Search Results for: european union

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SWEDEN has been told by the European Commission to end its favourable tax treatment of beer compared to wine or face legal action at the European Court of Justice.

Under the Swedish alcohol tax regime, wine in the 8.5 per cent to 15 per cent abv band bears tax at about four times the rate for beer in the three per cent to five per cent range, even though it has only three times as much alcohol.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
SWEDEN has been told by the European Commission to end its favourable tax treatment of beer compared to wine or face legal action at the European Court of Justice.

Under the Swedish alcohol tax regime, wine in the 8.5 per cent to 15 per cent abv band bears tax at about four times the rate for beer in the three per cent to five per cent range, even though it has only three times as much alcohol.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A LACK of coordination amongst EU Member States’ research teams regarding the study of BSE has been revealed by a new European inventory of previous work and that in progress, collated by the European Commission.

It has highlighted areas where better links between national research programmes is required.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has called for the closure of EU coalmines that perform poorly economically, where they have been lavished with state aid paid with the view to them being restructured and turned around.

In its latest report on state aid to the mining industry, (for the year 2000), Brussels adopts an aggressively negative tone about aid paid by national governments to the coal industry, which it claims “is in crisis, despite several years of state aid.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has unveiled for the first time principles that it will apply when deciding whether schemes for the collection and recovery of household packaging waste break EU competition laws.

This follows approval by Brussels of new contracts offered by the French company Eco-Emballages SA and is a clear sign that Brussels would approve similar systems, were they to be introduced in the UK.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Road Federation has called for a rethink regarding a proposed new four-year research programme, which will probably command a budget of around Euro 17.5 billion. It claims that the European Commission wants to focus too many resources on new areas of research, such as nanotechnology and genomics, at the expense of achieving the EU transport goals.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
COMPANIES with manual labour using heavy plant will have to check their guidelines regarding employees’ safety from exposure to mechanical vibrations, because of a proposed EU directive.

The Council of Ministers, (general affairs), last week gave the proposal its formal approval.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is distributing 1.2 million leaflets this summer, which aims to educate holiday-makers on how to use the single European currency, the Euro, whose notes and coins will be launched in January.

Called “Don’t forget to Pack the Euro,” the leaflet encourages tourists to get used to the concept of the Euro whilst vacationing abroad this summer.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE SHIPPING industry is looking forward to the anticipated accession of China to the World Trade Organisation, which after 15 years of often tortuous negotiations, is likely to be rubber stamped this autumn and become reality next Spring.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
WORKERS in companies with 50 employees or more will have sweeping rights to be informed and consulted about management decisions affecting their future following agreement by EU employment ministers on a new work directive.

Britain had held out against the legislation but gave in when it became clear that other Member States would out-vote it on the matter.…