Search Results for: european union

BY ALAN OSBORN
NEW car prices still vary significantly between the 15 European Union countries, the European Commission said today (Monday) with continuing evidence that manufacturers were engaging in restrictive practices to prevent citizens buying vehicles more cheaply in another

Member State.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed that strict dioxin contamination limits are introduced from January 2002, covering foodstuffs including fish and fish feed.

Products with dioxin contaminants exceeding these levels would be considered “unsuitable for consumption.”

The following maximum levels for fish dioxins have been tabled:

*Fish oil: 6 nanogram/kg;

*Fish meal: 1.25 nanogram/kg;

*Fish feed: 2.25 nanogram/kg;

*Fish meat (farmed and wild): 4 nanogram/kg.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
EUROPE’S clothing industry is “too big to be squeezed into niche markets,” says a report produced by experts on the sector at the European Commission. EU clothing manufacturers “need a sufficiently broad economic base to generate the turnover and economies of scale necessary to finance research and innovation,” says the report which is not binding on the Commission but will form the basis of future actions by Brussels in the sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FINAL agreement has been reached in a Council of Ministers-European Parliament conciliation committee on the tightening of a directive on the limitation of emissions of acid pollutants from large combustion plants and new directive fixing national emission ceilings for four atmospheric pollutants, (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and ammonia).…

Keith Nuthall
ITALY is being taken to the European Court of Justice by the European Commission, which claims that it is maintaining illegal obstacles to the import of energy drinks from other EU countries.

By limiting the amount of caffeine in energy drinks to 125mg per litre, Italian legislation effectively prohibits the marketing of imported products as the majority of energy drinks on the EU market contain significantly more than this, said Brussels.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE BEEF market in the European Union has worsened since the spring when “promising” signs of recovery had been detected, the European agriculture commissioner Franz Fischler has said, in a reversal of recent previously optimistic comments. The positive trend at that time “seems to have stopped and prices have somewhat worsened,” Mr Fischler told ministers at the agriculture council this week (24th July).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BELGIAN government has signalled that the development of e-government services is to be its priority in IT policy during the next six months when it holds the presidency of the European Union. It will be staging a major conference in Brussels on the subject in November, including key players from the IT sector and national and regional governments.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is developing a set of common statistical indicators that will enable the EU and national governments to accurately assess where there are particular problems of poverty and social exclusion within the European Union. A statement from the Commission said that although progress was being made on this work, further development is “urgent” in two key areas: the development of non-monetary indicators and also improved measurement tools in relation to health, housing and education.…

Keith Nuthall
THE CREATION of a European Aviation Safety Agency has moved closer following a “broad preliminary agreement” by EU transport ministers on common rules for civil aviation safety between the EU’s 15 Member States. The European Commission has been given 12 months to draw up “adequate proposals” on how the proposed regulation could be applied to third country aircraft.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers has decided to expand its list of chemicals formally labelled as hazardous wastes, by including waste containing dangerous chlorophylls and dangerous silicon. These will now be subject to tight controls on their disposal.…