European Union regulators are expected to fine nine makers of memory chips, including Samsung, Infineon and Hynix, this week on charges of illegally fixing prices. Others set to be fined are Elpida, NEC Electronics, Hitachi, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and Nanya.

The eurozone managed only modest economic growth in the first quarter of 2010, with Germany's performance, held back by the bitter winter, failing to kick-start a broader recovery in the 16-country region.

The measures include speeding up current plans to integrate Europe's air space, creating a "single European regulator for a single European sky."

The unemployment rate across the 16-nation eurozone hit 10% in February 2010, the first time it has reached double figures since the euro was introduced.

European Union regulators are to charge ten memory chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics, Infineon and Hynix Semiconductor, with fixing prices in breach of EU antitrust rules.

The European Union has approved Oracle's US$7.4 billion takeover of fellow computer firm Sun Microsystems. Oracle said it now expected to complete the deal shortly.

The fall in cost is due to the increased lifetime, according to the independent EU Energy Institute.

European regulators are set to accept a proposal by Rambus to cut royalties to settle antitrust charges, according to a person familiar with the situation.

In January, China's exports to its Southeast Asia neighbors counted for around one third of that to the EU. Eight months later, China's exports to Asean countries had grown to the equivalent of about half of exports to the EU.

South Korea and the EU did US$98.4 billion in trade in 2008 and officials hope the deal will spur a jump in commercial activity between the two sides.

An encouraging set of results from Philips, the Dutch consumer electronics manufacturer, helped set a positive tone for European markets.

The European Commission's new proposal to boost solar technology development focuses too much on research and not enough on deploying commercial technologies, according to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA).

Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner in charge of antitrust issues, would undoubtedly be most satisfied to see the Microsoft dossier closed before she goes.

The world's leading semiconductor manufacturers plan to discuss ways to prevent overproduction and enforce fair competition at an industry-wide annual meeting on Jeju Island, according to the South Korean government.

Countries must rebalance their economies to make it sustainable, IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard commented. Economies dominated by consumption - such as the US - would have to focus more on exports, while Asia turned more to imports.

German exports rose 7% in June, the fastest pace in nearly three years, in the latest sign of recovery in Europe's biggest economy, official figures show.

South Korea has announced that it had concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU that it hoped would encourage US lawmakers to ratify a free trade deal with the country.

Apple, Nokia, Samsung, and others have agreed to adopt a charging standard for "data-enabled" mobile devices based on USB. The current agreement only applies to the European Union, though it is hoped that the standard may be adopted worldwide.

The US and EU said China was giving its domestic industry access to cheap materials.

Europe's depleted semiconductor sector needs a strong leader to unite the continent's chipmakers around common goals if chip manufacturing in the region is to survive, the European head of industry association SEMI said.

Confidence is beginning to return to UK and mainland European businesses but it has still not reached levels seen in the autumn last year, according to a quarterly business survey released on Tuesday.

"We need to find a European solution, and to back it up with the EU is a challenge — it takes time and if we wait too long, some of these companies might not exist anymore," said Heinz Kundert, president of SEMI Europe. Kundert said that the full-scale rescue of Qimonda would be quite difficult. "These projects are too big to be solved by one company or a single nation."

The European Commission and Japan are going to deepen their collaboration in energy research. The primal areas for cooperation are photovoltaics, power storage and carbon capture and storage.