Brussels - NATO and Pakistan agree that winning over the hearts and minds of tribesmen living in Pakistan's lawless border with Afghanistan is crucial to defeating the Taliban, the transatlantic alliance's top military commander said Friday.

Brussels - European Union agriculture ministers were holding tough talks in Brussels on Wednesday over plans to gradually increase milk quotas before they are phased out entirely in 2015.

Another controversial proposal from EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel involves reducing direct payments to farmers, so that more EU money can be spent on fighting climate change, defending biodiversity and dealing with possible water shortages in the countryside.

The commission wants milk quotas to be increased by 1 per cent per year in all EU member states.

"We want a soft landing before the expiry of the quota system," Fischer Boel said in a recent interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Brussels  - EU governments should lift their restrictions on workers from the bloc's newer member states, since they bring more gain than pain, Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla said Tuesday.

"Workers from new (EU) member states have satisfied demand in receiving countries ... without creating any major disruption to unemployment or to the salaries of native workers," Spidla said.

Brussels  - Ah, the style of an Italian Ferrari, the solidity of a German Mercedes, the flair of a French Renault!

The car industry is not only Europe's pride and joy, it provides income for some 12 million families and last year generated a combined turnover of 551 billion euros (700 billion dollars), or about 5 per cent of the continent's gross domestic product (GDP).

One in every three cars sold around the world is European.

But now, caught between the global credit crunch, a recession and the need to make greener vehicles, Europe's automobile industry says it is facing its most difficult moment since the oil crisis of the early 1970s.

Brussels  - Contrary to popular belief, the European Union's expansion towards central and Eastern Europe has not sparked a massive influx of Polish plumbers or Bulgarian builders to the bloc's richest nations, figures due out Tuesday show.

According to the European Commission's latest report, more and more workers from the EU's 12 newest member states have been relocating to Germany or Britain since being allowed to move freely around the 27-member bloc.

However, their numbers remain small in relative terms. In fact, the EU's richer nations continue to receive a far higher share of foreign immigrants from the developing world.

Brussels - The European Commission and China agreed Monday to beef up controls on potentially dangerous Chinese products and foods exported to the European Union.

The deal follows a major scandal involving contaminated milk powder that left at least four infants dead and 53,000 others hospitalized in China.

China will now be obliged to inform the European Union about what it is doing to track down dangerous goods.

In return, Chinese officials will be given access to the EU's Rapid Alert System for Feed and Food (RASFF), where controlling authorities can exchange information about what measures are being taken to ensure food safety.