerships were announced in the mobile payments sector pushing the issue to the forefront of industry strategy and suggesting such payments will become more prevalent over the next months.

South-Korean electronics giant Samsung announced an agreement that will see it introduce Visa’s payment technology on its next generation of handsets, and speed the growth of near field communication (NFC) payments worldwide.

"That would be an extremely strong signal for the Obama administration," Hedegaard, the EU Commissioner for Climate Action, told reporters in a briefing in Washington.

Hedegaard has been visiting lawmakers, administration and World Bank officials as well as other groups in Washington and Boston this week.

Cameron and his party had hoped to come second or even win the parliamentary election in Eastleigh, but were pushed into third place by the UK Independence Party (UKIP), a party that advocates taking Britain out of the European Union and strongly opposes immigration.

The result, which saw the Liberal Democrat party take first place, will pile pressure on Cameron from disgruntled lawmakers within his own party who fret he may not be able to lead them to victory in a 2015 general election since, to do so, he will have to win parliamentary seats like Eastleigh.

The new scheme, to be introduced by each EU country according to its individual need, will apply to young people who are out of work for more than four months. It aims to give them a real chance to further their education, or get a job, apprenticeship or traineeship.

Malmström presented a “Smart Border Package”, consisting of a Registered Traveller Programme (RTP) and an Entry/Exit System (EES), which she said will simplify the life of frequent travelers within the Schengen area.

The legislative proposals needs approval from both the European Parliament and EU member states, with the new system expected to start operation in 2017 or 2018.

Green lawmakers in the European Parliament vowed to block the plan, saying it "would create a Big Brother 2.0 at Europe’s borders".