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Brussels: Often criticised as a red-tape bureaucracy removed from the everyday concerns of people, the European Union in fact directly impacts on the lives of its 500 million people.

Recent key decisions by the parliament and the European Commission have affected every area of public policy, from the mundane to the critical, from mobile phone roaming fees to food security and the right to open a bank account.

- Europe and mobile phones

By the end of 2015, roaming fees on calls and SMS messages sent between EU countries should be a thing of the past.

Fearful of hefty charges when they return home, many Europeans avoid using their mobile phones and devices while abroad.

The European Commission, the EUs executive arm, campaigned long and hard to get roaming fees scrapped and the European Parliament approved the measure in April. The European Council, representing the blocs 28 member states, still has to sign off on the deal.

This is what the EU is all about getting rid of barriers to make life easier and less expensive, said EU Commissioner for the digital agenda Neelie Kroes.

Under the deal, mobile phone companies will have to offer customers roam like at home packages covering the whole of the EU, or allow them to subscribe to separate service providers when crossing a national border, without having to change their original SIM card.

The EU has been working for years to cut smoking rates, despite the best efforts of the tobacco industry, with a particular focus on stopping young Europeans taking up the habit.

By 2016, two-thirds of the surface of tobacco packets will carry graphic health warnings and horrific photos of smoke-damaged lungs. Flavoured cigarettes, including menthols, will be banned from 2020.

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How EU policy affects everyday lives of Europeans

Does the European Union influence environmental/sustainability issues beyond its borders?

By: Penny Rhode

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Does the European Union influence environmental/sustainability issues beyond its borders? - Video

MarrShow: Nick Clegg interviewed (18May14)
Liberal Democrat deputy PM Nick Clegg is interviewed before the European Union Parliament and local council elections later in the week. This is the full interview. Recorded from BBC1 HD,...

By: liarpoliticians2

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MarrShow: Nick Clegg interviewed (18May14) - Video

May. 16, 2014

Data released by European statistics agency Eurostat shows that growth in euro zone rose 0.2 percent in first quarter, which translates to annual growth rate of 0.8 percent; while data represents fourth straight quarter of expansion, it is half what economists expected; growth is so feeble that it could be years before Europe recovers. MORE

European Court of Justice ruling that Google can be forced to remove links from some searches will be carried out by data privacy regulators at 28 different agencies across the European Union; court has given little guidance to agencies in applying the ruling, which could result in jurisdiction shopping as different European countries interpret ruling in different ways. MORE

Editorial warns that European Court of Justice decision to make Google comply with requests from individuals to remove links on search results pages could undermine press freedoms and free speech; contends that desire to allow individuals to erase data they no longer wish to disclose is understandable; urges lawmakers not to create a right so powerful that it could limit press freedoms or allow individuals to demand that lawful information in a news archive be hidden. MORE

Credit is harder to come by in some of more troubled euro zone countries such as Spain, Portugal and Greece; many small and medium-size businesses are struggling to get loans that would help them rebuild, finding interest rates are much more expensive than in thriving European Union countries; situation is hampering economic recovery. MORE

Adam B Bartos, Czech journalist running in May elections for European Parliament, has campaigned on anti-Semitic sentiments and anti-European Union messages; parties outside the mainstream are expected to win as many as quarter of the Parliament's 750 seats, indicating rise of far-right leaders. MORE

Influential group of British Euroskeptics, after talks with Continental politicians, accept that early treaty change with European Union is neither likely nor necessary in order to change Britain's ties to the EU; move gives Prime Min David Cameron some breathing room as European nations seek to avoid treaty rewrite. MORE

European Union report says European labor market remains stagnant despite signs of growth; jobless rate was 11.8 percent in March in 18 nations that share euro currency. MORE

European Union statistics agency Eurostate reports annual rate of inflation in the euro zone rose to 0.7 percent in April 2014, from 0.5 percent in March; rate remains well below European Central Bank's official target of slightly less than 2 percent. MORE

Members of European Union condemn execution death of Clayton D Lockett in Oklahoma, brutal ordeal that dragged on for 43 minutes; authorities used improvised cocktail of drugs to kill Lockett due to shortages of sodium thiopental, drug commonly used for lethal injections, resulting in badly enacted execution. MORE

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European Union's - Times Topics - The New York Times

Ukrainian army servicemen stand near an armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) as they man a checkpoint in the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian town of Slavyansk(Reuters)

The European Union wants to settle a gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia before June 1 and plans two more rounds of talks for next week, the EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said on Monday.

Speaking ahead of a meeting with the Russian energy minister and the head of Gazprom, Oettinger told reporters that the EU would try to mediate on a deal that reduces the price Ukraine pays for gas.

"We have a timeframe that ends on June 1. We want to do all we can in two rounds of talks next week to clear up the open questions," he told German television channel ARD.

"Next Monday the next round of talks with the EU, Russia and Ukraine are planned," he added.

Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom nearly doubled the price it charges Ukraine for gas after pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February. Ukraine's interim government has refused to pay the new price which it described as "political".

"We want to negotiate a market price for Ukraine so that it is in a better position than it would be with the demands Mr Putin has been making since April 1," said Oettinger.

"Somewhere in the middle would seem to be a fair result of negotiations," he said.

Ukraine relies on Russia for around half of its gas needs and the country is a crucial transit route for Russian gas being exported to Europe via pipeline. The European Union receives around a third of its total gas from Russia, around half of which arrives via Ukraine.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has threatened to cut gas supplies to Ukraine if Kiev does not pay outstanding gas bills worth $3.51bn, warning European leaders that their supplies could also be affected if Ukraine does not pay for June gas deliveries in advance. He has called on EU leaders to help Ukraine pay off its debts to Gazprom.

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European Union Wants Ukraine Russia Gas Dispute Resolved Before June