Fiona Hall MEP

All EU Member States will finally be compliant with the ban on battery farm eggs by the end of the year, Health Commissioner John Dalli has announced.

Speaking at a meeting of the European Agriculture Committee, Dalli also said that 16 Member States are now expected to be compliant with the ban on sow stalls by the end of this year.

MEPs have again called for an end to the 'traveling circus' which costs taxpayers millions of pounds a year.

The European Parliament is currently based in both Strasbourg and Brussels, forcing politicians and staff to relocate every month at an estimated annual cost of £145 million. MEPs' have now voted to back calls for the adoption of a single location, further raising the pressure on national governments to push through reform.

Using your mobile phone abroad will be cheaper from this summer after MEPs voted to cut roaming charges again today.

The new limits set in the European Parliament mean phone calls will cost no more than 28p per minute, while the cap on SMS charges is down to 8p per message.

For the first time, there will also be a cap on the amount charged for using data services abroad. MEPs managed to negotiate a much lower price ceiling than originally proposed, limiting the cost of using one megabyte of data to 67p, falling to 18p by July 2014.

A green fuel factory on Teesside is set to re-open after a successful campaign to close a damaging European loophole.

The Ensus plant at Wilton is one of the largest in Europe but cheap imports of ethanol from the United States forced it to shutdown in May 2011. However, new European regulations - which came into effect earlier this month - have closed the loophole and the plant's owners have announced plans to accelerate re-opening.

Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament have today announced that they will reject the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

There is now a majority in the Parliament to vote against the ratification of this plurilateral treaty which was aimed at establishing international standards for intellectual property rights (IPRs).

The North East is leading the way on ethical timber, according to a leading conservation charity.

The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) has singled out Newcastle and Durham for their efforts to cut the use of illegally harvested timber and has called on other cities to follow their lead.

Illegal logging is regarded as a major cause of deforestation, and, in a bid to highlight the problem, the WWF has ranked all local authorities on their timber policies. Newcastle and Durham are among just 16 out of 433 to secure the highest rating.

Local communities are being offered the chance to submit ideas for green energy projects, with thousands of pounds in funding available to the best.

The energyshare scheme - which was won last year by the Hexham Hydro project, securing £100,000 - has now opened for new applications.

Local Euro MP and green energy expert Fiona Hall has welcomed the opportunity for communities to come together and get involved.

Widespread corruption in the oil, gas and mining industries is set to be tackled under groundbreaking proposals backed by Liberal Democrats.

To combat the problem of companies making secret payments to Governments in the developing world in order to gain access to their natural resources, new rules at a European level are set to force all such payments to be made public.



From this Sunday, (April 1st) people will get the chance to have their proposals for new laws brought before the European Parliament if they can secure enough support for their campaign.

Under the European Citizen's Initiative (ECI), any qualifying petition that can attract a million backers from at least seven EU countries will be put before the Parliament. The scheme is aimed at increasing access and engagement in the law-making process.

Local Euro MP Fiona Hall welcomed the Initiative and said:

"This is a great chance for people in the North East to get in touch with others from across Europe who share their passion about an issue to help push it up the political agenda.

"Collecting over one million signatures in seven different EU countries might seem like a very challenging campaign, but in the age of internet and social media it is completely achievable. In fact, I think it will be a great way to find like-minded people across the continent and spark a public debate on an issue you deeply care about.

"It gives people a direct route to the heart of decision-making in Europe."

Notes: In order to launch an ECI, it is necessary to form a committee of at least seven people from across seven EU Member States which can then be registered on the central ECI website managed by the European Commission (http://ec.europa.eu/citizens-initiative). The proposal must fall within EU competencies and must not be judged to be 'manifestly contrary' to EU values. Once the proposal is cleared by the Commission, there is a one year deadline to collect the one million signatures from across seven EU Member States.

Guide to the European Citizens' Initiative: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/secretariat_general/citizens_initiative/docs/guide_eci_en.pdf

Last night, Euro-MPs and EU Member States achieved a breakthrough in their talks to reduce the costs of using mobile phones abroad.

Business travellers and holidaymakers alike will benefit in particular from a cap on data roaming which from July this year will be limited to 70 cents (around 60p) and fall to 20 cents per MB (around 17p) in 2014. Until now there has been no cap on the cost for using mobile internet options while abroad, causing bill shock misery for many on their return home.