Norway main contributor to new EU member states

The European Union has asked Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to pay more money if they want to do business in the bloc's two new member states, Bulgaria and Romania, with oil-rich Norway to foot most of the bill.

Non-EU members Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway will have to pay at least €70 million extra a year for access to the bloc's single market if Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union next year.

Switzerland will succeed in renewing its trade deals with Brussels without committing one single Swiss Franc to the EU enlargement. Norway was forced to pay 1.7 bn crowns (210 million euro) per year in return for a new agreement with the EU.

Frustration over the lack of cooperation from member states and the European Commission has left MEPs probing spyware in the EU upset and demanding answers.

"It is the truth that Russian aggression targets first," Lithuania's president Gitanas Nausėda warned MEPs in a speech in Strasbourg, adding that "ignoring the past is never a good idea."

Pro-transparency MEPs are asking probing questions into possible conflict of interest between a senior EU commission official and Qatar, following revelations his business class trips were paid by Doha while negotiating a market access deal for its national airline.