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BRUSSELS, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Members of the European Union said they want clarity from the Russian government on the status of the South Stream natural gas pipeline.

South Stream is Russia's answer to energy diversification needs in the European market. Most of the gas Russia sends to Europe runs through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine, where conflict and political disputes between Kiev and Moscow present risks.

Representatives from Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Romania and Slovenia met in Brussels with European Energy Commissioner Maros Sefcovic to discuss gas infrastructure priorities in their respective regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week declared an end to South Stream, planned to cross the Black Sea to the southern European market.

"The member states directly concerned took note of the currently unofficial nature of this announcement and invited the commissioner to clarify the situation with the Russian side," a note Tuesday from the European Union said.

European leaders are wary of companies like Russian natural gas company Gazprom, which control products and their corresponding transit systems. In August, the government of host country Bulgaria called for a suspension of all actions on South Stream because the project does not meet the legal requirements of the European administration.

"The integration of gas markets and the diversification of gas supplies will namely require putting in place the necessary infrastructure and implementing harmonised rules for the benefit of customers in that region," members said. "New routes operated in line with European law can also contribute to increased security of supply in the region."

Fitch Ratings said last week the South Stream decision reflects low demand for additional natural gas volumes in the European market as much as it does frustration with Russia's role in the market. Austrian energy company OMV, a South Stream consortium member, said it viewed the recent announcements as political in nature.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the pipeline decision was final.

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Europe seeks clarity on South Stream

The European Union is launching the European Year for Development 2015". The first details were disclosed during a public event held in Brussels on Tuesday (9 November).

The European Year for Development 2015 is the first year designated with such a global theme, since European years have been designated thematically since 1983.

The initiative originated in Latvia. The European Year for Development 2015 will take place in Riga on 8 January, as part of the events marking the beginning of the first Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

>> Read:The European Year for Development 2015 started in Latvia

The second half of the European Year for Development will be during the Luxembourg presidency.

Seamus Jefferson, Director of CONCORD Europe, the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development who was instrumental for the launch of the European Year for Development 2015, called the coming year seminal in terms of expected events and decisions. He mentioned the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in December, as well as the expected decisions concerning the post-2015 development agenda.

But 2015 is also the year of expiry of the Millennium Development Goals, with many European Union states falling off track on anti-poverty aid targets.

Commission representatives, communication experts, as well as figures from the NGO and business sector all agreed that the European Year for Development 2015 should provide an opportunity to reach out to a wider public regarding the importance of the development agenda. Possible new alliances are being sought with youth and women's organisations, local authorities, and unions.

A study made by Weber-Shandwick highlighted the fact that a new swing audience could be reached, especially if messages are better thought. As an example, Julian Lambertin, head of Strategy, said that self-reliance or empowering women worked better than goals such as ending poverty, which act like trigger for sceptics.

Commission experts also said that people aged 15-24 were showing the highest degree of openness to international development, and that they were among the swingers the 2015 campaign was trying to reach.

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Details emerge about the European Year for Development 2015

Campaigners have been calling on the EU to investigate its trade ties since 2011. Photograph: Pring Samrang / Reuters/Reuters

The European Union has agreed to investigate forced displacement claims in relation to Cambodias troubled sugar industry. The move could see thousands of villagers compensated for illegally confiscated land and loss of earnings.

The Clean Sugar Campaign which has been calling on the EU to investigate its trade ties with Cambodias sugar industry since 2011 called the development a pivotal step towards justice for thousands of Cambodian people who have suffered enormously at the hands of the sugar industry.

The joint EU-Cambodia scheme has already been approved by the Cambodian government and is intended to ensure redress and restore pre-project living standards and income levels for those affected, campaigners said.

The EU confirmed the scheme in a statement seen by the Phnom Penh Post, in which it said the aim was to fund technical expertise to develop a mechanism to audit claims in relation to sugarcane plantations in Cambodia, and ensure the implementation of any remedial measures that are found necessary.

Cambodias booming sugarcane industry which benefits from a preferential EU trade scheme called the Everything But Arms treaty is rife with allegations of human rights abuses, among them illegal land grabs, forced displacement and child labour. Human rights groups claim that at least two villages in three provinces were entirely destroyed and thousands of hectares of rice plantations and orchards confiscated to make way for sugar plantations, leaving up to 2,500 families without homes, land or food.

A Guardian report last year into the Thai-owned KSL plantation which exported sugar to the EU for the sugar multinational Tate & Lyle investigated allegations of child labour and other abuses. Villagers also described being subjected to physical violence, having their homes and property destroyed, their land confiscated without their consent; they also claimed one person had been killed while land was being forcibly cleared.

Some 200 Cambodian families are currently involved in a lawsuit against Tate & Lyle, claiming the company knew, or should have known, of the allegations against KSL, and allege the sugar company should compensate them for the value of the sugar grown on the land they say still belongs to them.

Following the Guardian investigation into alleged abuses, the drinks corporations Coca-Cola and Pepsico agreed to a zero-tolerance policy regarding land grabbing in their supply chain, while the ethical sugar coalition Bonsucro suspended Tate & Lyle for failing to respond to allegations of abuse related to KSL dealings. The sugar company later resigned from Bonsucro in June this year.

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European Union agrees to investigate Cambodian sugar industry

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