Archive

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament has thrown down the gauntlet over the agreement between the European Union (EU) and the United States over transferring airline passenger data to US authorities, voting to challenge the deal at the European Court of Justice (ECJ).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A HIGH-LEVEL group on travel industry security involving top officials and ministers from the United States and the European Union will meet twice a year, the European Commission has said, following a meeting with the US Department of Homeland Security.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has lent Aéroports de Paris (ADP) Euro 100 million for constructing by 2008 an Automated Passenger Transport System driverless light rail line for passengers at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris.…

Keith Nuthall
REFORMS to the European Union’s (EU) regulation on managing and allocating airport take-off and landing slots has been approved by the European Parliament, enabling ministers to swiftly rubber-stamp them. They aim to boost clarity, reinforcing the independent status of slots co-ordinators, dividing tasks between them, co-ordination committees and governments.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament has weakened a draft obligation on European Union (EU) governments to spend money raised from harmonised road charging systems on maintaining roads. In amendments to the proposed directive on the topic, MEPs deleted an insistence that “revenue from fees must be used for maintenance of the road infrastructure and for the benefit of the transport sector.”…

BY MONICA DOBIE
AMERICAN scientists have developed technology that could help fight a major garden industry pest, detecting and identifying the presence of black vine weevils through the computerised interpretation of their bodily vibrations. James R. Fisher, entomologist from the USA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), has developed a wand-like microphone that can be inserted onto a large nail placed at the root in nursery pots.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
A REVOLUTIONARY semi-automated container terminal – the first of its kind in the world – is to be constructed at the Port of Brisbane. It will significantly increase the capacity of shipping operations in Australia’s third largest port.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research project is trying to develop robots that learn new skills and communication devices that can talk to each other, all without human intervention. The Euro 4.3 million ECAgents project will attempt to bridge gaps “between complex systems research and IT”, said Stefano Nolfi, from lead project partner Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies in Rome.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Space Agency (ESA) has launched an Innovation Triangle Initiative to bring space technology inventions to fruition as quickly as possible by promoting collaboration between inventors, developers and customers. ESA has Euro 1.5 million to spend on the project this year, which it will share amongst 10 ideas.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CHINA is the exporter to watch following the abolition of import quotas for textile accessories and footwear this December under the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) agreement on textiles and clothing (ATC). Indeed, a detailed report written for the European Commission on this major liberalisation predicts that not only are Chinese export volumes expected to rise, and developed country production levels to fall, but China is expected to exploit its bulk-manufacturing expertise to seize markets from developing country Asian competitors.…