European Union News - European Union

The Swedish town of Are hosts meeting of European ministers of energy and environment. The former have in their agendas the negotiation of directives that make up the energy efficiency package, with the aim of reaching an agreement with the European Parliament about it in December.

 Iceland today formally presented its application for accession to the European Union, a week after the national Parliament of this small Scandinavian country, with just 320,000 inhabitants, authorized the Government to negotiate the entry.

The meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs with Swedish Minister for this area worked on the imminent accession of Iceland and external relations with Honduras and Iran, and security priorities.

In Strasbourg the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Jan Fischer, has reported to MEPs on his country's six-month presidency of the European Union, in which the main challenges had been "the three Es": economy, energy policy and the EU's role in the world.

The Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, will replace his compatriot Louis Michel at the helm of the area of Development and Humanitarian Aid of the European Commission.

Parliament heard today from Sweden's Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, about his government's plans for its six-month presidency of the EU. Economic crisis, Lisbon Treaty and climate change are their priorities for the presidency.

The names of twelve European authors to receive the first ever European Union Prize for Literature have been announced by the European Commission. The prizes will be presented during an Award ceremony in Brussels on 28 September. In recognition of his oeuvre and literary success Henning Mankell, the Swedish author, has accepted the role of Ambassador of the European Union Prize for Literature for the coming year.

MEPs elected Jerzy Buzek to be the new European Parliament President with 555 votes in favour (or 86.18 per cent of the valid votes). He was elected after the first-round of voting. The 69-year-old Polish MEP will lead the European Parliament for two and a half years (until January 2012). President Buzek is the first President of the European Parliament to come from Central and Eastern Europe following the EU's enlargement in 2004.