Migration into and out of the European continent has always been a touchy issue. Now EU ministers are calling on tougher rules, which discourage illegal immigrants while still encouraging skilled foreign labor.

European Union justice ministers have announced that Europe should take complete control of migration into and out of the continent, working with the rest of the world to end illegal migration and manage legal flows. The news comes as EU ministers meet with their counterparts in the southern French beach resort of Cannes.

 

The informal meeting, a regular feature of EU politics, is aimed at getting ministers to agree on the broad outline of policies, so that they will find it easier to agree on the technical details at future, formal meetings.

 

Monday's talks were set to be dominated by a proposal from the French government, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, to create a "pact on immigration and asylum" between the EU's 27 member states.

  

The Czech government has agreed to host facilities that would be used as part of the defensive shield the US wants to build in Europe. But the plans are unpopular among Czechs and many others.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that the deal had been reached after meeting with her counterpart Karel Schwarzenberg in Prague.

"We face with the Iranians, and so do our allies and friends, a growing missile threat that is getting ever longer and ever deeper, and where the Iranian appetite for nuclear technology ... is still unchecked," Rice told reporters in Czech capital.

The radar system is part of a defensive shield intended to protect Europe against missile attacks by so-called "rouge states" like Iran. Washington hopes that the entire shield will be functional some time between 2011 and 2013.

But Rice said the next US President would have to decide whether and how to go ahead with the shield.

European Union interior ministers meeting in Cannes, France have announced that police in member states can deploy units to places frequented by tourists across the EU to handle problems and complaints.

The EU-wide plan would see national police officers stationed for several months -- for example, during the summer holiday period -- at locations that citizens from that country often visit.

 

Robert Maroni, Italian interior minister, said that Franco-Italian stations would be set up as early as August in French cities most popular with Italians: Paris, Versailles and Nice.

 

The stations would allow citizens from an EU country "to have access to police from their home and who speak their language," said Michele Alliot-Marie, France's interior minister, who is chairing the security talks in Cannes.

 

Besides being set up in the summer months, national police could also be deployed abroad for large-scale sporting events, such as the recent Euro 2008 soccer tournament.

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - MEPs on Tuesday (8 July) approved a plan to include airlines into a pollution-reducing Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) from 2012 in a bid to cut the greenhouse gases emitted by the fast-growing sector.

The move was approved by 640 votes in favour and 30 against and means that airlines will have to cut their CO2 emissions by 3 percent in 2012, and by 5 percent from 2013 onwards.

The aviation deal "creates the worst of all worlds," according to the International Air Carrier Association

Additionally, they will have to pay for permits covering 15 percent of their allowances to emit CO2 - the remaining 85 percent will be allocated for free.

Following an agreement with EU governments last month, all steps have now been completed for the proposal to be transformed into law and it is to apply to all companies flying in and out of the EU, including non-European ones.

"This can be considered a revolution because until now we have not yet included products from third countries," said the MEP in charge of the dossier, German Christian Democrat Peter Liese.

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU finance ministers on Tuesday (8 July) agreed to publish reports on their oil reserves on a weekly basis in a bid to reassure traders and reduce the soaring fuel prices.

French finance minister Christine Lagarde - whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency - said the move to be more transparent about stocks would make it easier to get a more "coherent picture" of what is happening on the oil market, with most member states currently publishing this information on a monthly basis.

Most member states publish information on oil stocks on a monthly basis.

The European Commission is to outline exactly how countries will go about doing this in a report to be published in October.

The move is supposed to add some predictability to the market with some analysts suggesting that speculators are driving up the fuel prices.

However, others say it is simply a question of supply and demand - a view put forward by EU internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy who argued after the meeting that while speculative investors could lead to some "short-term volatility" it is the "fundamentals of the market (...) which are the main drivers."

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has opted to allow reduced sales tax for housing, local restaurants and some small services in a move welcomed by France but poised to spark opposition in other countries, mainly Germany.

The proposal, unveiled by EU tax commissioner Laszlo Kovacs on Monday (7 July), enables the bloc's member states to apply lower VAT rates for some specific sectors on a permanent basis.

France has lobbied hard to get permission for reduced sales tax on restaurants

Up until now, national capitals could use a scheme of temporary exemptions from regular VAT rates on a number of so called "labour intensive" services, such as bike and shoe repairs, house renovations or hairdressers.

The experimental scheme was originally applied by 11 countries and after strong discussions among national finance ministers, it was prolonged in 2006 until the end of this decade.

While goods and services are generally subject to a minimum 15 percent VAT in the EU, member states may apply reduced rates of not less than 5 percent to some sectors, as set out in a restricted list.

EUOBSERVER / FOCUS - At a time when studying in a country other than one's own is getting increasingly popular in the EU, a post-graduate university with campuses in two member states claims to be "the most genuinely 'European'" university institute of European studies.

Seen as churning out most of the EU's elite, the College of Europe situated in Bruges, Belgium and Natolin (Warsaw), Poland, gathers more than 400 students from both the EU and beyond.

The College of Europe's campus in Natolin opened in 1994 - it is part of a 120 hectare historical park and nature reserve

In the 2007 to 2008 academic year 412 students from 54 nationalities were present on the two campuses of the College, but since it opened its doors in 1949, the institution has handled almost 10,000 students altogether.

It offers post-graduate programmes in a number of EU-related disciplines on its Bruges campus - economy, law, political and administrative studies, international relations and diplomacy, as well as a more general European Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies programme in Natolin.

In order to study in the College of Europe, candidates have to demonstrate good levels of French and English, a good academic background, as well as present recommendation letters from professors to back up their capacities.

EU presidency France has suggested that popular tourist destinations in member states be staffed with police from all over the bloc.

The proposal was presented by French interior minister Michele Alliot-Marie as she hosted an informal meeting with her European counterparts in Cannes, France, on Monday (7 July).

"These would not be monstrous mega-police stations," says the French interior minister

"These would not be monstrous mega-police stations, but rather offices where people from a foreign country can come and be assisted when they have something nasty happen to them, if they've been attacked or had their pockets picked, and where they will be well looked after," Ms Alliot-Marie said, according to media reports.

In practice, the proposal would allow for police officers from Germany - for example - to be stationed with Czech police forces in Prague in order to assist German citizens - something that could also be applied for big sport events.

According to Euronews, France is set to launch a pilot project in the pilgrim city of Lourdes when the Pope comes to visit in September. French and Italian police will be operating in Paris, Versailles and Nice ahead of and during the papal visit.

Berlin is planning to ease restrictions on the immigration of educated workers in order to address skills shortages in German industry. At the same time it wants to extend limits on the migration of Eastern European labor.

 A worker checks a part at MWL a maker of pressure containers for the petrochemical industry. Many German firms have been hit by a shortage of skilled workers. Germany wants more immigrants -- at least as long as they are qualified workers. The German government plans to ease restrictions on the immigration of educated foreigners with much needed skills. However, at the same time Berlin wants to further delay the migration of unskilled labor from Eastern Europe.

On Monday, government spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters that there had been no final decision on the shake up of Germany's immigration rules but confirmed media reports that Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet planned to discuss the matter later in July.

Last week, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and Labor Minister Olaf Scholz presented an "action plan" on easing immigration to their colleagues in the governing left-right coalition.

MILAN: Several thousand Italians protested in Rome on Tuesday against government plans to push laws through Parliament that critics say were tailor-made to help Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sidestep legal troubles.

Lawmakers began discussing a measure that would grant immunity from prosecution to the top four Italian leaders, including Berlusconi, who is on trial in Milan on corruption charges.

"It's inconceivable because it would allow the president to kill his wife or slash up his lover or sell drugs without being prosecuted," said Antonio Di Pietro, an opposition leader who helped promote the rally.

Organizers initially said 15,000 people had attended the demonstration in Piazza Navona, while the police said fewer than 6,000 participated. Later, the protest grew, filling the square.

The European Commission has launched a scheme to provide free fruit and vegetables to schools across Europe in a drive to curb child obesity.

The commission aims to spend 90m euros (£71m; $141m) annually on the scheme - a sum to be matched by participating governments, who are yet to approve it.

About 22 million children in the EU are overweight - more than five million of them obese, the commission warns.

The figure is expected to rise by

400,000 annually.

The World Health Organization recommends a daily intake of 400g of fruit and vegetables per person. Most of the EU's 27 member states currently fail to meet that target.

It's a centuries-old tradition, but even modern-day Albania is still plagued by blood feuds. Thousands in the country don't leave their homes for fear of falling victim to revenge murders. But reconciliations are on the rise.

 Mr. Puci, 52, and his family are afraid to leave their house due to an ongoing blood feud. On the wall is a picture of his two murdered brothers. The small picture of two grim looking men in suits is the only adornment on the white wall of the family's living room.

The two were Mr. Puci's brothers -- and they were murdered four years ago. Revenge was taken, and as a result, Puci and his family, including the five children of his dead brothers, are unable to leave their two-storey home here in this bleak suburb just outside the Albanian capital, Tirana.

"The children cannot go to school," says Puci, 52, a former construction worker who asked that his full name not be published. "We will run out of money soon. Somebody needs to work, but if they go to work they're going to be killed. The other family will be watching everything we do. They'll wait for their chance."

Ah yes, the downside of nuclear power.