Search Results for: German

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE GERMAN, Italian, Greek and Portuguese governments may soon be ordered to pass laws insisting that motorised outdoor gardening equipment used in their countries abide by European Union noise legislation.

Formal legal proceedings at the European Court of Justice has been threatened against all four governments by the European Commission, which claims that they failed to meet a July 2001 deadline to implement the directive 2000/14/EC on noise emissions from outdoor equipment.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE CRUCIAL question of whether the European Commission’s new proposed directive on tobacco advertising will stand up legally is still unclear after a hearing on the subject in the European Parliament. Last year the measure was rejected on the grounds that it attempted to set health policy, an area where the EU has no constitutional role.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
The European Commission and OLAF are again deciding how to handle allegations about professional wrongdoing in Brussels by EU whistleblower Paul van Buitenen. This time, instead of being suspended, the official was given eight week’s grace from regular duties and a special office to compile his brief.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A RAFT of legal cases are being prepared by the European Commission against eight European Union Member States, to force them to monitor and restrict their production of the key greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

In a bid to make the EU stick to its Kyoto Protocol commitments, the Commission has formally warned Britain, Luxembourg, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain and Germany of potential legal actions at the European Court of Justice.…

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.…

From Alan Osborn
The European Commission has opened a formal State aid investigation

procedure into a decision by the German government to give financial

assistance to BMW for the construction of a new car plant in Leipzig. Total

investment in the factory is around 1.2 billion euros (about pounds 720

million) of which some 418.6 million euros (pounds 250 million) is covered

by the planned aid.…

Keith Nuthall
PROPOSALS that could streamline applications by foreign accountants to work in Britain must take account of their need to have sufficient English skills and knowledge of local taxes and law, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has said.

Director Mike Walsh told Accountancy Age said that proposals from the European Commission on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications needed careful scrutiny, so that standards are protected.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening Germany with legal action at the European Court of Justice because it claims labour protection laws designed to soften the effect of liberalising the country’s ground-handling services breaks EU legislation. Directive 96/67 orders the gradual introduction of free access to the groundhandling services market at EU airports by December 2003.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
NATIONAL regulatory authorities have the power to refuse to allow waste shipments to leave EU ports or cross their territories via inland waterways, whether they represent the country sending a cargo, receiving it or being used for transshipment, the European Court of Justice has ruled.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
The Directive is due to be implemented by 15 December 1999. Adoption by the Council follows adoption of the Directive by the European Parliament at its November plenary session.

“Adoption of this Directive marks an important step forward”, Mr Monti stated, “both for lawyers themselves, who will find it much easier to practice in other Member States, and for their clients, especially the many businesses and citizens who need a lawyer in another Member State.…