Brussels  - Culture ministers of the 27-member European Union recently agreed in Brussels to award an EU cultural heritage seal to significant European cultural sites in a bid to promote awareness of a common history.

"It's a matter of pointing out Europe's own, special identity," said Christine Albanel, France's culture minister and current president of the EU Council of Culture Ministers. This was especially important for Europe's young people, she said.

Brussels - European Union warships will be allowed to shoot at pirates caught hijacking commercial vessels off the coast of Somalia, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Monday.

Solana was speaking after EU foreign ministers in Brussels formally endorsed the bloc's "Atalanta" mission, which starts Tuesday.

Berlin - Ireland is planning to make a new bid in October 2009 to ratify the EU reform treaty rejected by voters last June, German government and parliamentary sources said Tuesday.

In return, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen is seeking legal guarantees on Irish sovereignty over issues such as abortion, neutrality and taxation, they said. He also wants permanent representation for Ireland in every EU Commission.

The Lisbon Treaty, which aimed to streamline decision-making in the 27-nation bloc, cannot enter force until all member states have ratified it. Apart from Ireland, the Czech Republic is the only member not to have endorsed it.

Brussels  - The European Union on Monday decided to phase out traditional incandescent light-bulbs in a bid to boost the bloc's energy efficiency, officials in Brussels said.

The decision, which is part of a series of measures aimed at reducing electricity consumption and thus fighting global warming, means that traditional bulbs will be progressively banned from the EU market, to be replaced by more efficient equivalents.

According to sources in the European Parliament, 100-watt bulbs could be taken off the shelves as early as September 2009, with 40-watt bulbs following them a year later.

London  - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown held a meeting on further measures to stimulate the sluggish world economy with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in London Monday.

The so-called European Union (EU) "mini summit" followed criticism in London and Paris of the Germany's reluctance to follow up a recent massive economic bail-out package with tax-cutting measures.

But speaking before the meeting, which was to be joined by major British business leaders, Brown dismissed media reports that he had "snubbed" German Chancellor Angela Merkel by not including her in the talks.

Brussels  - European Union foreign ministers Monday dashed Turkey's hopes of joining their club any time soon, saying Ankara had not yet approved the reforms needed to become a member.

While recalling Turkey's "strategic importance" and its success in averting a potential political crisis stemming from calls for the ruling Justice and Development Party to be banned, EU ministers expressed "regret" at Ankara's slow pace of political reform.

"The council (of ministers) recalls that the rhythm of negotiations (with the EU) continues to depend on the progress achieved by Turkey in fulfilling the required conditions," foreign ministers said in a statement.