Jobs, biofuel and plastic bags - EUbusiness Week newsletter 702 - EUbusiness.com

EUbusiness Week 702 top stories: Greece resumes debt talks with creditors; EU probes state aid to power companies; Eurozone exits deflation but dangers still loom; Cars to be fitted with automatic dial for help in a crash; Booze calorie counts get EU Parliament backing; Europe’s police crack massive horsemeat trafficking ring

Publisher’s Note

Who says Euro-MPs do little that bears much relation to, or has much impact on, real life? This week they okayed rule changes to allow EUR 1 bn of EU funding to help 650,000 young people into work this year, greenlighted automatic emergency call devices for new cars, voted for a clamp-down on wasteful use of plastic carrier bags, and called on the EU’s new technology institute to clarify its 2013 accounts.

This wide-ranging agenda highlights how the European Parliament is more than a political talking shop. MEPs do an important job, carefully scrutinising EU legislation – of which so much crosses Member State borders – and exercising their duty of supervising the work of the EU institutions.
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Regards,

Nick Prag
Publisher, EUbusiness

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1. Greece resumes debt talks with creditors

Greece on Thursday resumed talks with its international creditors on critically-needed bailout funds, with officials warning that time is running out for a deal.
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Moody’s cuts Greece rating further into junk: Caa2

2. EU probes state aid to power companies

The EU has launched an investigation into government subsidies used to help power companies avoid electricity blackouts, in the competition watchdog’s latest major probe.
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Europe solar firms accuse China of dodging import duties

3. Eurozone exits deflation but dangers still loom

The eurozone exited four months of deflation in April, official data shows, reversing a dangerous bout of declining prices, but problems remain and the recovery is weak.
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Inflation outlook is brightening: ECB

4. Cars to be fitted with automatic dial for help in a crash

The European Parliament voted Tuesday to require all cars EU-wide to be fitted out by 2018 with an automatic dial-up system so emergency workers can get to crash sites as swiftly as possible.
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5. Booze calorie counts get EU Parliament backing

Euro-MPs have called for all alcoholic drinks including beer, wine and spirits to have labelled calorie counts in a bid to tackle obesity and other health problems.
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6. Europe’s police crack massive horsemeat trafficking ring

Police from seven European countries detained 26 people in a crackdown on a horsemeat trafficking ring two years after a tainted meat scandal that rocked the continent, says the EU’s judicial agency Eurojust.
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EUROPEAN LAW

Blood donors: the EU’s top court has ruled that governments can ban gay blood donors to combat HIV but only on condition they show it is still the best way to limit health risks.
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EU lawyers ‘must prioritise jihadist cases’
Eight charged in France over horsemeat trafficking ring
Hungary says ‘does not plan’ to introduce death penalty
Latest news from the European Court of Justice
EU law firms
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Inside the EU Institutions

Council Watch

Tax avoidance: finance ministers have backed efforts to fight rampant tax avoidance by multinationals in the wake of the LuxLeaks scandal, but EU members face tough negotiations to work out the details.
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As UK election looms, Ireland fears ‘Brexit’
Ukraine seeks EU help as shelling blazes in east
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Commission Watch

Terrorism: the EU on Tuesday announced plans for an intelligence sharing centre to help Member States ward off deadly jihadist attacks, but with limited powers that will not amount to the equivalent of a European FBI.
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Germany must shed light on EU spy scandal: Juncker
Commissioner cheers shuffle of Greek negotiators
EU announces EUR 3m emergency aid for Nepal
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Parliament Watch

Mediterranean migrants: Euro-MPs on Tuesday demanded the bloc share the burden of accepting asylum seekers as the pressure on southern European countries from migrants crossing the Mediterranean showed no sign of easing.
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France’s Strasbourg to keep EU capital status: Hollande
Also this week, MEPs adopted plans for biofuel production to shift from crops to alternative sources, such as seaweed or waste, to cut greenhouse gas emissions caused by growing land use for biofuel crops; and decided to postpone granting discharge for the 2013 EU budget to some EU projects and bodies, including – for the fifth year in a row – the Council of Ministers and the European Council.
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EU diary

2-7 May: European Parliament Committee Meetings
4-5 May: European Congress of Local Governments
5 May: Commission Spring European Economic Forecast
6 May: Commission to unveil Digital Single Market Strategy
7-8 May: Foreign Affairs Council
9 May: Europe Day – EU Open Doors
The Week Ahead
Long-term diary