Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti came to the European Parliament in Strasbourg to outline Italy's economic situation and the structural reforms the country has gone through since he came into power. Mario Monti offered his vision of Europe, which in spite of the crisis must move on by pursuing its commitment into the Euro zone integration.

Parliament's budget guidelines in 2013

The European Parliament's budget should be frozen, at least in real terms, for 2013, and scrutinized for possible further savings, MEPs agreed on Thursday. After a debate on guidelines for establishing its own 2013 budget, MEPs agreed the budget should not exceed the rate of inflation. The resolution was approved by a show of hands.

Supervising  businesses' credit ratings and taking into account the specific nature of sovereign debt ratings has been identified as a necessity during the debt crisis we are going through. In this perspective, under Michel Barnier's authority, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, the Commission proposed to reinforce the control of credit rating agencies (on 15 November 2011). In 2010, a text on credit agencies had already been foreseen to establish the European Securities and Markets' Authority (ESMA), in charge of registering and supervising them.

Costa Concordia's recent accident questionned current maritime safety measures. Previous shipwrecks such as Erika in 1999 and Prestige in 2002 had already brought this concern forward on EU's agenda, that is the need to fight against accidental hydrocarbon spillage, causing pollution in European seas.