European fisheries observers on Portuguese and Spanish ships have been intimidated by crews, according to an investigation by the Guardian. There are independent observers on board every fishing vessel operating in the Northwest Atlantic Fishery Organisation, monitoring compliance with quotas for five months at a time. More than 20 current and former observers said they had been put under surveillance, deprived of sleep, had their official documentation stolen, and been threatened with being thrown overboard to hide overfishing.

European Union climate chief Connie Hedegaard said that plans to delay some carbon auctions are a short-term tool to tackle oversupply and will be followed by further talks. The measures are meant to boost emissions prices after they sank to a record low last month. Hedegaard called the market "over-flooded" and said that she would aim for a decision by member states on the proposal to review the auction rules by the end of the year. The slumping permit prices have allowed European countries to burn increasing amounts of coal and still meet legally binding targets for carbon emissions.

In the face of blizzards that have pushed the power grid to its limit and a cold snap that has killed 400, Denmark has made progress on the EU's Energy Efficiency Directive a priority during its presidency. While Denmark argues efficiency would bring jobs and help reduce reliance on imported fuel, the EU is on track to meet only half of its non-binding target to increase efficiency by 20 percent by 2020. Draft energy efficiency legislation, as proposed by the Commission, would impose binding measures, rather than binding targets, on EU governments.

A European Union committee of technical experts failed to agree to a proposal to label oil sands fuel as more polluting than other fuel sources. The committee, which met last week, was tasked with determining whether oil sands should be labeled as "dirty" under the Fuel Quality Directive, which is designed to cut the carbon intensity of transport fuels by 6 percent by 2020. Such a label would make oil sands more costly to import, a measure Canada has called unjustified and discriminatory. Canada made it clear it would take trade action if the proposal went ahead.

The United States, Japan, and the European Union (EU) have challenged China's export restrictions on rare earth materials, requesting dispute settlement consultations from the World Trade Organization (WTO). In the first WTO case filed jointly by the parties, they argue that China is driving up the prices of rare earth, crucial to the development of renewable energy technologies, by limiting exports.

Farmers and seed companies appealed a ban on a genetically modified strain of Monsanto's corn, saying the ban was economically harmful and unjustified. Agricultural minister Bruno Le Maire imposed a temporary ban on MON 810 in March, saying it was a "precautionary measure" to protect the environment. "This restriction does not rely on any serious scientific element, and maize producers, hit by (insects), sustain real financial damage," said French growers group AGPM, French seed firms group UFS, and the corn and sorghum producers group FNPSMS.

Steel industry body Eurofer said last week that steelmakers had begun legal action to overturn the EU's treatment of the industry in the carbon market. Eurofer said that the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which allows the most efficient 10% of factories to get free pollution permits after 2013, sets a benchmark at which no steelwork in the world could operate. The emissions benchmark is part of an effort to reduce the windfall profits received by some companies after some industries received free permits to help compete with non-EU rivals.

The European Union rejected a study that called bioenergy's climate benefits into question, saying that it failed to properly compare carbon savings to those of diesel and gasoline burned by cars. The report, by the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency, said that biofuel and bioenergy targets are based on a "serious accounting error" and should be revised downward.

United Nations carbon credits hit an all-time low of 7.13 euros a ton on Friday as a result of the glut in emissions permits. The debt crisis and slowing economic growth, combined with the EU's continued issuance of new offsets at a record rate, has led to a "crisis of confidence," according to one trader. Producers of greenhouse gases buy certified emissions reductions (CERs) to meet Kyoto Protocol emissions caps, which help pay for projects in the developing world, but the weak economy has led to an over-supply of offsets.

EU officials proposed last week to toughen environmental standards in its expensive farm subsidy policies as part of major changes to the 58 billion euro system.