Simon Taylor

Eight EU countries have been given a final warning to introduce laws to deal with electronic waste or face action in the European Court of Justice, the European Commission said Monday. The eight countries are the U.K., France, Italy, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Malta and Poland.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has dismissed suggestions that new Europe-wide laws that require companies to store telecommunications data to help in the hunt for terrorists would impose excessive costs on industry.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to reject proposed legislation that critics argued would have allowed the widespread patenting of software in Europe. It has been one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in the history of the European Union (E.U.).

Research scientists worldwide will be able to use almost unlimited bandwidth to exchange data after the European Union unveiled an upgraded version of its G

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer met the European Union's competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, on Tuesday to discuss the company's failure until now to fully comply with the E.U.'s antitrust ruling against the firm in May 2004, a spokesman for Kroes has confirmed.

The European Union's communications regulator, the European Commission, launched an initiative on Friday to boost the growth of broadband Internet access over power transmission lines.

The European Commission has given Microsoft Corp. two weeks to come up with better licensing terms for its workgroup server protocols or face the possibility of financial penalties of about US$5 million a day, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.

Sweden has the best record in offering online public services among the 25 members of the European Union, according to a survey published by the European Commission on Tuesday.