Brussels - New European Union rules on battery recycling and disposal came into force across the 27-member bloc on Friday in what officials described as an "important step" in the fight to protect the environment and human health.

The new system "represents another important step towards our goal of making Europe into a recycling society," as well as helping protect health, EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said.

Brussels/Tianjin, China - China is failing to attract European investment as effectively as competing economies such as Russia and India and must open its markets if it wants to reverse the trend, the European Union's top trade official said Friday.

"European companies have invested more in both Russia and India since 2003. China is winning a decreasing share of the EU's foreign investment in the emerging economies. These are lost opportunities for China," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said.

Brussels - The French presidency of the European Union said Friday there would be no delay to a planned ban by 2012 of the tiny "battery" cages used by many producers for laying hens.

"I would not like us to go back on that date. I would not like to see it postponed. The council position is that battery farming should cease on that day," French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier told the European Parliament.

Animal rights activists have long campaigned against the use of conventional battery cages, where floor space is the equivalent of a sheet of A4 paper. This prevents hens from making even the most basic of movements, such as spreading their wings or even turning around.

Brussels - Global warming, global security and the global financial crisis are set to top the agenda when the European Union and India hold their annual summit in Marseille, France on Monday.

According to the French government, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, the summit is set to agree an "action plan" on cooperation in peace and security issues, sustainable development, science and technology and "person-to-person contacts".

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and top EU officials are also set to sign a deal paving the way for cooperation on civil aviation and discuss trade relations.

Brussels - A growing number of European Union governments voiced concern Thursday that a landmark court ruling could make it easier for illegal immigrants to gain the same rights as EU citizens through marriages of convenience.

Calls for the European Commission to clarify, or even change one of the bloc's major achievements - the freedom of movement directive - were topped by Denmark and backed by Austria, Britain, Ireland and Germany.

Brussels - A key European Parliament committee on Thursday gave its backing to strong European Union limits on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) new cars should emit in a dramatic turnaround from the expected result.

At a stormy meeting, the parliament's environment committee decided that car makers selling their vehicles in the EU should make sure that the average CO2 emissions of the cars they sell should be no more than 120 grams per kilometre (g/km) in 2012.

Penalties for non-compliance should start at 20 euros (29.3 dollars) per car sold and per g/km over the limit in 2012, and rise to 95 euros per g/km in 2015, they said.