MEPs want clearer rules on medicines for patients. Ireland's rescue package was up for debate as well as toxic substances in electrical equipment.

The News: Info on drugs - Irish bail-out - De-toxing Electronics

MEPs want more information  for patients on medicines,

to plug the 35 billion euros hole  in Ireland's economy.

And a range of goods for banned  hazardous substances gets bigger.

MEPs want pharmaceutical companies  to tell the truth

They vote Wednesday on a call for all  data to be available without ads.

In case of losing  or not understanding this note,

patients often have no choice  but to consult the Internet.

It’s equally difficult to know the benefits  or risks of a prescription medicine.

MEPs are now proposing  clear rules on the matter.

You can't be sure if the information found  on the Internet is correct and controlled.

Actually it's often the opposite, the  information is uncontrolled and unsafe.

What we do here is guarantee that there'll  be good correct information on the net

and in printed form  for anybody who requests it.

If the states accept the text,  they will have to create websites

to make information available, and  supervisory bodies to verify the content.

the confusion of information  and advertisement.

The fact that doctors and pharmacists  can distribute leaflets

produced by pharmaceutical companies  has stirred up controversy.

The information coming from  pharmaceutical firms must be controlled.

And we must also monitor the relationship

to avoid conflicts of interest between  the company and the doctor.

There is no reason  to exclude such materials

from the provision  defined for the other content,

when we know that doctors are  the most trusted source of information.

MEPs are opposed to information  campaigns on radio or TV

or in newspapers, in order to avoid  all temptations to advertising.

The Member States must decide  on all these measures in December.

The EU has thrown the Irish government  a financial lifebelt

The issue arose in a debate attended  by the ECB President.

During a debate about the European  Central Bank’s annual report for 2009,

the rescue of the Irish economy featured,

even though ECB President Trichet  declined to mention it.  

However, European Commissioner  Olli Rehn did,

defending the roughly  €90-billion bail-out.

The programme will decisively address  the fiscal genesis of the Irish economy,

for potential future capital needs  of the banking sector.

Ireland’s economic boom  ended with a property bubble,

bankrupt construction companies,  a house price crash,

An Irish Central Bank report  accused financial regulators

of ignoring  reckless lending by Irish banks,

leaving a €35-billion hole  in the economy.  

The public finances have to be  brought into equilibrium.

and only take in 31 billion.    You can't run a household like that.

The fine details of the joint ECB-IMF  rescue are still being worked out, 

most of it will go to repaying speculators.   But most think the euro is safe.

The fiscal problems of the USA  and of Japan are much greater

than the fiscal problems of the  eurozone or of the European Union.

Unlike the Greeks and French, the Irish  are prepared to accept austerity.

European stocks initially rallied at  the news but they’ve fallen back since,

and there were warnings of  downgrading Ireland’s credit status.  

A long row over the EU budget  for next year was debated

Earlier today I asked the MEP who wrote  the report of the state of play.

Sidonia Jędrzejewska you've been  talking about the budget,

the Commission's latest proposal  is 126.5 billion euros,

it's still a 2.91% increase on last year.

It sounds very similar  to the budget rejected

How is it different and how far  does it meet Parliament's concerns?

giving a preliminary greenlight to  the amounts proposed by the Council,

namely, the 2.91% increase  as compared to 2010.

But we haven't been able to enter  dialogue with the Council on other issues.

and do you feel the latest proposal goes  towards addressing them?

We need to progress on political aspects.

Let me explain the political issues  to be debated.

Firstly, all the controversy happened  because the European Parliament

is more worried about the future  financing of the EU.

The situation today is that the EU  has more and more tasks,

more and more obligations,  more ambitions, more areas of activity.

are not willing to finance all those  ambitions, areas, tasks, duties.

There is a discrepancy  between the ambitions

The Parliament wants an equal say  on the budget,

under Lisbon it should have an equal  say with the Council.

Is the Parliament being railroaded  here by the Council?

We discover many unknown aspects  of the Lisbon Treaty

How do we reach an agreement on the  new multi-annual financial framework?

The Lisbon Treaty says we need to follow  the consent procedure.

Our question, and this is our invitation  for dialogue with the Council,

is how do we reach a 'yes',  how do we proceed working together,

so the Parliament can say 'yes'  to the new MFF?

It's time to look at today's  other news stories in brief.

Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili  addressed Parliament on Tuesday.

He used his speech to offer a unilateral  renunciation of violence