France

Bulgaria and Romania were the EU countries who posted highest reduction of carbon emissions in 2013, shows an Eurostat survey. 

According to the data, in 2013 they decreased in 22 member states. 

In Bulgaria the drop was 10.2% and in Romania – 14.6%. The average for the EU was -2.5%.

The semi-finals of the Eurovision, which started on Tuesday in Denmark, will include only six participants from the Balkan region - Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia and Greece.

Viewers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia and Turkey will only watch Eurovision from their TV sets.

Slobodan Ruzic, lawyer for the family, on Monday said the parents of Brice Taton had decided to withdraw a lawsuit against Serbia because of “the deadline for the compensation that the family was getting from a special fund in France.

"The trial in Serbia was going so slowly that they stood to lose their right to compensation from the fund,” Ruzic said.

A common European financial transaction tax could drive away companies and hurt the growth outlook, Maltese Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said as finance ministers from Greece, Germany, France, Italy and seven other countries met on Monday in Brussels to discuss how to design a tax for interested nations.

BAKU - Ana Bajic has won the bronze medal for Serbia in the 73 kg category at the taekwondo European championship in Baku, Azerbaijan.

She beat Germany's Katharina Weiss 7-3 in the first round and France's Gwladis Epangue 6-0 in the second, but lost to Bianca Walkden from the UK in the semifinals.

Bulgaria remains among the three EU member states with the lowest life expectancy rates.

With a life expectancy of 71.5 years, Bulgaria fares better than Lithuania (74.1) and Latvia (74.1), against an EU average of 80.3 years, according to conclusive data of Bulgaria's National Statistical Institute (NSI) for 2013, as cited by dnevnik.bg.

Serbia advised against "sacrificing" health and education

BRUSSELS -- European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) President Henri Malosse has advised Serbia "not sacrifice education and health" on the road toward the EU.

German car parts maker Draexlmaier is to open a new factory in Pitesti, in southern Romania, where it will manufacture components and wiring.

Some 500 people will be hired, adding to the existing some 14,000 people who already work for Draexlmaier in its five Romanian factories, the company said on Tuesday.

The EU would extend the route for supplies through the Southern Gas Corridor and its pipes will make their way further into Europe's mainland, according to reports.

Russia's Vedomosti, which cites sources from the European Commission, suggests that pipes could lead into France and Spain and this could increase the amount of Azerbaijani gas received from the Union.

In March 2014, the number of trips of Bulgarian residents abroad was 313.4 thousand or by 1.5% above the registered in March 2013.