EU Reporter Correspondents

Parliamentarians today debated the details of the extra funding they have awarded themselves in order to cope with the extra demands placed on them by the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty.

The loss of the Aral sea was quite possibly the worst man-made environmental disaster in history. It is also a damning indictment of Soviet era policy and planning. But now there is cause for optimism, as the sea begins to recover, following completion of a dam project in 2005. Water levels are rising, salinity is dropping, and fish stocks are recovering to a level where cautious and low-level fishing will soon be viable.

We at EU Reporter are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Claudia Candeago, on February 15th, following the rail crash at Buizingen.

Employed at the European Parliament since December 2008, Claudia worked in DG Communication, and was based in the Press Centre where we came to know her for her friendliness and efficiency. She will be greatly missed.

The funeral will take place on February 22nd, at the Church of St Martin, Hornu.

Concerns about the dumbing down and politicisation of the media have begun to surface in the European Parliament.

The newly formed "media intergroup" met yesterday (Feb 2) to discuss, amongst other issues, the lack of independent reporting, and the closing down of many national and regional newspapers and journals.

MEPs and journalists vigorously debated the issues, in what promises to become one of the more controversial of the parliament's intergroups.

One issue that never seems to go off the boil in the European Parliament is that of the labelling of food products. Today, the issue was debated in the EP's internal market committee, where MEPs chewed over the question of how much information should be put onto food packaging.