Search Results for: Belgium

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched a detailed investigation into the planned merger between Germany’s Südzucker AG and France’s Saint Louis Sucre S.A., because of concerns that the deal will harm competition in the sugar sector. A preliminary inquiry concluded there were serious concerns linked to Südzucker’s strong position in Belgium and southern Germany, where it commands a sugar market share of 70-90 per cent.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WASTEWATER

The European Commission has decided to take France and Belgium to the court for flouting the EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. France, alleges the Commission, has failed to identify enough sensitive areas bodies of water that are eutrophic, or are otherwise seriously polluted by wastewater.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has run out of patience with France and Belgium over their flouting of the EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive and has decided to launch legal cases against the two countries at the European Court of Justice.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
WILL there come a day when a genuine European market in health care takes its place among the other landmark achievements of the European Union?

In terms of economic efficiency and the functioning of the internal market, does it make much sense for a million patients in Britain, say, to have to wait sometimes for a year or more for important operations while people in France or Luxembourg can book them for the next day and some German hospitals have barely half their beds filled?…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has allowed Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain to pay special income aid worth a total of some Euro 418 million, (about Pounds 250 million), to beef producers suffering losses between November 2000 and June 2001 because of the BSE crisis.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has ordered American medicines information company IMS HEALTH (IMS) to abandon its refusal to allow rivals to copy its pharmaceutical sales and prescriptions data collection system in Germany.

In an unusual step, Brussels has used its powers as a competition authority to tell IMS to immediately licence the use of its 1860 brick structure method, over which it has copyright, “on commercial terms.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has asked for electronics research teams – from both the private and public sector – to bid for money from a budget to promote studies and demonstration projects, regarding innovative computing-related technologies.

Using some of the last money still available from the outgoing Fifth Framework Programme of research, which will be wound up by the end of this year, the Commission has announced that it has earmarked Euro 450 million for grants, with a deadline for applications for the bulk of the projects of October 17.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has clarified its plans to propose a directive on environmental liability this year; Brussels is inviting comments on a new working paper, which could see chemical companies being forced to pay for the removal of serious pollution.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BELGIAN government has signalled that the development of e-government services is to be its priority in IT policy during the next six months when it holds the presidency of the European Union. It will be staging a major conference in Brussels on the subject in November, including key players from the IT sector and national and regional governments.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed a reform of rules on cross-border taxation within the EU, which would give each Member State the responsibility of circulating information about interest paid within their territories to foreign EU nationals. This would have to be provided to tax administrations in the home EU countries of these expatriates.…