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The European Union is celebrating its half century. It was fifty years ago that the treaty of Rome was signed by six countries who wanted to break down some trade barriers. Fifty years later the EU has 27 member states, free trade, a passport free zone, a common currency, and is talking about its own army. 50th birthday Celebrations in Berlin include the signing of the Berlin declaration which reflects upon the EU's achievements and hopes to point the way out of a crisis over the constitutional treaty. But it's not just in Berlin and Rome that

Undoubtedly one of the achievements of the EU is its common currency - the Euro. The newest member of the Euro-zone is Slovenia which took up the currency on the the first of January this year. Slovenes suspected that some businesses used confusion over exchange rates to inflate prices and the Consumer Protection Office in Slovenia has confirmed this, saying the services sector has been the worst offender.

The process of officially registering a church in Slovakia has always been quite complicated, but is about to become even more difficult. The left-wing government of Robert Fico has decided to support a proposal requiring that new churches or regional organizations in Slovakia to gather more than 20 thousands signatures from adult members of the Church if they want to be officially registered. Current legislation requires the same amount of signatures, but only from Church sympathisers.

Health officials says obesity is one of the most serious public health problems in Europe - It increases the risk of many chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. The increase of childhood obesity is particularly worrying - it's estimated that one in five children living in the EU is overweight. The European Commission has been pressing member states to do something about it so the Slovak government is setting up a national plan to fight child obesity. So how serious is child obesity in Slovakia?

Budget airlines have been opening and closing routes across Europe for years now, as they scramble for new destinations and connections. After months of wrangling, Slovenia is set to open another airport (its second) to the budget carriers.

The President of the European Parliament Hans Gert Poettering has publicly reprimanded Polish MEP Maciej Giertych for publishing a pamphlet described as anti-Semitic. And in a European Parliament first Giertych could face sanctions. He's a member of the conservative League of Polish Families and disagrees with the charges against him.

A ruling on Thursday by the Constitutional Court was good news for many towns and villages across the Czech Republic. It enables local authorities to ban prostitution from public areas. In the verdict, the court said the potential harmful effect of publicly offered sexual services on the moral development of children is greater than the freedom of enterprise.

Hungary has been celebrating the 125 anniversary of his birth in 1832. Kodaly was a musician and teacher and with his friend Bela Bartok travelled to remote villages to collect folk tunes. Along with his composing work he became known around the world for his music teaching methods. Ironically better known outside his native Hungary than at home.

Hungary's national day on Thursday was meant to celebrate its struggle for independence in the 1848 revolution. The celebrations went ahead but when it came to television news images it was the violence between police and young far-right nationalists on the streets of Budapest which dominated.

The agreement thrashed out among EU leaders in Brussels promises "solidarity" in the event of an energy supply crisis - something Poland was looking for, and, in wording important for Czechs, Slovaks and Hungarians noted that "nuclear energy meets growing concerns about safety of supply." It also allowed some wriggle room when it came to meeting the 20 percent target for renewable energy saying "this should take account of different national starting points."