"The European Parliament, as co-legislator, will fight for a strong EU agricultural policy to secure food production in Europe while reducing red tape for farmers", said the EPP Group's Co-ordinator in the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee of the European Parliament, Albert Dess, ahead of the presentation by the European Commission of the legislative proposals on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2013.

Support for global standards amongst CFOs and investors has increased since the start of the economic crisis in 2008, finds an international survey published today by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

EuropaBio welcomes the European Commission’s support for science and innovation in agriculture and for the bio-based economy set out in the new CAP proposal launched today. However, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should be more specific in incentivising agricultural practices, sectors and technologies to ensure the CAP reform will effectively contribute to the objectives of President Barroso’s EU 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

"The politically motivated verdict against Yulia Timoshenko will have consequences for the planned Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine", said the EPP Group's Coordinator in the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Elmar Brok MEP, the Head of the Polish Delegation of the EPP Group, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski MEP, and the Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament's International Trade Committee, Paweł Zalewski MEP, said.

This afternoon, Belgian police, acting on orders from the European Parliament, prevented members of the "indignados"* movement from gaining accredited access to the Parliament to attend a meeting organized by Spanish GUE/NGL MEP Willy Meyer.