Search Results for: european union

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers (transport) has approved the latest European Commission airport noise directive, accepting European Parliament technical amendments limiting for 10 years an exemption allowing the noisiest aircraft registered in developing countries to continue operating in Europe.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union, the USA, China and 87 other countries have agreed new global guidelines on how to rid wood packaging material of wood-eating insects, the United Nations has announced. To guarantee that packaging is pest-free, exporters would need to certify with a globally recognised symbol that the material has been heated or fumigated.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW European directive reducing pollutant emissions from new motorcycles by between 65-70 per cent within four years has been approved by a conciliation committee linking the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers. Reductions in carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions would be made in two steps; in 2003 and 2006.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Agency for Safety and Health at Work has released a public appeal for project proposals tapping a Euro 4 million funding scheme to encourage higher safety and health standards in small and medium-sized businesses. The agency will provide co-financing grants of between Euro 25,000 and Euro 200,000, with applications being accepted from businesses themselves, as well as commerce organisations and public sector groups.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has called for EU legislation that would insist that passenger ferry companies take out compulsory insurance, which would cover them for no-fault strict liability claims of up to Euro 250,000 per passenger.

In a Communication, (discussion paper), “on the enhanced safety of passenger ships,” Brussels also suggests that if a carrier is at fault, unlimited liability should apply.…

BY PHILIP FINE

AMERICAN food manufacturers will in the long term see a fall in prices if a US$45.1 billion US farm bill becomes law next week, says the European Commission, but not before world markets are glutted with foods. The bill calls for an increase in crop and dairy subsidies to farmers and for mandatory country-of-origin labeling for meat, fruit, vegetables, fish and peanuts.…

Keith Nuthall
IN a groundbreaking legal move, the European Commission has proposed a regulation that would force courts and other judicial authorities across the EU to recognise an uncontested order secured by a creditor, for the recovery of owed money held in another Member State.…

Keith Nuthall
GIBRALTAR has beaten off an attempt by the European Commission to brand illegal a tax break that it allows for certain “exempt” companies. The British colony won a case at the European Court of Justice, where it claimed that Brussels had wrongfully claimed that by reducing these companies’ tax burden, they were in effect granting them state aid in contravention of EU directives limiting such payments.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
Generally organic meat production in the EU is low, said, Jean-Luc Meriaux, general secretary of the European Livestock and Meat Trading Union. For instance, in the key sector of organic beef, “very little” is produced in the EU, he said.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed an expensive twin-track programme to secure the European Union’s energy supplies, diversifying production by promoting renewables and limiting demand by boosting energy saving initiatives.

It has asked EU ministers to spend Euro 215 million on its planned Intelligent Energy for Europe programme, which would span 2003 to 2006.…