Archive

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank is considering lending money to Aeroportos de Portugal to enable it to expand the capacity of Oporto’s Sá Carneiro airport from 2.7 to 6 million passengers per year, by expanding aprons and taxiways, relocating the fire fighting station and control tower, while expanding and refurbishing the existing terminal building.…

BY JONATHAN THOMSON
A CARMAKERS’ voluntary agreement on introducing technical changes in designs boosting cyclist and pedestrian safety has been approved by the European Parliament and will now be legally underpinned by a so-called Framework Directive enforcing a range of legal commitments.…

BY MARK ROWE
CYCLISTS involved in a road accidents will automatically be deemed to be the wronged party, under planned road safety changes to European Union insurance legislation. A directive from Brussels has ruled that cyclists and pedestrians who are hit by a car will always be covered by the insurance of the motor vehicle involved, irrespective of whether or not they are to blame.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
Motorists buying cars in a different EU country from their own will find it easier to get short-term insurance cover for the journey home under a proposed new directive announced by the European Commission today (Monday.) Brussels said this would help people buy cars wherever in the EU they could find the best value and help stimulate cross-border competition in the vehicle market.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers has approved in principle changes to the EU’s seatbelt laws, that will insist every Member State passes laws obliging motorists and passengers to wear belts and children aged under 12 to wear special seat restraints.…

BY MONICA DOBIE, in Montreal
DaimlerChrysler Canada has announced it will close its trim plant in Ajax, Ontario, in December, 2003, as part of the company’s cost saving strategy. The closure will eliminate 650 jobs, adding to the thousands of jobs wiped out over the past 18 months at its light vehicle and heavy truck manufacturing plants.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE CANADIAN Booksellers Association (CBA) has called on Canada’s federal government to launch review of Amazon.com Inc’s alleged plans to establish a Canadian online site, which the CBA claims would violate federal foreign investment rules. Amazon.com has not yet confirmed it will establish a Canadian arm, but the bookselling industry predicts a separate Canada site will be introduced on June 25.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
AMAZON has launched its dedicated Canadian site that will allow customers to order books in local currency and have them shipped from a warehouse in Canada, lowering the price of merchandise significantly.

The online book giant has outfoxed Canadian foreign ownership regulations, by using Assured Logistics, an arm of Canada Post the national postal service, to ship books from large distribution centers to a warehouse in Ontario.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
AMAZON.COM and Indigo Books & Music Inc. have had a war of words following the recent launch of Amazon.ca, the Canadian arm of the company, and the announcement by the Canadian federal government that it is investigating whether the operation is legal.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
The European Commission is to take action against Belgium in the European Court of Justice over the failure of that country to implement the EU public lending rights directive. Belgium has failed to introduce legislation granting authors and artists exclusive rights to authorise or prohibit public lending or, alternatively, a right to remuneration.…