Sustainable agricultural practices play a crucial role in ensuring both environmental and food security, as farmers manage up to 50% of EU land, participants in an agriculture forum stressed yesterday (16 March).

MEPs have rejected calls for a mandatory EU-wide 'traffic light' system for food labels similar to the one currently applied in the UK, much to the disappointment of European consumer and health groups.

Europeans needing organ transplants should face shorter waiting times after MEPs voted on Tuesday (16 March) for measures to improve the supply and safety of donated organs, while curbing illegal trafficking.

European football clubs who train young players only to see them sign their first professional contract with another EU team can now claim compensation for the loss, European judges ruled yesterday (16 March).

The European Commission should continue to provide information in non-official EU languages, MEPs urged this week (15 March), expressing disappointment that Russian-language fact-sheets produced by the EU executive's offices in Latvia were recently withdrawn.

Pressure eased on Greek sovereign bonds yesterday (16 March) after credit rating agency Standard & Poor's lifted a threat of an immediate downgrade, sending the euro to new highs.

MEPs are today (17 March) expected to get closer to agreeing a way to welcome their 18 additional colleagues, as provided for by the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.

The EU commissioners for innovation and regional policy, meeting in Spain this week, have called for an end to duplication and misuse of EU funding between their vast policy machines and pledged to work better together.

EU finance ministers are fighting against the European Commission's target of spending 3% of GDP on research and development (R&D), demanding a new "outcome-oriented" measure of success.

The US is growing increasingly worried by the EU's financial reform agenda, as US officials descend on the European institutions in Brussels to warn policymakers against divergent rules on hedge funds and derivatives.

The EU-US partnership should get off the ground and both sides should take steps towards one another, with the European Union becoming "more pragmatic" and the USA "more romantic," European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek said yesterday (16 March).