During today's discussion on the Commission's work programme for 2012 in the European Parliament, GUE/NGL MEP Patrick Le Hyaric criticised President Barroso "for not taking into account the extreme seriousness of the current crisis and the fact that European people are rejecting the EU because of the lack of solidarity."

By voting massively in favour of this report, MEPs have taken a strong position in favour of a controlled opening of the online gambling market. "While underlining that this decision remains in the hands of Member States, the European Parliament cites the French model as an example," said Damien Abad, EPP Group Spokesperson on the dossier, on Tuesday, welcoming the result.

"We are pleading for a national licensing model to be the rule if Member States decide to open up their markets to competition," Damien Abad explained.

28-30 November 2011,  Sopot, Poland

Today’s EP vote represents a positive shift in its position to embrace a common approach towards online gambling and also echoes EGBA’s calls to the Commission to pursue infringement cases against national regimes that are not compliant with EU law

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) welcomes the report adopted today by the European Parliament (EP), calling by a clear majority for hard-edged EU-level action in the field of online gambling, starting with a common set of rules for consumer protection.

Bucharest, 15 November 2011 - Romania’s foreign minister, Teodor Baconschi, told journalists who gathered in Bucharest from all over Europe last weekend at the annual Congress of the Association of European Journalists that “there is a lot of corruption in politics and the press” in Romania.

The remark reinforced the analysis of Freedom House, an international media monitoring organisation, that the Romanian media are dominated by “a handful of owners with both political and business interests”.