The European Union has said that it is planning to impose a ban on the use of pesticides, known as neonicotinoids for a period of two years on evidence that it might be harming black-and-yellow striped bees in the region.

Leaders of the European Union countries are negotiating on a new budget for the 27-nation group, which is estimated to be worth a whopping _1 trillion, or $1.3 trillion.

European Union leaders met on Friday to reach on an agreement on the budget that will support farming, transportation, research and infrastructure in the 27 nations. However, even after 15 hours of negotiations, the leaders are yet to arrive on common ground on the budget for the union.

Finnish Mobile giant Nokia is planning to develop the world's strongest material called, Graphene that is believed to be even stronger than steel.

Experts say that Graphene is made of pure carbon is only one-atom thick. They said that the material has wide ranging uses in electronics, solar energy, medicines and water desalination. Henry Tirri, the Chief Executive Officer of Nokia has said that the company is working on graphene since 2006 and has found several areas of modern computing. The company says that grapheme is 300 times stronger than steel and thus can be used to make some devices much stronger.

Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has revealed that talks with European Union (EU) and Canada to structure the free-trade agreements have been proceeding.

India has been negotiating with the EU and Canada to enter their markets as its main trade partners the U. S. and a few western countries have been entrapped in the economic uncertainty, which has become a halt in the shipment of gems and jewelry. Africa, South America and the ASEAN countries have been witnessing growth.

It is imposing its toughest sanctions against Iran in response to the country's refusal to stop enriching uranium, the European Union said on Monday.

According to the reports of The New York Times reported the sanctions include a ban on new investment in Iran's eroding oil and gas sector, as well as tighter restrictions on transport and finance.

According to the official reports, the European Union has put out a welcome mat for Iceland to apply to join its ranks, but warned membership requires resolving its banking issues first.

The EUobserver reported on Friday that both Britain and the Netherlands demanded the wording of the invitation before the start of official discussions on Iceland joining the EU include the stipulation that it first pay for losses incurred when several of its banks failed during the financial meltdown in the fall of 2008.

According to the official reports, the European Commission forecast 1 percent economic growth for its 27 member states in 2010.

The commission said in a report released on Wednesday that the labor market had shown improvement recently, but unemployment was expected to peak "at close to 10 percent in the European Union" this year.

The worry that has crowded headlines recently, public debt, would rise to 7.25 percent of the gross domestic product "before falling back slightly in 2011."

Greece is not alone among the European Union countries which have a problem with rising debt, recently released data has shown.

The EUobserver reported on Friday that with attention focused on Greece, the EU has said that the average deficit among its 27 members, had risen to an average of 6.8 percent of the gross domestic product, almost three times the average of 2008 when annual debt averaged 2.3 percent of the GDP.

Greece's task of reducing its debt to the target level set by the European Commission is greater than previously thought.

The manufacturing sector of European countries grew in the month of February despite the snowy weather across Europe. The European Union's statistics office said today the European industrial production was reported up by
0.9% compared to January. The figures of industrial production in the month of February surprised the economists as they were expecting lower growth in the month.

He would present a proposal to limit farm subsidies to the European Parliament, said European Union Agricultural Commissioner Dacian Ciolos.

The EUobserver reported on Monday that the proposal could prove divisive. Two years ago, a similar proposal was rejected by the EU member states. Last year, however, there was a vociferous public reaction when farm subsidies listed online revealed some large farms had received as much as $680,000 in subsidies annually.

Its president has said that the five European Union members that have not yet recognized Kosovo appear to be moving towards recognition.

According to the reports of the EU Observer, Greece, one of the five, recognizes Kosovar passports, Fatmir Sejdiu said during a visit to Brussels.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 and was recognized almost immediately by the United States, most EU member states and China. Serbia and Russia still say Kosovo is a breakaway region, and Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia and Spain are still holdouts in the European Union.

European Commission spokesperson, Amadeu Tardio informed that the EC is looking to come up with a "European Monetary Fund" or a similar mechanism for the European Union. The spokesperson has confirmed that the European Commission is at its initial stage to have a talk with euro-zone countries regarding the issue.

Mr. Tardio further informed that such mechanism will help the economy to rebound soon and it will undoubtedly enhance the surveillance in Europe.

Tardio has also said that the main objective of such an instrument is to provide a proactive means to tackle further economic crisis like Greece. Greece is now dealing with a severe a debt crisis.  

The European Union is having concerns in privacy related issues with Google. This time it is the Google Street View Maps. Google is also dealing with the same problem with its other products like Nexus One and Buzz.

The European Union has asked Google to make some changes to the way it gathers and retains data for Street View Maps. The EU has also investigated the antitrust accusations against Google earlier this week.

Leader across the Atlantic are planning to throw a spanner in President Obama's work. European Union finance are oppose to President Barack Obama's proposal to limit banks' size and proprietary trading, saying his plan run counterintuitive to EU policy, says a draft document.

Facing the backlash of American taxpayers over 'the socialization of losses' incurred by Wall Street, Obama last month urged the adoption of the 'Volcker rule'.

Strasbourg (France), Jan 21 - The European Union needs a "grand social pact" between business and labour to ensure recovery from the recession, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has said in a speech to the European Parliament here.

Zapatero travelled to Strasbourg to outline Wednesday his agenda for Spain's six month term in the EU presidency, which began Jan 1.

The programme was largely embraced by centrists and socialists in the parliament, while conservative members expressed doubts.

One of the sceptics questioned Madrid's fitness to chart EU economic strategy when Spain is suffering from nearly 20 percent unemployment.

Brussels, Dec 11 - The European Union (EU) appears to have developed a yen for Italian pizza and has granted Neapolitan pizza a special label to protect it from any rivals.

The EU Wednesday gave pizza produced in the southern city of Naples a special label that protects it in the 27 EU countries from 'fake' or imitation 'Neapolitan pizzas'.

Neapolitan pizza is considered the benchmark for pizza everywhere in the world.

London - The announcement Thursday night of Briton Catherine Ashton as the first-ever European Union "foreign minister" drew mixed reactions from politicians and media outlets Friday.

"It will ensure, of course, that Britain's voice is very loud and clear," said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

But many media outlets were less full of praise.

The Sun tabloid said her appointment was a "consolation prize," given that the top job of president of the European Council had gone to Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy.

Brussels -- Belgian commentators awaited with trepidation Friday the return of disgraced former premier Yves Leterme after incumbent Herman Van Rompuy was named as the European Union's first full-time president.

Leterme headed the Belgian government in 2008 at a time of vicious political infighting between the country's Dutch-speaking majority and French-speaking minority. Commentators warn that his expected rehabilitation could spark a new round of strife.

London, Nov. 20 : Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy has been elected as the first President of the European Union, while Britain’s European Trade Commissioner, Baroness Ashton, is the new foreign minister of the council.

Poet-economist Van Rompuy is almost unknown outside Belgium.

A staunch advocate of European integration, he has backed policies including a European-wide tax on all financial transactions to fund EU work, The Telegraph reports.

Washington  - US President Barack Obama believes the pick on Thursday of Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy as the European Union's first full-time president could strengthen trans-Atlantic relations.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama "congratulates" van Rompuy on his election, as well as British Baroness Catherine Ashton, who was picked to become the EU's new foreign-policy chief.