A working group commissioned by French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde has delivered a report calling for better regulation of the carbon market in light of recent scandals. EurActiv France reports.

EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, who is seeking to create a genuine single market for electricity, wants Switzerland to join as he sees the country as a possible hub. EurActiv France and EurActiv Germany contributed to this report.

One of the fringe meetings I spoke at during the Liverpool conference was ResPublica’s on the topic of “Growing a civil economy through a civil society”. Accompanying ResPublica’s fringe program is a pamphlet with pieces accompanying the talks we all gave and here is my piece from it. Both a successful market economy and a

Despite the EU's clearly-defined employment policies and 2020 job target, France will seek its own ways of responding to its citizens' main concerns &# access to the job market and job security. EurActiv France reports.

I went to a most interesting talk recently by Stuart Etherington, NCVO Chief Executive, on whether 'Civil society is in danger of being hugged to death by government, local and national'. He described the growing importance of 'civil society', meaning those activities which are governed by neither the state nor the market and made up of both charities (rooted in philanthropy) and co-operatives (

The modern day civil society that is. So what will we get? Bankers talking to bankers and saying stakeholders want what bankers want. I despair. The EU / EC should: a) Allocate seats to stakeholder groups b) Fund them c) Make clear they can issue minority reports if need be d) Provide them with technical support. There was a time when civil society

The European Commission has welcomed a draft plan by Paris to reform the French electricity market, signalling its readiness to abandon ongoing antitrust investigations if the reforms are fully implemented. EurActiv France reports.

A regional body in northern France has developed a scheme for those interested in creating a farming business. But despite its popularity, its creators face persistent problems in accessing EU funds. EurActiv France reports.

The advisory European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) consists of representatives of organised civil society, and the provisions are found in Articles 257 to 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC). The EESC (or ESC) has adopted and launched A Programme for Europe: proposals of civil society. On 40 pages the organised interest groups of European society have defined their ...

Five years after leaving European politics, Michel Barnier is returning to Brussels to join the Barroso II Commission. After fraught negotiations, France managed to win him the coveted internal market portfolio, which puts him in charge of policing the financial industry: an area he has little experience in. EurActiv France reports.