Archive

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union ministers have reached political agreement on two new proposed directives that are supposed to ensure the safe disposal of discarded electrical equipment, including computers and household appliances.

The Council of Ministers, (environment), has backed the directive on the treatment of waste from electrical and electronic equipment and the directive on the limitation of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MEMBER governments of the European Union now have a legal duty to hold full-scale environmental impact assessments of proposed hotel and tourism projects, when they have called them in from local authorities to make national decisions on planning applications.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EMPLOYEES working abroad within the European Union, who require benefits after being forced into a part-time job by their employer, should claim social security from the country of their employment, not their home residence, the European Court of Justice has ruled.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced grants equivalent to Pounds nine million for the promotion of rural development in Wales, which will be able to be sourced and directed by local authorities. The cash will underpin investment of pounds 18.5 million over the five years to 2006, with Pounds 900,000 coming from the private sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
LOCAL authorities in the European Union are unprepared for the introduction of single European currency notes and coins next January, even though they have a crucial role in spreading information among small businesses and community groups, the European Commission has claimed.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
A MAJOR extension of the powers of the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) has been proposed by the European Commission as part of a sweeping reform of EU pharmaceutical legislation. At present the EMEA authorises only the use of high profile medicines derived from biotechnology, such as those used for cancer, AIDS, multiple schlerosis and Alzheimers disease among others.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A GROUP of developing countries has said that progress towards creating differential pricing arrangements for pharmaceuticals should not undermine the right of their governments to authorise the emergency production of drugs, as well as parallel imports of low cost lines.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DIFFERENTIAL pricing in world pharmaceutical markets has been backed by a joint workshop involving the World Trade Organisation, the World Health Organisation, the Global Health Council and its national host, Norway.

A report released from the meeting has born out a general consensus reached by participants that “differential pricing could, and should, play an important role in ensuring access to existing essential drugs at affordable prices, especially in poor countries, while allowing the patent system to continue to play its role of providing incentives for research and development into new drugs.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union summit in Gothenburg, Sweden, has agreed a communiqué, stating that the EU must “respond to citizens’ concerns about…. issues related to outbreaks of infectious diseases and resistance to antibiotics.” The heads of government noted the intention of the European Commission to present formal proposals on the subject by the end of this year, signalling that they would try and give them a fair political wind within the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development is to lend Euro 21.5 million to Balkanpharma, Bulgaria’s leading producer of pharmaceuticals, to support the modernisation of three production sites. It is hoped that the reforms will enable the recently privatised company to raise its standards to meet European Union and Bulgarian official good manufacturing practice levels, allowing it to maintain traditional export and domestic markets and increase its access to the EU.…