February 2006 in the European Union

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Events in the European Union

"This page deals with events in the European Union, of interest to its citizens and/or involving them."

28 February 2006 (Tuesday)

* For the first time in Europe, a domesticated cat is found infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus. The dead cat was found on the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. [http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=1670496 (AP)] , [http://www.handelsblatt.de/pshb/fn/relhbi/sfn/buildhbi/cn/GoArt!204455,204493,1041647/SH/0/depot/0/index.html (Handelsblatt)] , [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28468688.htm (Reuters AlertNet)]

20 February 2006 (Monday)

*British historian David Irving goes on trial in Austria charged with Holocaust denial (a criminal offence in Austria) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4730832.stm (BBC)] .

17 February 2006 (Friday)

*British Prime Minister Blair meets German Chancellor Merkel for talks about Iran, the Middle East and European issues.

16 February 2006 (Thursday)

*European Parliament votes in favour of the services directive 391 votes to 213, which will lead to the opening up of the service sectors in European Union Member States [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4717978.stm BBC] .
*Brussels announces a crack-down on anti-competitive behaviour of Gas and Electricity industries [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4718776.stm BBC] .
*Microsoft denies accusations by the European Commission that it has failed to comply with requests to provide data in its anti-competition case [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4717474.stm BBC] .
*Members of the European Parliament condemn violent protests in Europe concerning the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4716398.stm BBC] .

15 February 2006 (Wednesday)

*Residents of Åland threaten to prevent Finland from ratifying the European Constitution [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=YQAR1ZUXMIBSPQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2006/02/15/waland15.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/02/15/ixnewstop.html Telegraph] .
*H5N1 virus found in dead swans in Germany [http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1620525 ABC news] .

14 February 2006 (Tuesday)

*MEPs debate the proposed services directive, a law intended to liberalise the service sector industries in the European Union [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4711086.stm BBC]

13 February 2006 (Monday)

*Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi causes a controversy by comparing himself to Jesus Christ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4707368.stm BBC] .
*A report by the Council of Europe criticises France's human rights record with regard to jails, police brutality and immigration quotas [http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,1708569,00.html Guardian] .
*The World Trade Organisation gives the European Union permission to impose US$4 billion worth of sanctions on the United States if it does not comply with the WTO ruling relating to tax breaks given to Boeing [http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=nL13394637&imageid=&c
] .

10 February 2006 (Friday)

* 2006 Winter Olympics opens in Turin [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/winter_sports/4698446.stm BBC]

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