Archive

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A DETAILED European Commission report has recommended that the European Union (EU) introduce full-scale spectrum allocation liberalisation, including trading. Liberalisation would lead to a more efficient use of spectrum, the report suggests.

Written for the European Commission’s radio spectrum policy unit by Analysys Consulting, DotEcon Ltd and Hogan&Hartson LLP, the report says the Commission should “move ahead with both spectrum trading and liberalisation through binding measures on EU member states”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
France Telecom said it and the French government were to appeal against the order, accusing the Commission of muddled thinking. In a statement, the utility said: “The Commission appears to have made its decision without precision, in a climate of confusion fuelled by many leaks, rumours and public announcements that have been premature to say the least.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FRANCE is flirting with potentially huge daily recurring fines from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) by failing to implement three ECJ rulings, one on some of the European Union’s (EU) oldest water legislation. Paris, claims the European Commission, has failed to adopt pollution reduction programmes required by the 1976 directive on discharges of dangerous substances to water, such as heavy metals, pesticides and chemicals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE NETHERLANDS, Ireland and Belgium are facing legal action by the European Commission over their alleged failure to implement a series of utility-related European Union (EU) directives. The announcements come before Brussels’ long summer break, when member states are often sent legal notices.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE NEW Dutch presidency of the European Union (EU) is to press for political agreement over the proposed directive on security of electricity supply, drawn up following last year’s power failures. It would require member countries to define targets on the security of their transmission and distribution networks and increase investment in cross-border electricity interconnectors, although substantial redrafts are expected to secure a deal.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A PAST exemption enjoyed by the Norwegian manufacturing and mining industry to a tax on electricity consumption has been found to be illegal state aid by the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) Surveillance Authority, which has ordered the repayment of this de facto subsidy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
REQUIREMENTS on national telecommunications regulators within the European Union (EU) to analyse a list of specific markets to see if controls are required on a dominant operator are to be frozen for 18 months. The European Commission had been due to review this so-called ‘ex ante’ recommendation last month, but has postponed this until December 2005.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has asked European Union (EU) ministers and the European Parliament whether it can extend the EU trans-European energy network programme beyond 2007 until 2013. It wants a budget of Euro 340 million to co-finance feasibility studies for gas pipelines and electricity interconnections “needed to complete the internal market and ensure security of supply”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) is lending Sweden’s Göteborg Energy AB Euro 87 million to construct a combined-heat-and-power plant it regards as a model for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Europe’s power sector. The money will build a gas fired combined cycle co-generation unit, while extending and upgrading municipal district heating and power networks.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SOME linguistic purists may sneer at Luxembourgish, calling it a mere dialect of German, but it is an official language of the European Union’s (EU) richest country and if you want to be a locally registered lawyer, you must learn it.…