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Mr Hammond said: We have to seize this opportunity to shake the European Union in a way that works for Britain. It went off the rails somewhere over the last 20 years and weve got to take this opportunity of reform, of renegotiation, to get it back on the rails and then crucially let the British

A strong view has emerged among member states that Britain should remain in the EU, Mr Hammond.

Mr Hammond said: "I've currently visited 23 of our partners in the European Union.

"In a nutshell, there's a very strong view that all of the member states want Britain to remain in the European Union, an understanding that can only happen if there's significant change in the European Union, and a clear willingness to engage with us - particularly on our demands for improved competitiveness in the European Union, something that all member states want to see."

Mr Hammond has previously said that Britain is lighting a fire under the European Union by holding an in-out referendum on membership.

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Philip Hammond: EU has gone 'off the rails'

HAVANA: Cuba and the European Union will meet on Wednesday (Mar 4) and Thursday for a third round of negotiations aimed at normalising ties following the historic rapprochement between Havana and Washington.

The EU and Cuba, which began talks last year after ties were suspended in 2003, had initially planned to hold a third round in December before they were called off twice.

The new talks come after France announced on Tuesday that its President Francois Hollande will visit the island May 11 in what will be the first trip by a French head of state to Cuba.

This latest round is due to tackle the sensitive human rights dossier. It is part of an effort to move past more than a decade of disagreements and sanctions after Havana launched a crackdown and jailed 75 dissidents in a direct response to calls for liberalization and greater respect for human rights.

"Our agenda is focused on cooperation with the ambition to start dealing with the two other major topics - trade and political dialogue - and set the stage for the next steps," a European diplomat said in Spanish.

"We are negotiating a framework agreement, providing a legal frameworks for dialogue, cooperation and exchanges, including on governance and human rights," he added, requesting anonymity.

The talks will be led by European chief negotiator Christian Leffler and Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno. The pair headed the two previous rounds in Brussels in August and in Havana in April.

It will be the first meeting between the politico-economic bloc and Havana since the United States and Cuba surprised the world by announcing in December that they would restore relations after half a century of enmity.

ENCOURAGING REFORMS

The EU launched its normalisation process with the communist island to encourage President Raul Castro to pursue reforms allowing for private initiatives without changing the one-party political system.

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EU, Cuba hold new round of talks to normalise ties

Almost 40% of goods traded within the European Union are transported by sea, a cleaner alternative to road transport. Despite efforts from Brussels to promote maritime transport, the sector's market share within the EU has not grown in the last 15 years. EurActiv France reports.

Shipping is still Europe's second choice for short distance transport, behind road transport, despite its environmental credentials and the congested state of European roads.

Since 2001, the European Union has promoted policies to try to keep as much freight as possible off the roads, but the market share of sea transport remains unchanged.

Slow process

Around 45% of goods traded within the European Union are transported by road, and just under 40% by sea. Rail and river transport account for the rest of the market.

"The switch to clean transport is one of the priorities of European transport policy. But the objectives have not yet been achieved," said Eric Banel, Delegate-General for the Association of French Shipowners.

Antidia Citors, from the coastal protection NGO Surfrider, said, "Despite certain drawbacks, sea transport is the cleanest in terms of CO2 emissions".

The changing nature of the EU may go some way towards explaining the stagnation of the sea transport sector. Jean-Marie Millour, from the Short Sea Promotion Centre, explained that "the stagnation of the sea transport sector's market share should be viewed alongside the EU's enlargement into continental Europe and countries that are largely landlocked".

>> Read: EU seeks to shift freight to rail and shipping

In this context, the fact that sea transport has maintained its market share could be seen as a relative success for European policy.

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EU efforts to promote sea transport bring little progress

IES EU Spring 2015 - An American in Freiburg
See more from IES Abroad European Union student blogger Kimberly: http://bit.ly/webberk. This is a compilation of any footage I have in the month we #39;ve been in Freiburg. There #39;s a lot of cooking...

By: IES Abroad

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IES EU Spring 2015 - An American in Freiburg - Video

SPECIAL REPORT /The European Union is at a turning policy point: it must choose to lead the way towards a gender equal and sustainable future. Investing in womens rights and empowerment is the core commitment for a more sustainable, democratic and inclusive world to evolve, said Joanna Maycock in an interview with EurActiv.

Joanna Maycock is Secretary General of the European Women's Lobby.

She spoke to EurActiv's Editor-in-Chief, Daniela Vincenti

In 60 years a lot has been done on gender equality, but we are not close to parity yet. What are priorities to accelerate equality in 2015?

2015 is a very exciting time for gender equality and womens rights, and for the womens movement globally, and in Europe. Twenty years after the Beijing Platform for Action, a fundamental human rights instrument for women and girls was adopted in 1995, the European Womens Lobby (EWL) has produced its assessment of the continuing discrimination of women and girls in Europe, as witnessed by EWLs 3000 member organisations.

Our report From Words to Action gives the opportunity to learn from twenty years of campaigning. Much has been achieved, but much remains to be done. Despite the fact that equality between women and men is a core value of the EU, our report shows that women and girls still face inequality, violence, discrimination and insecurity. Women and girls cant wait 20 more years to enjoy their full human rights.

Many of your readers probably think that equality between women and men has already been achieved in Europe or at the very least is well on its way. The reality is that women still face persisting and serious discrimination: Women are much more likely to be unemployed or to live in poverty due to low paid precarious jobs. The average pay gap in Europe is still 16%, with women having 40% less pension than men. 30% of women in Europe have experienced male violence. Just 19% of Board members of listed companies are women and only 27% of members of parliament. That means that 73% of members of parliament are men. Women continue to experience sexism, sexual harassment and astonishing levels of stereotyping which hinder their personal, professional and political lives in multiple ways.

The European Union, is at a turning policy point: it must choose to lead the way towards a gender equal and sustainable future. Investing in womens rights and empowerment is the core commitment for a more sustainable, democratic and inclusive world to evolve.

Womens rights are facing a stronger backlash than ever. Ultra-conservative and religious groups are systematically calling gender equality into question, by attacking womens sexual and reproductive rights, sexuality education, womens access to employment and decision-making.

At the same time, a new generation of young feminists is mobilising widely, dynamically tackling new and old forms of violations of their rights. They are angry and completely fed up with this systemic inequality. Feminist economists are challenging the unsustainable and unjust economic system we live in, by proposing new ways of measuring wellbeing and protecting our planet and the next generations.

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Activist: EU must dismantle the 'Pink Ghetto'