Barroso II oath
The 27 members of the new European Commission, which started work on 10 February, swore a formal oath in Luxembourg on Monday (3 May) to act independently of national governments and respect the EU's treaties. For the first time, commissioners pledged to respect the Charter of Fundamental Rights, reflecting its new legal status under the Lisbon treaty.
McCreevy for Ryanair
The Commission has cleared Charlie McCreevy, former commissioner for the internal market, to join the airline Ryanair as a non-executive director. The Commission said on Tuesday (4 May) that approval was conditional on McCreevy not giving advice on cases that he and his officials had been consulted on during his time in office.
Air-traffic control
EU transport ministers promised on Tuesday to speed up work on a single European air-traffic control system, as part of efforts to improve the EU's response to the chaos caused by the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud.
Sugar-processing companies were among the biggest beneficiaries of EU farm payments, according to an analysis of 2009 subsidies published by farmsubsidy.org, the transparency campaign group. The group's 'data mining' revealed a number of unlikely beneficiaries, including an accordion club, a billiards club and Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.
Illegal timber
Members of the Parliament's environment committee on Tuesday voted in favour of stronger penalties for companies guilty of harvesting illegal timber.
Industrial emissions
Some of the EU's biggest power plants are likely to get extra time to meet stricter rules on emissions standards, after the Parliament's environment committee voted in favour of a 2019 deadline for large combustion plants to meet new requirements. The Commission favoured a 2016 deadline, while some EU member states argue for 2020.
Iceland	Luxembourg