Nice, France - Before European Union leaders can fully appreciate Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's expected proposals on European security at Friday's EU-Russia summit in Nice, France, they need to consider the importance of one word: bistro.

According to legend, the French word "bistro" comes from the Russian "bystro!", meaning "quickly!", and was brought to Paris in 1814 by Cossack troops who occupied the city and had the habit of

yelling the phrase at reluctant waiters.

Nice, France - When European Union and Russian leaders meet in the French resort of Nice on Friday, the following points are expected to draw their attention:

FINANCIAL CRISIS: The EU-Russia summit comes less than 24 hours before the leaders of the world's most powerful nations meet in Washington to discuss a response to the global financial crisis.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the host of Friday's meeting,

Brussels - The European Union will fail to meet its goal of cutting energy consumption by 20 per cent by 2020 unless it makes better buildings and products, the bloc's executive said Thursday.

The warning was accompanied by a package designed to increase the bloc's energy efficiency and reduce its dependency on energy imports.

One proposal involves extending popular energy-efficiency labels now found on consumer goods such as fridges and washing machines to industrial products and buildings.

Another involves creating more off-shore wind farms and investing more money in gas and electricity networks.

Frankfurt - The European Central Bank called Poland's plan to enter the eurozone by 2012, "ambitious, but realistic," said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk after talks with the bank's leadership in Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday.

Tusk said the recent world economic crisis has made the currency swap more difficult for Poland, but not impossible.

Zagreb - The European Union's top official for enlargement urged Croatia on Wednesday to fight organized crime and corruption in order to finish talks on joining the EU by the end of 2009.

Moscow - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will outline his proposal for a new "Euro-Atlantic security architecture" at an EU-Russia summit in Nice on Friday, a top Kremlin aide said Wednesday.

Medvedev first revived the Perestroika idea of a new security system "from Vancouver to Vladivostok" in his first foreign policy address in June. Western diplomats say they are open to the idea, but that the concept remains vague.