Search Results for: European Parliament

BY KEITH NUTHALL
GERMANY has admitted there were flaws in its testing for BSE in certain non-approved laboratories. The German agriculture minister Renate Kunast detailed “certain deficiencies” to other EU farm ministers this week, but said that measures had now been taken to correct matters on the advice of the European Commission.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers has ignored strong pressure from the American government to abandon its plans to exempt EU-based suppliers of digital products from charging VAT when they sell to customers in non-EU countries.

Sealing a formal political agreement on the proposal and sending it back to the European Parliament for further discussion, ministers stuck to their line that foreign importers of digital products, such as music or computer software downloaded from the Internet, should pay VAT, as the goods are consumed within the EU.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A HEALTHY market in the use of waste oil as a fuel to generate electricity is being promoted in the European Union through excise duty exemptions, erected in the face of official EU environmental policy, a new European Commission report says.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched a general action plan to promote biotechnology in the EU, which will especially focus on encouraging innovation in food production. Brussels fears that the EU could lose competitive advantage against its competitors if the opportunities offered by biotechnology are not seized.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A ROAD safety initiative has been launched by the European Commission, which has formally proposed a new directive laying down European Union-wide standards for the installation of additional rear view mirrors and other vision systems, including cameras, for motor vehicles.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved the payment of Euro 50 million in grants over six years to help the South African government strengthen its primary health care, in particular in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The first Euro 25 million for the 2002-2004 will be allocated to the South Africa’s Department of Health, the remainder will be paid in 2004, subject to positive external review.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN INTERNATIONAL organisation is to be set up later this year to help developing country governments negotiate better deals for drug access, as well as helping local researchers to protect their ideas from being poached. The MIHR, (Management of Intellectual property in Health Research and development), will be set up by public health and intellectual property experts from Britain and the Netherlands, with the assistance of experts from Asia, Africa, south America and north America.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE INTRODUCTION of the Euro as a retail currency in 12 EU countries at the beginning of the year has done virtually nothing to level out the wide variations in new car prices between them, the European Commission said today (Monday).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has given Germany permission to pay state aid of Euro 3.5 million to introduce a new quality label for beef sold in Bavaria.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States government has informed the disputes settlement body of the World Trade Organisation that it “intended to comply” with the final Havana Club ruling issued at the start of this year, although it warned diplomats that it “would require for that purpose a reasonable period of time.”…