Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
ARTEMIS
Keith Nuthall
A SATELLITE that is designed to test and operate advanced navigation and mobile telecommunications equipment, some designed especially for the auto-industry, is due to be launched by the European Space Agency tomorrow, (Thursday July 12), from its space centre in French Guiana.…
AUSTRIA/IRELAND
Keith Nuthall
AUSTRIA and Ireland have been warned by the European Commission that they could face action in the European Court of Justice for failure to introduce legislation covering roadworthiness tests for diesel motor vehicles.
The EU directive concerned is 1999/52/EC, which concerns emissions from diesel engine vehicles and in particular with “vehicle preconditioning with a view to avoiding damage to the engine,” said the Commission.…
CAR PRICE REPORT
BY ALAN OSBORN
NEW car prices still vary significantly between the 15 European Union countries, the European Commission said today (Monday) with continuing evidence that manufacturers were engaging in restrictive practices to prevent citizens buying vehicles more cheaply in another
Member State.…
CO2 INFO
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has sent second warning letters to the UK and seven other EU countries for their failure to adopt an EU directive aimed at providing new car buyers with information about fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.…
COVISINT
BY ALAN OSBORN
AN INTERNET marketplace for motor manufacturers and component suppliers was given a go-ahead by the European Commission today (Tuesday). Covisint, a business-to-business (B2B) electronic exchange, set up originally by Ford, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, Renault and Nissan and later joined by PSA Peugeot Citroën, is designed to provide the automotive industry with “procurement, collaborative product development and supply chain management tools.”…
VAT CASES
Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has failed in its bid to force the French government to abandon its tough line over the right of driving instructors to deduct tax VAT for vehicles bought for their jobs; Paris insists that they can claim a rebate, only where automobiles are used “exclusively” for teaching.…
JAPAN - EU
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE JAPANESE Automobile Manufacturers Association, (JAMA), has reached agreement with the European Commission that all new vehicles sold in the EU from 2003 will carry daytime running lights and anti-lock brake systems, as part of a voluntary package to improve pedestrian safety.…
VOLKSWAGEN AID
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE GERMAN government has been told that it must cut back its regional aid for the construction of a new Volkswagen car factory in Dresden to 85 per cent of the sum proposed. The revised aid of 145 million Deutschmarks, (about Pounds 47 million), is part of a total investment of DM 1,000 million for a so-called “transparent factory,” which would allow a customer to observe the final assembly of his vehicle on site.…
PEDESTRIAN SAFETY
BY ALAN OSBORN
ALL new vehicles sold in the EU from 2003 will carry daytime running lights and anti-lock brake systems under a commitment to protect pedestrians and cyclists made by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association and accepted today (Wednesday) by the European Commission.…
SLOT REFORM
BY DEIRDRE MASON
A TOUGHER new attitude to take-off and landing slots at European Union airports is on the way, under a new proposed Regulation from the European Commission that was issued in June this year.
Airlines will no longer be able to regard their slots as a property right but rather, as permission to use airport facilities.…