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Keith Nuthall
GIBRALTAR has beaten off an attempt by the European Commission to brand illegal a tax break that it allows for certain “exempt” companies. The British colony won a case at the European Court of Justice, where it claimed that Brussels had wrongfully claimed that by reducing these companies’ tax burden, they were in effect granting them state aid in contravention of EU directives limiting such payments.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission is trying to unite the EU’s footwear research and development teams in a network of excellence that will form part of its so-called European Research Area. This general policy aims to link researchers from different Member States so they can collaborate on projects, avoiding duplication and benefiting from economies of scale.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Environment Agency has claimed that energy use is still rising in the European Union, mainly because of increasing transport consumption and has alleged that the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions could return to their 1990 levels by the year 2010 unless Brussels and Member States take firm action; this would include promoting renewable energy, said the EEA.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development will lend Euro 14 million to a Czech subsidiary of French agri-business company Groupe Soufflet so it can expand its malting interests in the east European country. The money will enable Malterie Soufflet République Tchéque to acquire shares in Obchodní Sladovny, the malting subsidiary of Czech company Tchecomalt Group.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice has ruled that a Spanish clothing, footwear and headgear company should have secured European trade mark rights to the word ‘Ellos,’ regarding a mail order service, though it should not use the brand-name for their products.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A FRENCH fishing company has opened the way for fellow fishermen from across the European Union to launch direct legal challenges to EU fishing regulations.

Until now, under European case law, fishing and other companies were not allowed to ask judges at the European Court of Justice to strike down irksome EU rules, where they apply equally to a number of competitors.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE CRUCIAL question of whether the European Commission’s new proposed directive on tobacco advertising will stand up legally is still unclear after a hearing on the subject in the European Parliament. Last year the measure was rejected on the grounds that it attempted to set health policy, an area where the EU has no constitutional role.…

Keith Nuthall
THE DRINKS industry is being asked by the European Commission whether it would like the EU rules governing the size of bottles for wines and spirits to be liberalised. At present, wines may only be sold in the EU in 25, 37.5, 50, 75 cl bottles and a few more units of one litre or more.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ENGLISH lawyers would firmly oppose the establishment of EU legislation harmonising European contract law practice, claims the European Commission.

Releasing the results of wide-ranging consultation on four options for potential reform, Brussels said that the keenest opposition to EU legislation came from English lawyers, who “fear that the global significance of English common law would suffer.”…

Keith Nuthall
IN a groundbreaking legal move, the European Commission has proposed a regulation that would force courts and other judicial authorities across the EU to recognise an uncontested order secured by a creditor, for the recovery of owed money held in another Member State.…