You’re in the middle of arranging a romantic date with Him/Her. But your mobile phone whose battery symbol was blinking desperately for the last 2 hours is suddenly silent; your charger is at home (as always!) and nobody around can save you, offering a compatible one.

Luckily, this nightmare scenario will soon belong to the past. The EU has reached a voluntary agreement with some big names of the sector to introduce a charger that fits all models. New phones configured to use “micro-USB connector” chargers should be on the market already next year!

Two birds will be killed with one stone (charger?) — your date will be saved whereas Mother Nature will be thankful for reducing the mountains of electronic waste.

From today those who use their mobile phone in another EU Member country can make and receive cheaper calls. According the new rules on roaming, backed by the  European Parliament in spring, from 1 July 2009 consumers will have to pay a maximum of €0.43 per minute for outgoing and a maximum of €0.19 per minute for incoming roaming calls.

 

Also SMS is becoming cheaper. The roamed text message (SMS) should cost from today maximum of €0.11.

Europeans will also surf the web, download movies or send holiday pictures with their mobile without ‘bill shocks’. The new roaming rules are expected to lead to further reductions of up to 60% on consumers' roaming bills.

Already decided where will you go on holidays this summer? If you choose an European destination, you don't need to worry about the quality of the bathing water: the EU is constantly monitoring it for you!

The European Commission has just published the report on bathing water quality for 2008. The results are clear: 96% of European coasts are clean and safe for swimming. The same for lakes and river, whose quality complies with EU standards in 92% of cases.

So...ready to make the suitcases? Just have a quick look at the interactive map to check your favourite beaches, see what other users say and post your rate. Then ...just dive in!