Search Results for: European Union

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union is likely to miss its New Years Day deadline for establishing a European Community patent, which would allow innovators to patent intellectual property far more swiftly and easily than they can at present. Unlike the existing European Patent, the European Commission has proposed that the Community Patent should be effective if translated into only one language out of English, French or German.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE JOINT European Torus (JET), the world’s largest nuclear fusion machine, is to restart operations after eight months of improvements by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) to upgrade its power as a research tool. It is the only machine capable of using the fuel mixture which will power a commercial fusion station.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE PROPOSED priorities of the oncoming Euratom framework programme for research may be re-examined, following a vote by the European Parliament for the 2002-2006 grants scheme to given an extra Euro 100 million. This, said MEP’s, would ensure that funding for studies into thermonuclear fusion remains as with the previous programme, at Euro 800 million.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched legal action against Austria, Greece, Finland, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Sweden for failing to comply with a commitment under EU law to monitor average emissions of CO2 from new passenger cars.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Labour Organisation has claimed that a probe of working conditions in Cambodian textile factories found no evidence of child labour, forced labour or sexual harassment, but revealed problems related to overtime payments, working hours and union discrimination.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has ruled that tax breaks granted to German nuclear power operators, to help them build up reserves for the eventual decommissioning of their plants and the safe disposal of nuclear waste, do not actually constitute the payment of unfair and illegal state aid.…

Keith Nuthall
POLITICAL difficulties blocking the agreement of common European Union invoicing rules, that would sanction the legitimacy of electronic billing for VAT purposes across the EU, have been cleared.

The EU Council of Ministers, (finance), has unanimously agreed in principle the proposed new invoicing directive.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Labour Organisation has claimed that a probe of working conditions in Cambodian textile factories found no evidence of child labour, forced working or sexual harassment, but revealed problems related to overtime payments, working hours and union discrimination.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking Ireland to the European Court of Justice, accusing its government of flouting the EU Waste Framework Directive, notably by allowing uncontrolled waste disposal operations in County Louth, Dublin, Co Waterford, Co Laois and Co Cork.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE NEW European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has now virtually completed its legislative journey through the EU institutions and is set to begin operations in the first half of next year though we’re still not sure where. Helsinki was the favourite for the seat until the Italian prime minister signor Berlusconi rudely pushed the claims of Parma, dismissing the Finns as “people who don’t know what prosciutto is.”…