The EU2020 strategy should focus on reducing unemployment, better co-ordinating economic policies, and beefing up economic governance with binding rules, said Parliament on Wednesday. MEPs stressed that EU funding should be conditional on results and compatibility with the aims of the strategy.Source : © European Parliament

Very small companies could be exempted from having to draw up annual accounts, after MEPs approved changes to EU accounting rules in Strasbourg on Wednesday. It would be up to each Member State to grant such exemptions, depending on the impact the directive would have in that country. Companies would in any case still have to keep records of their business transactions and financial situation.Source : © European Parliament

Plans should be developed for a global tax to discourage excessive risk-taking by financial institutions and ensure that the financial industry pays for the damage caused by the financial crisis, says Parliament in a resolution approved on Wednesday. If a worldwide tax proves unachievable, the EU could consider the option of going it alone, add MEPs.Source : © European Parliament

The need to assess the effectiveness of Member States' state-aid activities during the crisis, scale back the protectionist reflexes that it triggered and update EU competition rules, inter alia by revisiting the "fines only" policy, is highlighted in a resolution adopted by a show of hands today. On-line advertising, and the telecoms, pharmaceuticals and dairy sectors, are listed as needing further action.Source : © European Parliament

The issue of whether Iceland should reimburse the UK and the Netherlands for €3.9bn lost by British and Dutch savers in the Icesave crash is a bilateral one, and it should not prevent EU leaders from giving their go-ahead at the end of March for the start of EU-Iceland accession negotiations, said Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs at a meeting with EU enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle late on Monday. Some MEPs were sceptical about whether Reykjavik really wishes to join the EU.

Without enough money, the EU 2020 strategy risks turning into "another vague scoreboard for the Member States", the EP Budgets Committee warned on Thursday when adopting its priorities for the 2011 budget. According to the committee, next year's budget should focus on youth, research and recovery from the economic crisis.Source : © European Parliament

Initially the new EU Member States were thought to have been hit harder by the crisis than the old ones. In fact, there is considerable variation within both groups, agreed experts at a workshop on the impact of the crisis on the new Member States held on Monday by Parliament’s Special Committee on the Economic, Financial and Social Crisis (CRIS).Source : © European Parliament

Aviation security measures that go beyond common EU requirements should be paid for by Member States, not by passengers, said Transport Committee MEPs in a vote on Monday that could put Parliament on a collision course with the Council of Ministers.Source : © European Parliament

MEPs took a critical look on Thursday at planned EU rules requiring Member States to provide information about future investment projects in energy infrastructure. The legislation would require EU governments to collect data and notify the Commission every two years about any building, modernisation or decommissioning of energy production, transport or storage capacities.Source : © European Parliament

Companies should be able to get money owed to them more quickly thanks to an update of the existing EU directive on late payment in commercial transactions. This is crucial to the survival of businesses which are encountering growing cashflow problems in the economic crisis. The EP draft report on this subject was presented for the first time on Monday 23 February.Source : © European Parliament

The EU must enhance its strategic autonomy through a strong and effective foreign, security and defence policy, said the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday. Its report on the European Security Strategy (ESS) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), also looks at how the Lisbon Treaty will affect the CSDP and calls for faster deployment of EU operations. The new US anti-missile system should take account of the EU approach and must be planned "in dialogue with Russia", it adds.