1. Top EU officials urged national leaders at the 1-2 March EU Summit to implement their fine talk on jobs and growth, in the first mild-mannered leaders’ gathering after months of high tension on the euro crisis.

 

2. EU countries have granted candidate status to Serbia, sweeping aside Romania's concerns on minority rights as a bogus issue.

 

3. Germany's vision of an EU of fiscally prudent states held in check by tight budgetary laws and the threat of legal action came a step closer on early March when 25 leaders signed a new fiscal treaty.

 

4. Van Rompuy has clinched a second term as European Council chief, with his understated style credited for keeping the "show on the road" amid the crisis.

 

5. The European Central Bank offered another €500 billion of cheap loans to banks to prevent a credit crunch in a move dubbed as "printing money" by one analyst.

 

6. Finland's foreign minister has said EU countries are more divided on foreign policy now than before the Lisbon Treaty.

 

7. ECB chief Draghi has pledged allegiance to Germany's "stability culture" after a leaked letter from his Bundesbank counterpart exposed a rift on the subject of cheap loans to banks.

 

8. Greece has secured over 80% participation in a debt restructuring designed to avoid a messy default. But forced losses imposed on some investors are still an issue.

 

9. The EU Commission has defended its choice of a food industry lobbyist to help run its food safety regulator, based in Italy.

 

10. The European Commission gave Hungary a one-month deadline to change its controversial laws or face court cases in Luxembourg, just as Budapest is struggling to secure a loan from international lenders.

 

11. French Socialist candidate Francois Hollande claimed he is "not alone" in his bid to re-negotiate the treaty on fiscal discipline, with Ireland waiting for the outcome of the French elections before holding a referendum on it.

 

12. Belarus has executed two men despite an international appeal for clemency, just as EU countries start talks on whether to impose extra sanctions.

 

13. The Belgium-based firm which handles international wire transfers has said it will block transactions by all EU-sanctioned Iranian banks.

 

14. Iceland's Prime Minister has said the tiny Nordic country faces a choice between using the Canadian dollar or the euro.

 

15. Fewer than 10,000 asylum seekers registered in Greece in 2011, but the border crossing with Turkey has caused resentment in some of the larger member states.

 

16. The European Commission has told member states they would save billions in EU contributions if they back its proposal for a financial transactions tax. The UK rejected the idea immediately.

 

17. The European Parliament has made some last-minute concessions to the insurance lobby on a bill designed to prevent the kind of financial gambling which caused the 2008 crisis.

 

18. EU defence ministers want to jointly develop air-to-air refuelling capability after Libya and Afghanistan exposed heavy reliance on the US.

 

19. First citizens' petition set to be on water. The EU makes its long-awaited foray into the world of participatory democracy. The first formal attempt is likely to centre around securing a promise from Brussels to never privatise water.

 

20. EU financial crisis hampers Palestinian state-building. The global economic slowdown has created a $1 billion hole in the budget of the Palestinian Authority, setting back the two-state solution.