THE budget is still nearly three weeks away and speculation is already mounting about the Government’s ability to get it through the Dáil. Against all expectations when this government was formed, the Greens have developed a limpet-like grip on power. Only grim death will separate them from ministerial office, it seems.

FIANNA Fáil took its first step towards officially joining the Liberal group in Europe this week when the bureau of the European Liberal Democrat party (ELDR) agreed to recommend its membership.

PRESSURE on the European Commission to increase its level of support measures to help Irish dairy farmers intensified yesterday.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen announced at the Ard Fheis that Fianna Fáil would be joining the Liberals in the European Parliament after the elections in June.

THE European Parliament is to collect information about the funding of the Libertas referendum campaign in Ireland and send it on to the Irish authorities.

EUROPEAN Parliament heads will today discuss setting up a committee of inquiry into whether anti-EU elements helped fund the Libertas campaign in Ireland.

EUROSCEPTIC Brits donned the green jersey in the European Parliament yesterday and called for the Irish no vote to be respected.

A DECISION on a proposal to increase milk quotas in the EU by 2% from April 2 will be taken at a meeting of agricultural ministers in Brussels on St Patrick’s Day.

IRELAND’S economy has prospered as a member of the EU.

IRISH purchasers of property abroad need to take the best legal and taxation advice before they buy.

WE can celebrate the 50th anniversary of the European Union with a sense of pride and determination.

GLOBAL trade talks are expected to resume shortly but the European Commissioner Peter Mandelson is predicting that they will end within a few months with the chances of a deal on a knife edge.

BRIAN CROWLEY MEP has claimed that a window of opportunity has opened for a restart of the world trade talks.

A SIGNIFICANT slice of Ireland’s €2 billion EU rural development fund should be ring-fenced to upgrade broadband in rural areas, an MEP said last night.

THE European Parliament has voted to fund stem cell research using human embryos, although the ban on such research in Ireland will remain.

THE European Parliament yesterday approved the reshuffled 25-member European Commission, ending a political showdown over objections to the team.

IT is going to take a number of weeks before a new European Commission team is installed.

A NEW European Commission team was announced by Jose Manuel Barroso last night, a week after he withdrew the previous line up because of objections from the European Parliament.

Charlie McCreevy’s position as Ireland’s EU Commissioner is secure despite the political crisis in Brussels, Government sources confirmed today.

JOSE MANUEL BARROSO’s European Commission is set to be rejected by the EU Parliament today, plunging the EU into institutional crisis.

TURKEY got a conditional 'yes' from the European Commission in its bid to join the EU yesterday, 40 years after it first applied for membership.

TURKEY cleared another hurdle in its application for EU membership in Brussels yesterday after giving undertakings to introduce a bill containing new laws criminalising people trafficking, genocide, virginity tests and honour killings.

NEWLY elected MEP Kathy Sinnott is having to reconsider the political group she joined on her first day in the European Parliament after one of its members came out against women’s rights.

FIANNA FÁIL’S four MEPs are expected to be admitted to the federalist Liberal group in the European Parliament today together with independent MEP Marion Harkin.

At midnight tonight, Ireland ends one of the most successful EU presidencies ever, greatly enhancing the country’s reputation, writes Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill

SINN FÉIN could end up sitting where the Reverend Ian Paisley sat in the European Parliament if it wins a seat in the elections. But so could the MEPs from Fianna Fáil.

Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill assesses the performance of Munster MEPs seeking re-election.