Brussels - The European Commission said Monday it was considering lending a "small" amount of money to cash-strapped Iceland, but only after its government resolved its disputes with European Union member states such as Britain.

"The commission plans to propose to the member states and the European Parliament macro financial assistance in the form of loans, supplementing a program by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)," said Johannes Laitenberger, spokesman for the EU executive in Brussels.

Brussels - The European Union is to send a fleet of frigates and spotter aircraft to the sea off Somalia in order to combat piracy there, the bloc's foreign ministers decided Monday.

The decision, taken by ministers at their regular monthly meeting in Brussels, gives the green light to the five to seven frigates plus support aircraft of "Operation Atalanta" to deploy to the Horn of Africa around mid-December, officials said.

Brussels- The European Union is ready to toughen its sanctions on Myanmar if no progress is made on democracy, but would consider easing them if the situation improved, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels said Monday.

EU member states "deplore the lack of progress made this year towards a genuine transition to democracy" and are "prepared to revise, amend or reinforce the measures (they have) already adopted to keep pace with developments," a joint statement said.

Geneva - At least 26 per cent, or 30 species, of north-east Atlantic sharks, rays and chimaeras are threatened with extinction, a study released Monday by the International Union for Conservation of Nature said.

An additional 20 per cent of species surveyed are in the Near Threatened category.

The IUCN said the actual number of sharks threatened may be higher as its study group could only assess about a quarter of all species in the region.

The species in the north-east Atlantic Ocean, off Europe's coasts, are more threatened than in other parts of the world, primarily due to overfishing.

"This is due to accidental and targeted fishing," said Sarah Valenti, one of the report's authors.

Brussels - After leading the way in responding to the world financial crisis, Europe could be facing headwinds as it attempts to press on with a rapid and comprehensive overhaul of the global finance sector.

Gone are the high-minded calls for sweeping changes to the international financial system as proposed only a few weeks ago by French President Nicolas Sarkozy when panic selling engulfed share markets and sent shock waves across the world economy.

Brussels - Arguably, one of the joys of watching the European Union in action is waiting for the moment when high-flown principles of unity collapse under the weight of sheer national ego.

That moment came to Brussels on Friday as EU leaders met to discuss, not just about what the bloc should demand from world powers at a summit in Washington on November 15, but about which member states should do the demanding.