Archive

Keith Nuthall
A REPORT on allegations of irregularities and fraud regarding EU subsidies paid for the production of flax in Spain, has been sent to the Spanish authorities by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). The report, which is expected to lead to criminal proceedings, has also been sent to Michaele Schreyer, the EU budget commissioner, the European Parliament and to the European Commission’s DG agriculture.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Union has announced that it will accept the ruling of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organisation, which found that Brussels had broken international rules on anti-dumping duties in a case regarding Indian bed linen imports.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Union has lost its appeal at the World Trade Organisation against last year’s disputes panel ruling, which censured its imposition of anti-dumping duties on cotton-type bed linen from India. The Appellate Body of the WTO disputes procedure has agreed that the EU did erect duties via procedures that broke international anti-dumping regulations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN utilities will be able to apply for grants from budgets of Euro 1.7 billion, which has been earmarked for energy, transport, sustainable development and global change and of Euro 3.6 billion, for information society research – including telecommunications – if proposals from the European Commission for a new framework research programme, are agreed.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has adopted a series of action plans to integrate the protection of biodiversity into EU agricultural, fishery, environment and development policies. Their aim is to stop losses in wildlife, ecosystems, crop varieties, domestic animals and fish.…

KEITH NUTHALL
DISCUSSIONS are to be held between the European Commission and ACEA, the European car producers’ association, on striking a voluntary agreement on guidelines for car front designs, that will minimise pedestrian casualties in accidents.

A statement from the Commission, following a meeting with manufacturers, said that there were benefits in a voluntary deal over a regulation, in that “a negotiated agreement can be considerably faster to implement and thus more lives could be saved faster.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A CONCERTED international effort to clarify and tackle the harm caused by fishing subsidies on the conservation of wild fish stocks worldwide is to be launched following a seminar staged by the United Nations Environment Programme.

Concerns were raised by participants, which included more than 60 national governments, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, the World Trade Organisation UNCTAD, (the UN development agency), the International Labour Organisation and the OECD.…

KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union health and safety laws should be extended by a new EU directive to cover the 90 per cent of fishing boats that are currently exempt from them, a report from Spanish socialist MEP Miguélez Ramos has claimed.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
CANADA’S LEADER in glass bottle making, Consumers Packaging Inc. has

appointed a new trouble shooter Brent Ballantyne as its Chief Restructuring Officer, a move that is expected to lead to an increase in bottle prices for the Canadian drinks industry.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
VINEYARDS in Kosovo are bearing fruits for the first time in more than a decade because of a joint regeneration programme developed from the Commission, the United Nations and the European Agency for Reconstruction.

In 1990, nearly 10,000 acres of vineyards produced high-quality wine to traditional recipes, 80 per cent of which was exported creating a thriving wine industry in the region.…