European Union News - 19 April 2013

The European Commission presented a strategy on adaptation to climate change, and also a Green Paper on insurance in the context of natural and man-made disasters. This public consultation launches a wide debate on the adequacy and availability of existing insurance options.

MEPs adopted in plenary session a proposal which aims to open up ground-handling services at major EU airports to more competition by increasing the minimum number of service providers. They added minimum quality standards and safeguard clauses for staff to the proposal.

MEPs adopted in plenary session a resolution that stresses that the European Central Bank should do more to ensure that its cheap loans to banks were being passed on to the real economy and the ECB itself must become more transparent and accountable in line with its growing role in the Eurozone crisis.