THE odds are stacked against asylum seekers who seek refuge in Europe and the rules must be changed, the European Commission has said.

THE EU’s first drug awareness campaign is to be launched next year.

IRELAND will link into an EU-wide network designed to tackle child pornography on the internet and other cyber crime.

France looks set to get backing from EU counterparts to put in place a Europe-wide, early-warning alert system to report missing children.

THE Government is expected to opt out of a whole raft of immigration policy designed to encourage legal migration into Europe while strengthening borders against illegals.

THE EU launched the second and final test satellite for its $5.3-billion (€3.4bn) rival to the US Global Positioning System (GPS) yesterday, brushing off industry doubts over its viability.

The European Commission today launched an inquiry into the legality of subsidies paid by the Scottish Executive to ferry companies NorthLink and Caledonian MacBrayne in the UK.

AN ITALIAN judge has found strong indications that Friedrich Vernarelli, the Italian man remanded in custody over the deaths of two Irish women, had been using drugs.

Two airlines banned from the EU over safety fears have been reinstated.

THE Government can give State funds to Shannon to help start up new routes from the airport, according to the European Commission.

AIRLINES will have to carry wheelchairs and guide dogs for free and will also be banned from limiting the number of disabled people they carry on flights under new EU rules.

EUROPE’S taxpayers may have to fund the €3 billion Galileo satellite system after companies involved in a public-private partnership failed to agree this week.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern is to come to the rescue of Aer Lingus in assisting it to open three routes into the US from the autumn.

European companies would be allowed larger stakes in US airlines under a tentative agreement reached between the US and European Union.

AN agreement that will revolutionise air traffic between Europe and America, cutting prices and increasing the number of flights, has been reached between the EU and the US.

The European Union and the US are restarting stalled talks today aimed at expanding air travel.

The European Commission today proposed obligatory blind spot mirrors for lorries in an effort to improve road safety.

A STRICT limit on the size of hand luggage and the quantity of liquids to be taken on board airlines has been proposed by the European Commission.

A Sinn Féin delegation has lobbied the EU Commissioner for Transport for a better road and rail infrastructure in the north-west.

The EU today hailed the success of the British authorities in disrupting a “major terrorist plot” aimed at blowing up several civilian airliners.

CHEAP air fares that turn out to be much more expensive than advertised are to be banned under new proposals from Brussels.

THE European Commission ruled on Wednesday that guarantees made by the Irish government to the Irish transportation board for the financing of new railway infrastructure doesn’t constitute state aid.

MORE than 300 “flying coffins” are to be banned by the EU from tomorrow in a new get-tough measure on unsafe airplanes.

The European Union is today expected to publish its first blacklist of airlines that fail to meet international safety standards.

PRIVATE bus firms, which oppose Government funding for State-owned CIE, yesterday demanded an independent regulator for public transport.

POLAND, Latvia and Lithuania have the worst road accident death rates of any of the 26 countries in the European Union, new figures show.

A MAJOR report on the road safety record of EU member states accuses Ireland of making only “limited progress” in reducing the number of road fatalities since 2001.

THE Department of Transport was heavily criticised by both the European Commission and the Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) last year over its delays in implementing new European legislation for consumers.

Corsica was nearly cut off from mainland Europe yesterday with strikes spreading to airports, maritime links severed and a rocket attack adding to mounting tensions.

Air passengers stand to get better compensation deals from today for delayed and cancelled flights.

New moves to encourage low-cost use of regional airports were announced by the European Commission today.

Undaunted by sceptics and clashes with MEPs over the appointment of his team, the new EC chief said today he was determined to lead a strong executive and build a competitive Europe.

THERE will be no honeymoon period for the new European Commission as they spent their first day in office fighting off allegations about one of their members.

On his first day in office, EC President Jose Manuel Barroso was under fire from the European Parliament, which urged him to suspend Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot.

A HUGE row has broken out over the new European Commission after it emerged two members have criminal convictions for financial irregularity, including the man responsible for anti-fraud.

DURING the summer, Leinster House is like the desolate Overlook Hotel, where Stanley Kubrick’s stomach-churning horror film The Shining takes place.

Charlie McCreevy was put in charge of the internal market and financial markets of the EU as European Commission President-designate Jose Manuel Barroso handed out portfolios today.

The French government has taken its first formal step toward legally banning the Muslim head scarf from public schools, adopting the measure in a Cabinet session.

France’s ruling centre-right party is to call for an investigation into how France Telecom amassed one of the world’s biggest corporate debts.