"A survey of 42,000 women across the European Union suggests about 1 in 10 have been the victims of sexual violence, and half of them reported being raped. The survey released by the EU’s Agency for Fundamental Rights is the most ambitious effort yet to gauge the extent of sexual violence in the EU....
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"EU lawmakers back tougher antismoking rules" by Juergen Baetz | Associated Press, February 27, 2014
BRUSSELS — The European Parliament voted Wednesday for tougher antismoking rules that will make health warnings on cigarette packs larger and include mandatory pictures of rotting teeth or cancer-infested lungs.
Gruesome warning photos can already be found on cigarette packs in some countries, but they will have to be bigger and used across all the 28 EU countries in 2016, according to the legislation....
Officials and health advocates welcomed the changes as a milestone in helping to reduce the number of smokers in the 28-nation bloc, while the tobacco industry condemned them as burdensome regulations on an industry that pays lots of taxes.
The legislation still requires approval by EU governments next month, which it is widely expected to receive.
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Related: EU may grant homosexuals asylum
"EU says it loses $162 billion each year to corruption" New York Times, February 04, 2014
PARIS — Despite its relatively clean image, the European Union is losing at least $162 billion a year to corruption, and more than three-quarters of citizens believe that the problem is widespread in their countries, the bloc’s home affairs commissioner said Monday.
The awarding of government business and political party financing are two areas dogged by shady dealings, Cecilia Malmstrom, the European commissioner for home affairs, told a news conference in Brussels.
But she said that less obvious sectors also had problems, including health care, where some patients were forced to pay under the table to obtain necessary treatments.
“Corruption undermines citizens’ confidence in democratic institutions and the rule of law; it hurts the European economy and deprives states of much-needed tax revenue,” Malmstrom said in introducing the report. She said there were “some indications that the crisis has boosted” corrupt practices at the local level, but that the commission did not have sufficient historical data to be certain.
They don't care about corruption per se; they only want their cut.
The commission study found that 56 percent of Europeans believe that corruption has increased in their countries in the past three years, an increase from 47 percent the last time such a study was conducted. And more than four out of five Europeans believe “too-close links between business and politics” are a major source of problems.
In other words, they see the current globali$t fa$ci$m for what it is, like the rest of the world.
The report calls on member states to increase accountability and transparency, particularly in public procurement, which accounts for about 20 percent of the European Union economy.
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The problem is centralized authority like the EU with it's central bank.
UPDATE:
"Without a deal, the project would probably be delayed by at least a year. That would hold up the rest of the banking union, in particular the new centralized banking oversight agency, which is anchored with the European Central Bank."
A new world power!
