Archive

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has stated that the mass petition brought by Austria’s far right Freedom Party against the continued operation of the Temelin Nuclear Plant will not hinder negotiations on granting EU membership to its home country, the Czech Republic.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations’ general assembly has overwhelmingly voted to urge countries to support the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA), in preventing acts of terrorism committed with nuclear and other radioactive materials. Delegates voted 150 in favour, with North Korea voting against and the Ivory Coast and Laos abstaining.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW report from the European Environment Agency has tried to explain why there is indeed a wide gulf between Member States’ performance on renewables; for instance, Britain has more wind than Germany, but significantly less wind power electricity generation and Greece has failed to develop solar panels as quickly as fellow southern Mediterranean EU Member State Spain.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A FINNISH district heating business has been given permission by the European Commission to secure sole control of a Swedish electricity joint venture in which it already has 50 per cent ownership. Fortum Oyj will now be able to own 100 per cent of Birka Energi AB, which is currently part owned by the City of Stockholm.…

KEITH NUTHALL
AN APPEAL has been made by the European Commission for experts in renewables and energy efficiency to apply for places on specialist panels helping them operate spending programmes in the fields, Save and Altener.

It has called for applications from specialists in:

*Energy efficiency in residential, commercial and public buildings, industry and transport;

*Integrated actions combining energy efficiency and renewable energy sources in buildings, industry and transport;

*Renewable energy sources for heat production and electricity production, as well as the integration of green power supplies with standard electricity markets and renewable energy sources in transport.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE CREATION of a hydro electricity joint venture by German electricity giant E.ON and Austrian electricity producer Verbund has been approved by the European Commission; European Hydro Power will produce electricity for its parents, which will continue to sell the power separately to their customers in Germany and Austria.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
GLOBAL cosmetics company Aveda is to give US$500,000 to an eco-tourism project involving the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation. Sites benefiting are Sian Ka’an and El Vizcaino biosphere reserves, Mexico; Tikal national park, Guatemala; Rio Platano biosphere reserve, Honduras; and Komodo and Ujung Kulon national parks Indonesia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers has formally established the European Food Safety Authority, along with the set of EU regulations that it is supposed to police. Ministers confirmed that the new agency would be established temporarily in Brussels, as Member States have been unable to agree the location of its permanent home.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SERIES of good practice recommendations on the prevention and detection of e-coli outbreaks has been issued by the European Commission, following a study of how six EU Member States deal with the pathogen.

Officials looked at the monitoring and control systems for red meat and milk in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Portugal and Sweden and concluded that although all were alert to the risks of e-coli contamination, there was a wide range of different public and private control measures.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A CONCILIATION committee has been established to try and bridge the differences between the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament over the proposed directive on the management and assessment of ambient noise. Members have six weeks to find a solution, or the proposal will fail to become a European law.…