European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso urged the European Central Bank to do everything in its power to maintain financial stability in the Euro zone, saying the EU faced the biggest challenge in its 50-year history.
Several European Union objections to the current functioning of Mercosur have surfaced in documents relative to the ongoing trade negotiations round which is scheduled to have another chapter early May in Asunción, Paraguay.
Mercosur was prepared to listen to proposals on liberalizing trade, but the European Union requested more time and continue working with the negotiations, according to Mercosur delegates attending the trade talks with EU in Brussels.
This week’s strong statement from the European Parliament warning about concessions that ‘can adversely affect European farmers’, precisely a week before Mercosur and EU delegates meet in Brussels to advance trade discussions has caused a certain degree of uncertainty among the South American group delegates.
European Union Health and Consumption ministers have agreed rules that will require the nutritional content of food to be shown on packaging.
EU farm spending, worth almost 60 billion Euros annually, should no longer be based on previous subsidy levels for farmers, the European Commission has said. But subsidies are still needed to protect Europe's food supplies and rural diversity, it believes.
European Union finance ministers have agreed to introduce tougher regulation of the hedge fund industry. Ministers overrode objections by the new UK government and the City of London, where 80% of European funds are based.