Prague  - Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker Thursday called on the European Union to back bloc's members that face a threat of being put on an international black list of tax havens.

"I can't imagine for a single second that the European Union would agree to placing Belgium, Austria and Luxembourg on a list of countries against which it is necessary to adopt sanctions," he said through an interpreter during his Prague visit.

Brussels - The European Investment Bank (EIB) on Thursday formally approved soft loans totalling 3 billion euros (3.84 billion dollars) to Europe's troubled car making industry.

This is the second instalment in a series of loans that are expected to total more than 7 billion euros by June, EIB officials said in a statement.

The money approved on Thursday will benefit a number of carmakers, including BMW, Daimler, Fiat, PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Renault, Volvo Cars, Scania and Volvo Trucks.

Brussels  - The Czech presidency of the European Union said Wednesday it had invited officials from the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and Jordan to Brussels for a fresh round of talks on the Middle East.

The meeting, the third of its kind since the Gaza conflict broke out at the beginning of the year, is to take place on Sunday, March 15, officials said.

Brussels  - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday described the shooting spree in a school in south-west Germany that has left at least 15 people dead as a "senseless" act of violence.

"We are appalled and saddened by the senseless violence that cut short so many lives and injured and traumatised many others," the head of the European Union's executive arm said in a statement.

Brussels- European Union governments Wednesday cautioned Israel against demolishing some 90 buildings in East Jerusalem, warning it would deprive more than 1,000 Palestinians of their homes.

"If implemented, the demolition would deprive more than 1,000 Palestinians of their homes and would be the largest destruction of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem since 1967," the Czech presidency of the EU said in a statement issued on behalf of the bloc's 27 member states.

Washington  - The White House on Tuesday said it hoped an upcoming economic summit would help the United States and European Union to resolve a growing rift over how to manage a deepening global recession.

Ahead of a Group of 20 (G20) summit of the world's leading economies in April, White House and EU officials have apparently been at odds over whether more government stimulus will be needed to pull their economies out of recession.