Serbia inches closer to European Union

Serbia has signed an agreement on closer ties with the European Union. The so-called Stabilisation and Association Agreement is a first step to future EU membership. The agreement was signed in Luxembourg by the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic and, among others, the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn. EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana said: "The European Union will not be completed without the incorporation of the countries of the Southern Balkans and within them, without any doubt, Serbia will be a fundamental key country." EU states will not start ratifying the pact, nor will Serbia receive any benefits, until members are convinced Belgrade is doing all it can to arrest war crimes suspects .The Slovenian EU Presidency has called the signing of a Stability and Association Agreement a "great opportunity for Serbia" but it is still a tentative step forward. But, after the chief UN warcrimes prosecutor had blasted Belgrade for a failure to meet commitments, Enlargement Commissioner Ollie Rehn restated the conditions: "Before we can sign, Serbia needs to achieve full cooperation, which should lead to the arrest and transfer of all remaining indictees." Italian

Right targets crime as new parliament sits

Italy's new houses of parliament held their inaugural sessions in April with promises to crackdown on crime. Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right People of Freedom party and its anti-immigrant Northern League ally have taken control of both the Chamber of Deputies and the upper Senate. Already relishing the prospect of the strongest parliament in decades after their unexpected double victory in national and Rome city elections, there was much congratulatory back-slapping. Special applause was reserved for Rome's new mayor, Gianni Alemanno - the capital's first right-wing mayor since 1943. "We can work properly, Rome will once again take up its role as capital, cleaner and safer," said Berlusconi. "It was already a strong government but it will now be consolidated by a firmer relationship with the capital." The conservatives also run the financial capital, Milan, leaving only the largely ceremonial, toothless presidency in the hands of the Left.

Family in hiding as incest father goes to court

As the Austrian man accused of locking his daughter in a cellar appeared in court for the first time, his victims were in hiding, trying to put their lives back together. His wife is now with their daughter and all her children, except the eldest girl who is still in a coma in hospital. The authorities have defended letting him adopt three of the children which DNA tests have now proved were his: "If Joseph Fritzl did have previous criminal convictions they certainly did not show up in the criminal records at any point when we handled the adoptions," said District Governor Hans-Heinz Lenze. "The children who were living in the basement came out on Saturday 25 April. They are now living with their sisters and brother who were adopted, in a secret location." The Austrian media claims Fritzl was convicted of indecency in the 1960s. Elizabeth Fritzl told police her father began abusing her when she was eleven years old. Neighbours are stunned. We heard the three children laughing and crying like kids do in the garden, and playing in the summer in the pool. We never thought such terrible things could happen." Joseph Fritzl didn't speak during his court appearance. He was remanded in custody and kept on constant suicide watch. The authorities had given permission for Fritzl to transform his cellar into a nuclear shelter in the 1970s. It was finished in 1983, one year before his daughter said she was incarcerated

European Commission cuts growth forecast

The European Commission has said that financial market turmoil, a slowing US economy and soaring commodity prices will curb growth in the region more than expected. In its spring economic forecast, the Commission says euro zone growth will slow to 1.7% this year and 1.5% next year, that is down from 2.8% and 2.6% in the last two years. European economic and monetary affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia said: "This shows some impact coming from the financial turmoil and the US slowdown indeed, but from the second quarter of the year onwards, we start again growth in the EU and the euro area and this allows us a positive profile regarding growth at the end of this year and in particular throughout 2009." The Commission said a surge in food and oil prices is dampening consumer demand and therefore growth. It has raised its price growth forecast. Inflation hit a record high of 3.6% year-on-year in March and the Commission now expects it to be 3.2% in the whole of 2008 from 2.1% last year and to ease to 2.2% in 2009. The European Central Bank is predicting inflation at 2.9% this year and 2.1% in 2009. ECB Chairman Jean- Claude Trichet and his policymakers have said that the best way they can keep inflation contained is by leaving interest rates unchanged for now.

Euromed Capital Forum conference looks to Mediterranean Union

As French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in the Tunisian capital Tunis on a business oriented visit with the heads of 120 French companies, the Euromed Capital Forum conference was just wrapping up there having brought together more than 500 political and business leaders from around the southern Mediterranean. Euromed's Chairman, Dominique Nouvellet, explained the theme is 'Private Equity as a Growth Driver in the Mediterranean Region' and said it is already getting money from private investors, particularly for small and medium sized businesses which should provide a financial base for developing the region as a Mediterranean Union.

The French are pushing hard for the idea of a Mediterranean Union, comprising EU member states and countries situated along the Mediterranean rim. The European Investment Bank, which would also put money in to the region is wary. It's Vice Chairman, Philippe de Fontaine Vive told EuroNews: "The Mediterranean Union must be popular. Public opinion in the Mediterranean and the European countries must favour this union and for that, the projects we support must be popular." The region has particular problems - high unemployment and low productivity - which a Mediterranean Union could help address, but some in the business world also have reservations about how it would work. Businessman Nassim Kerdjoudj said: "In the southern Mediterranean we're concerned about freedom of movement of people and with this being an economic two way street: in other words that we would be exporting as much as we imported."

The Tunisian government is backing the Mediterranean Union idea, one reason why Sarkozy is putting so much effort into his state visit there. He needs all the support he can get. A number of France's European partners are not keen. The idea will be officially launched at a summit of European and Mediterranean leaders in Paris in July