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BRUSSELS: The European Union said on Wednesday it wants a complete ban by 2015 on drift-net fishing, dubbed by environmentalists as 'walls of death' for killing other marine animals, especially dolphins.

Drift-nets, often vast lengths of near-invisible nylon netting floating near the sea surface, have been banned since 2002 for migratory fisheries but the rules are being flouted, the European Commission said.

Accordingly, there should now be a full EU ban on the drift-nets, which the Commission said kill "marine mammals, sea turtles and sea birds which are mostly protected," a statement said.

"I am convinced that the only way to eradicate this once and for all is to have clear rules which leave no room for interpretation," said EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki.

Despite the 2002 restriction, drift nets have continued to be used for smaller fish such as sardines and anchovies in the Mediterranean and other areas but they are indiscriminate, entangling anything that tries to swim through them.

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EU proposes complete ban on drift-net fishing

Bratislava - The European Union should look for ways to increase the volume of funding it provides to co-finance important energy infrastructure from its budget, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslave Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) said at international conference Globsec in Bratislava today.

Energy security was a topic discussed by prime ministers of Visegrad Group countries at the Globsec conference today. The group comprises the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.

The prime ministers agreed that it is necessary to secure better interconnection of European markets, above all of the markets for gas, and reduce dependence on Russia.

The EU has a list of projects of international importance, for which co-financing mechanisms could be looked for, according to Sobotka.

Sufficient co-funding from the EU could motivate private investors to participate in building energy infrastructure, Sobotka said.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said energy security is an absolute priority for the Visegrad Group.

The individual states must work on technical measures which will extend the possibilities of the so-called reversed flow, according to Fico. If a country lacks gas, a neighbouring state can help it thanks to the reverse flow, although gas flows in an apposite direction under normal circumstances, Fico said.

Fico also mentioned the importance of gas interconnection on the North-South axis running through Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

Czech and Slovak prime ministers welcome the efforts of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to create en energy union in the EU, which would ensure energy security to its member states. Now it is necessary to negotiate the specific steps that would lead to the the creation of the union, Sobotka and Fico said.

Tusk started to promote strongly the establishment of the energy union in April in reaction to the crisis in Ukraine, and the steps Moscow took in the crisis.

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EU should increase funding of energy infrastructure - PM Sobotka

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