EU Parliament: integrated asylum system The number of refugees in the world has grown to over 12 million in the past year while internally displaced persons amount to over 26 million, according to a European Parliament report issued in the session of March 9-12. The report asks that a "single asylum application procedure" and "single standards for qualification as refugees of persons needing international protection be established" at Community level. In the report – adopted with large majority vote (Ayes 593, Noes 65, and 18 abstentions)- MEPs "endorse the implementation of the strategic Plan envisaged by the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum". MEPs opposed the proposal of postponing the deadline to 2012 "in order to end to the unpropitious disparity in Member States’ asylum systems". They called for a revision of "Frontex’s mandate in order to explicitly state that protection and human rights concerns are an integral part of the management of the EU external borders and that asylum-seekers "must not be placed in detention". It’s equally necessary to set up mechanisms to "improve the situation of countries with the greatest flows of asylum seekers". Drug consumption and contrast policies"There is no evidence that the global drug problem has been reduced". This is one of the conclusions of a report on the illicit drug Markets since 1998 launched March 10 by the EU Commission. "The situation" states the Report "has improved a little in some of the richer countries" over the past decade, "while for others it worsened", among which are a few large developing or transitional countries. The Report states that "the world drugs problem" didn’t register significant developments; "if anything, the situation has become more complex". Attention is drawn on the fact that drug "retail prices have generally declined" while "there are no indications that drugs have become more difficult to obtain". The survey highlights high rates in the use of heroine, cannabis, cocaine and other substances among the youth. To this regard the Commission declared that "harm reduction policies, still controversial in some countries, are gaining ground in a growing number of others countries which see them as an effective way of reducing drug-related disease, social disorder, and mortality". Decrease in nights spent in hotel: the effects of the crisis The decrease in the number of nights spent in hotels across Europe is yet another sign of the ongoing economic crisis. A Eurostat publication issued findings on the nights spent in hotel for tourism, study or work. "In 2008, 1 578 million nights were spent in hotels and similar establishments", i.e. motels, apartment hotels, roadside inns and bed-and-breakfast, "a decrease of 0.5% compared with 2007". The Eurostat report points out that positive trends had been registered in 2006 and in 2007. The decrease is more evident as relates to hotel nights spent by non-residents, while the number of hotel nights spent by residents in their own country in 2008 was stable. A direct cause-effect of the crisis is perceivable in the worsening of the situation registered from April onwards. "In 23 Member States the lowest growth rates were recorded for the end of the year period (September-December)". In EU 27 the highest numbers of nights spent in hotels in 2008 were recorded in Spain (270 million nights), Italy (247 mn), Germany (219 mn), France (204 mn) and the United Kingdom (173 million). EU: half a ton of refuse per personOver half a ton of waste was generated per person in the EU27 in 2007. Figures were released in a Eurostat report on "municipal waste" (generated by households or by small business and offices and collected by the municipality). According to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, in 2007, 42% of treated municipal waste was landfilled, 20% incinerated, 22% recycled and 17% composted. "The amount of municipal waste generated varies significantly across Member States", states the report. More than 750 kg per person was generated in 2007 in Denmark, Ireland and Cyprus. Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands had values between 600 and 750 kg per person and Austria, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Estonia, Sweden and Finland between 500 and 600 kg. Some States are slightly under EU mean figures (such as Belgium, Portugal, Greece and Hungary) . The lowest values of below 400 kg per person were found in Romania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Some States have high shares of municipal waste landfilled (Bulgaria 100%, Romania 99, Lithuania 96 Malta 93). The Member States with the highest recycling rates for municipal waste were Germany (46%), Belgium (39%), Sweden Estonia and Ireland.
