The vice-president of the European Commission has insisted that the political will exists across the EU to grant the legal opt-outs being sought by the Government before a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

THE good news is that Europe’s leaders have made the issue of jobs their top priority as they gather in Brussels tomorrow.

EU MEMBER states will not agree to renegotiate the Lisbon treaty to ease Irish concerns over the document, the vice-president of the European Commission has said.

European Commission Vice President Margot Wallstrom told an Oireachtas sub-committee that Ireland holds the key for finding a solution for the whole of Europe after the country voted to reject the EU's Lisbon Treaty in June.

TELEVISION stations give EU news less than a tenth of the airtime they give national news, undermining citizens’ right to information and preventing them having a democratic input, according to the European Commission.

ANTI-TREATY campaigners are distorting the truth and telling lies, claims vice-president of the European Commission Margot Wallstrom.

THE provision in the Lisbon Treaty to have commissioners from just two-thirds of member states could affect the democratic legitimacy of the European Union, according to commission vice-president Margot Wallstrom.

EFFORTS to pass the Lisbon Treaty could fail because voters don’t know or care what it’s about, one of the longest-serving government members has warned.

The vice-president of the European Commission has rejected claims that the Lisbon Treaty is another step towards an EU super-state.

The European Commission is out to improve the EU’s profile by joining the YouTube revolution.

THE launch of a debate on how the EU could best communicate with citizens turned into a debacle yesterday with a row over what the commissioner meant to say.

THE vice-president of the European Commission yesterday gave an undertaking to follow up with the Competition Commission on its stand that forced the Government to withdraw an estimated €100m grant to Intel.

European Commission vice-president Margot Wallstrom is due to give an address in Dublin today outlining how she plans to sell the proposed EU constitution to the public.

The new European Commission will be sworn into office today at a ceremony in Luxembourg where the EU’s top 25 officials pledge to further the cause of European integration and not be swayed by political pressure from home.

THE Government has been criticised by the European Commission over its failure to enact legislation to tackle the growing problem of electronic waste.

Ireland was condemned by the European Commission today for breaches of nine major EU environment laws.

The EU head office said today Ireland is one of only five EU states ready to implement a 1997 United Nations accord next year limiting carbon-dioxide emissions and chided other members for dragging their heels.

RESIDENTS of Derrybrien village in Co Galway hope to enlist EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom’s support for compensation for the disastrous landslide which struck their community last month.

Brussels

THE European Commission last night admitted it wrongly accused Ireland of failing to adopt a key EU Directive on improving standards at landfill sites.

European environment ministers have condemned America’s rejection of the Kyoto Protocol and its policies on greenhouse gas emissions, calling it a political move to preserve the energy-burning US lifestyle that has nothing to do with economics.

The European Union’s Environment Commissioner, Margot Wallstrom, has advised the Government to seek talks with Britain over the controversial Sellafield nuclear plant.

Green MEP Patricia McKenna has called on the government to improve its dismal record on the environment.