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New fires continue to break out around Greece The European Commission will put forward proposals this autumn for a standing EU force to respond to fires, floods and other major emergencies. The commission says the current system has its limits. In 2007, there has been flooding in the UK, a heat wave in central and southern Europe, and now forest fires in Greece, in which at least 60 people have died. But critics say the EU should release financial aid faster, rather than set up a civil protection force of its own. 'Better way' When Greece appealed for help...

Gordon Brown’s first Washington visit as Britain’s prime minister has prompted tea-leaf reading about the strengths and weaknesses of the US-UK relationship. Momentarily diverting – and probably unavoidable – as the frenzy of speculation is, the real tests lie ahead. Actions ultimately trump semiotics in national security affairs. Moreover, as contentious and important as Iraq is, it is a mistake to think that disagreements on that issue represent a fundamental change in the US-UK relationship. Tony Blair and President George W. Bush disagreed on global warming, as will Mr Brown and Mr Bush, but in neither case does the disagreement...

European Union leaders have reached agreement on proposals for a new treaty to govern the 27-member bloc. Here are some of the main points: 'REFORM TREATY' NOT 'CONSTITUTION' The rejection of the draft constitution by France and the Netherlands was perceived in some EU member states as an expression of the citizens' fear of a European super-state. To remove that fear, the new document to be drafted at an Inter-Governmental Conference (ICG) convening in July will be called a Reform Treaty - sitting alongside other treaties of the EU, but not replacing them. Terminology such as "law" and "framework law"...

Europhiles have been far too complacent and unquestioning. Here we go again. Two years ago the French and Dutch public demolished Europe’s plans for a new constitution. Now the German presidency of Angela Merkel wants to resurrect it in the guise of a new treaty. Europe is on the verge of repeating history rather than learning from it. As a pro-European I fear the consequences for the already strained relationship between Europe and its citizens. It is true, of course, that Europe has grown topsy-turvy as successive countries have clamoured to share in its remarkable success. As the world’s biggest...

29 March 2007 BBC Europe editor Mark Mardell on the European Union's growing, but often unrecognised, role in the field of foreign policy, and continuing support for the idea of an EU foreign minister. The diary is published every Thursday. To always see the latest edition, please click here and bookmark this page. FINGER-WAGGING EU peacekeepers have been very active in the Balkans Do tyrants cower when the European Parliament denounces their misdeeds? I thought we were going to find out this week. After all, the parliament passes regular motions condemning appalling behaviour, here there and everywhere. They've just...

Dubai - A British man has been sentenced to three months in prison by a court in the conservative United Arab Emirates for insulting Islam, local media reported on Wednesday. The 34-year-old accountant drank six beers and six vodkas in the emirate of Dubai before climbing into a taxi and subjecting the Muslim Pakistani driver to a tirade of anti-Muslim insults, the 7Days newspaper reported. "I can't remember what I did and I can't remember all the conversation with the driver," the man told the court, denying the charges over the December 2006 incident. Foreigners in the booming emirate -...

By Mark Mardell BBC Europe editor Angela Merkel is in the driving seat and going at breakneck speed Straight after the signing, Germany's leader nearly got left behind. As the other 26 leaders waited on the bus that was to take them to the Brandenburg gate, Mrs Merkel had to push her way through the crowd, waving slightly anxiously, trying to catch up. But this in no way works as a metaphor. Politically speaking Mrs Merkel is behind the wheel, driving at breakneck speed. The Germans want a new treaty to renew the political shape of Europe and "renew...

"Declaration on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the signature of the Treaties of Rome"For centuries Europe has been an idea, holding out hope of peace and understanding. That hope has been fulfilled. European unification has made peace and prosperity possible. It has brought about a sense of community and overcome differences. Each Member State has helped to unite Europe and to strengthen democracy and the rule of law. Thanks to the yearning for freedom of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe the unnatural division of Europe is now consigned to the past. European unification shows that...

The leaders hailed 50 years of peace since the Treaty of Rome EU leaders have adopted a declaration calling for some of the reforms proposed in the bloc's ill-fated constitution to be carried out by 2009.The "Berlin Declaration" was issued to mark 50 years of the union, which was founded by the 1957 Treaty of Rome. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the EU needed to move forward and play a greater role in the world. The ceremonies came after a night of revelry in the German capital, with a gala concert and a lavish dinner. In the city,...

Berlin is seen as a symbolic venue for the EU party European Union leaders have joined a gala concert in Berlin celebrating the 50th anniversary of the bloc, which was founded by the 1957 Treaty of Rome.The concert, conducted by Britain's Sir Simon Rattle, will be followed by dinner for the 27 leaders at German President Horst Koehler's residence. Berliners will also join events at city clubs and museums throughout the night. A leader's summit on Sunday will endorse a statement emphasising the EU's achievements and challenges ahead. Chancellor Angela Merkel will use the event to relaunch the debate...

Marie-Helene Von Mach was there Marie-Helene Von Mach remembers the day her father came back from the dead. It was 1954 and he had been gone nine years.A German Wehrmacht officer taken prisoner by the Soviets in occupied Czechoslovakia at the end of the war, he had disappeared into Stalin's Gulag and his family did not know whether he was alive or dead. Then, suddenly, he came home. Over lunch in Brussels last month I told her that, as the BBC's Moscow correspondent, I'd lived in an apartment block built by captured German soldiers, whom Stalin used as slave...

Berlin is seen as a symbolic venue for the EU party European Union leaders are due to meet in the German capital, Berlin, for the 27-nation bloc's 50th birthday party. Chancellor Angela Merkel will use the celebrations to relaunch the debate on the EU's stalled constitution, rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. A declaration to be issued in Berlin will include a commitment to place the EU on a renewed basis within two years. Correspondents say it will paper over deep divisions among the 27 EU members over the bloc's future direction. "We, the citizens of Europe,...

22 March 2007 BBC Europe editor Mark Mardell on the contents of the Berlin Declaration to be signed at a summit this weekend, comparisons between the EU and the Roman empire, and two very different visions of the EU's future. The diary is published every Thursday - bookmarking this page will always take you to the latest issue. OUTSTANDING BLANDNESS"In the middle of the very grand room, one of the many grand rooms in the palace, stands a glass case, containing a book of 1,144 pages. In it are both dreams and nightmares, depending who is reading the book."...

!-- E IBYL --> The European Union claims it has secured peace among historical enemies, spread democracy to its neighbours and created a new model of international co-operation. But none of that was pre-ordained. The milestones of the past 50 years tell a story of bitter national rivalries, personality clashes and tortured compromises which have threatened the project's survival more than once and may do so again in the coming years. Churchill saw European unity as a means of breaking the cycle of conflict Winston Churchill, Britain's wartime leader, called postwar Europe "a rubble heap, a charnel-house, a breeding-ground...

Fifty years since the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which launched the European community, world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds looks at one of the EU's growth areas - foreign and security policy. The European Union has quietly acquired what might be described as a standing army. Finnish soldier of EU battlegroup On 1 January, its concept of assigning 1500-strong multinational "battlegroups" for rapid response peacekeeping operations reached "full operational capability" when two units were declared ready for immediate assignment. This army is not large in size, but it is large in potential. It illustrates the way the EU...

Some countries are reluctant to switch from fossil fuel power plants The next few days could be a "defining moment for the EU" as its leaders consider tough new emissions targets, the EU Commission president says.Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU's credibility hung on its matching words with action to fight climate change. In Brussels, EU leaders are expected to commit to cutting carbon emissions by 20% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. But how this burden will be shared is still subject to argument, as are plans to increase energy market competition. In the space of little over...

The ERC should give a sharper focus to European research Europe has a new flagship agency to fund the brightest ideas in science. The European Research Council (ERC) has been given a budget of 7.5bn euros (£5bn) to 2013, and will focus solely on fundamental, or "blue skies", study. It is hoped the initiative can find the breakthrough thinking - and eventually new products and services - to keep the EU's economy globally competitive. The ERC was formally inaugurated at a meeting in Berlin attended by the German Chancellor, Dr Angela Merkel. She said the Council would become "a...

The EU recognises the Irish language's resurgence The Irish language (Gaeilge) is set to get official status in the EU on 1 January, bringing the total to 23. The European Commission says Bulgarian and Romanian are expected to get official status on the same day, when the two Balkan countries join the EU. According to Ireland's 2002 census, 1.57 million of the four million population can speak Irish. The commission says the EU will not have to translate all legislation into Irish, "mainly for practical reasons". The EU will have a team of 29 translators and editors to handle...

EU leaders disagree on whether the constitution is dead or alive Finland has become the latest country to ratify the European constitution, four weeks before the end of its six-month stint as EU president.Finland hands over the presidency to Germany, which has pledged to seek a solution to the constitution problem. Sixteen of the 25 EU states have now largely completed ratification. But French and Dutch voters rejected the treaty in referendums in 2005, and UK Home Secretary John Reid described it on Monday as a "dead parrot". Finland's parliament voted by 125 to 39 in favour of ratification,...

Attempts to revive the European Union draft constitution will only work if the name of the treaty is changed, because the word "constitution" is too alarming for those who want national governments to remain in charge, the European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, said last night. He told an audience at Chatham House in London: "Perhaps the grand finality of the word 'constitution' set it up as a hostage to fortune, both to inter-governmentalists who felt it went too far, and to federalists, who felt it did not go far enough. He went on: "Let us be clear about the...