Search Results for: German

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EURO-ZONE telephone utilities should check how they dealt with the transfer of prices from national to the European single currency for price-per-minute rates, according to a preliminary ruling from a European Court of Justice (ECJ) advocate general. Miguel Poiares Maduro advised that under EU law, telecom operators were allowed to round converted rates to the nearest Euro cent, but – crucially – provided this “does not entail a systematic increase in the monetary amounts to be paid.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DEUTSCHE Telekom has agreed to lower fees charged to competitors offering high-speed Internet services via its broadband networks, following pressure from the European Commission. It had accused DT of exploiting its dominant position on the German market, where following three years of retail broadband competition, it still commands 90 per cent of the market.…

BY ALAN OSBORN and MARK ROWE
THE LIBERALISATION of electricity and gas supplies in the European Union (EU) was finally agreed in 2003 and will come into full effect this year for business customers and in 2007 for households and all others.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched a formal state aid inquiry in Germany, examining the waiver of Euro 5 million on loans paid to GfW (Palatinate Wine Marketing Company) by the Reconstruction Fund for the Rhineland-Palatinate winegrowing area (WAK).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FIFTY years after the turn of the tide in the Second World War, the European Parliament is calling for the creation of a comprehensive international legal system to identify the whereabouts of artworks looted by the Nazis, fairly settling ownership and compensation claims.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
ABUSE of drugs and alcohol in the workplace may be a growing concern in European Union (EU) countries but there seems little evidence that the relevant authorities are unduly alarmed by it. An informal survey by Occupational Health of organisations and government departments suggests that little attempt has been made so far to assess the scale of the problem, still less to devise legislation aimed at workers, as distinct from society in general.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE MANIPULATION of atoms within materials by using optical devices, (such as 3D light field synthesis), is being developed by a consortium of European organisations with Britain paying a leading role. The ATOM3D project is one of a number of “visionary” sciences that the European Union (EU) is funding under its New and Emerging Science and Technology (NEST) scheme for 2004 and is slated to receive funding of around Euro 1 million.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has begun a formal investigation into regional development assistance for the German wine marketing company Gesellschaft für Weinabsatz Pfalz (GfW) suspecting that the aid may breach EU rules for state aid.

Brussels said the Reconstruction Fund for the Rhineland-Palatinate winegrowing area (WAK) had decided to waive part of its outstanding claims on GfW exceeding Euro 5 million for 2001, did not claim interest on debts and had agreed to subordinate certain claims in favour of other creditors.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THREE German sausages have been added by the European Commission to the EU list of protected traditionally made products, ensuring meat manufacturers cannot sell Thuringer Leberwurst, Thuringer Rotwurst and Thuringer Rostbratwurst in the EU unless they are made in Thuringia, central Germany, by traditional sausage-making traditions.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE ACQUISITION by the international fund management group Bain Capital of Interfer, a German-based company active in the processing and trading of steel, metal, plastic and ferrous products, non-ferrous metals and alloys, has been approved by the European Commission.…