France will unveils its 2013 budget today, seen as a test of whether Socialist president Francois Hollande is serious about cutting government spending and reforming the country’s economy.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen admitted his options were limited in relation to salvaging the Lisbon treaty after he was told by several of his EU colleagues that they do not want to renegotiate the treaty.

Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern today travels to Slovenia for a two-day meeting of his EU counterparts.

EU LEADERS reacted coolly yesterday to French plans for a grand Mediterranean Union stretching from Morocco to Turkey and warned that the project must involve all EU members.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern named June as the month for the referendum on the latest EU treaty, confounding pundits who expected a May date.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern today begins a three-day visit to Slovenia, Austria and Poland offering some relief from the controversy around his financial affairs.

THE Green Party should agree a clear position on the EU reform treaty or pull out of government, Fine Gael has said.

Slovenia, the former Yugoslav country of 2 million, took over the European Union presidency today, becoming the face and the voice of the 27-nation bloc of 500 million people for the next six months.

Slovenia must have focus and determination to make a success of its six-month EU presidency, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.

Slovenians went to the polls to elect a new president today, just two months before the country is to take over the rotating European Union presidency.

Austria assumed the presidency of the European Union today with a pledge to make the 25-nation bloc “more tangible to our citizens”.

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair won the support of the new member states for his restructuring of the EU budget which Ireland and France fear will interfere with the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).