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BY KEITH NUTHALL
KNITTED clothing and accessory imports from the United States are to be a key focus of retaliatory tariffs imposed by the European Union, following the erection of controversial ‘safeguard’ duties by Washington to protect the American steel industry.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament has passed the proposed directive on food supplements, clearing the way for the final adoption of the new EU-wide rules which harmonise the national rules on the sale of pills and capsules, Including labeling) and safety rules for supplements containing vitamins and minerals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development is planning to lend Euro 15.9 million to Italy’s Duferco, to fund buy-outs of minority shareholders in Russian grain oriented steel producer VIZ-Stahl. It is already controlled and managed by Duferco, and the bank thinks full-ownership would lead to “full commercial development” by a company “with a clear strategic view on the steel sector and proven ability in acquiring and turning around steel plants.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has lost a legal bid to suppress the payment of state aid by the French government to a cooperative agency that handles small-scale exports of French language books. The European Court of Justice ruled that the Commission had failed to understand that the subsidies did not help the Centre d’Exportation du Livre Français compete in the general book trade.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank has drawn up plans to lend First Quantum Minerals Ltd up to Euro 14 million to expand the Bwana Mkubwa hydrometallurgical copper production facility in Ndola, in the Zambian copper-belt.

Its aim is to boost its copper production from 10,000 tonnes per annum to 30,000 tonnes per annum, extending the useful life of the plant by at least six years.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Union’s anti-fraud unit OLAF has reacted angrily to the leaking to German news magazine Stern of a confidential dossier of new EU corruption allegations compiled last year by Brussels whistle-blower Paul van Buitenen. Since he handed his report in August to OLAF and the Commission’s administration directorate, officials have been “analysing” its contents and discussing how to follow it up.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
POLLUTION specialists can visit a European Commission funded project this summer, which is exploring the viability of phytoremediation, where plants break down and remove heavy metals, especially lead, from polluted soil. The Phyles project, in La Spezia, northern Italy, is experimenting how effective sunflowers, maize and Indian mustard plants are in decomposing these pollutants.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has released details of its review of the contested anti-dumping duties on Indian cotton-type bed linen imports, formally asking EU ministers to confirm, (and therefore re-impose), these suspended tariffs. New Delhi has already reacted angrily to the review, restarting disputes proceedings at the World Trade Organisation.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
LITHUANIA is trying to pressure the European Union into paying it massive financial support for decommissioning Ignalina nuclear power plant by 2009, which Brussels is demanding as a condition for allowing Vilnius to join the EU. In ongoing accession negotiations, Lithuania claims it cannot afford to carry out the work, estimating that it will cost Euro 3 billion.…

KEITH NUTHALL
BELGIAN power utilities Electrabel and SPE will continue to receive subsidies from their national government allowing them to promote the development of renewables, even though the country’s electricity system has been liberalised.

The European Commission has ruled that the companies had an ongoing commitment to boost green electricity that stemmed from the time when Belgium had a controlled electricity market and has therefore branded it as a “stranded cost.”…