The EEA and its Topic Centre on Resource and Waste Management has carried out a survey of municipal waste policies and trends across the EU-25, and has consolidated the results into one easily-referenced source: a set of 25 country factsheets, freely available at http://waste.eionet....

The European economy needs huge amounts of resources to function. Apart from consuming minerals, metals, concrete and wood, Europe burns fossil fuels and uses land to satisfy the needs of its citizens. Demand for materials is so intense that between 20 and 30 % of the resources we use are now...

The 2004 EU enlargement will most likely yield major benefits to the new member countries in the long run. The new members will be able to capture gains from trade in goods and services and will moreover benefit from a continued inflow of financial and real capital. Without doubt, these...