Foreign affairs 

EU urges faster response to Myanmar cyclone

European commissioner kept waiting for Myanmar visa; EU officials call for ‘unfettered' access for aid workers amid talk of UN intervention.

US, EU begin fresh ‘open skies' talks

Second phase of liberalisation talks focuses on mergers and aligning rules governing the US and EU aviation markets.

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Foreign affairs 

Soft power and hard batons

The century ahead will not be a struggle between China and the US for global leadership; there will, however, be a battle of ideas.

EU and US lead charm offensive

Last-ditch talks to seal deal ahead of US election Effort to win backing of emerging economies

Energy 

A snag in the pipeline

A gas OPEC is in the offing. That is a major danger for the West, even if it were to create one potentially valuable opportunity.

Energising competition

Negotiations on the European Commission's latest energy market liberalisation have been dominated by one issue: ownership unbundling. Fierce divisions have arisen over whether companies with energy-generating activities should be obliged to sell off any energy-transmission business, so as to avoid a conflict of interest when it comes to allocating transmission capacity. Countries led by the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands favour ownership unbundling, but France and Germany oppose it.

How to create a future for biofuels

Liquid biofuels – ethanol and ‘biodiesel' – have captured the worldwide and European fascination as renewable energy for the transport sector, but the tide seems to be turning now that people are realising the inherent challenges of leaping into a liquid biofuels policy in the absence of adequate consideration of the down-stream results.

Business 

Spain facing court over Endesa case

European Commission threatening to take Madrid to the European Court of Justice.

Do manufacturers lack drive for greener cars?

A UK expert on greener vehicles has no sympathy for foot-dragging carmakers.

Commission calls a halt to noisy tyres

Tyre firms say targets are 'technically unfeasible"; proposal will also cover braking systems.