Brussels

European Commission to cap price of sms while roaming

European Commission to cap price of sms while roamingBrussels - The European Commission will Tuesday propose capping the price of text messages sent by European Union customers while travelling elsewhere in the 27-member bloc, sources said Friday.

The proposal will be based on a report by the European Regulators' Group (ERG), which has recommended ex-VAT price caps of between 0.11 euros and 0.15 euros
(0.16-0.22 dollars) per short message (sms).

Sources familiar with the issue say the EU executive could call for a maximum Euro-SMS retail roaming tariff of 0.11 euros as from July 1, 2009.

EU confirms opposition to UN membership for Taiwan

European UnionBrussels- The European Union on Friday reiterated its opposition to Taiwan joining international organizations which require statehood, such as the United Nations.

"The European Union reiterates its policy of One China. It does not support Taiwan membership in international organizations which require statehood," EU governments said in a joint statement.

The statement from Brussels came two days after Taipei's request to join UN agencies was turned down in New York.

EU backs IAEA in Iran nuclear row

IAEA, IranBrussels  - The European Union on Friday threw its diplomatic weight behind the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying that it was gravely concerned by Iran's refusal to cooperate with IAEA inspectors of its nuclear programme.

The EU "deplores" the fact that Iran has refused to suspend nuclear activities and shares the "grave concern" of IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei that Iran "is not answering questions relating to possible activities linked to the design and building of nuclear weapons," a statement on behalf of the 27-member bloc said.

Belgium's "three wise men" hand over to 12 wise men

Brussels, Belgium - A group of three "wise men" tasked with finding a formula for ending Belgium's inter-ethnic tensions completed their task on Friday by proposing that a group of 12 wise men hammer out the details, the Belgian monarchy announced Friday.

Meeting Belgium's King Albert II at his Brussels residence, the trio proposed that "six French-speaking delegates and six Dutch-speaking delegates" launch a dialogue "from scratch and with no taboos or preconditions" on Belgium's future, the palace announced.

More English speakers, but not enough good ones, Brussels laments

Leonard OrbanBrussels  - More and more people learn English every year, but fewer and fewer of them are good enough at it to act as interpreters, the European Union's languages tsar lamented Thursday.

"There is a paradoxical situation here: there are more and more people speaking English nowadays, and at the same time it's harder and harder to find people worldwide - not just in the EU - who can provide interpretation into or from English," EU Multi-lingualism Commissioner Leonard Orban told journalists in Brussels.

EU reprimands Italy, Bulgaria, Romania over emergency number

Eurpeon Union LogoBrussels - The European Commission on Thursday opened legal proceedings against Italy over its failure to fully implement the European Union's common emergency phone number - 112.

The EU executive, in its role of guardian of the bloc's treaties, also referred Bulgaria and Romania to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for similar failures.

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