Search Results for: European Parliament

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has greeted with anger the decision by the European Parliament to reject a proposed directive on harmonising financial procedures for takeover bids that take place within the European Union.

The proposal was formally tabled six years ago and has been the centre of intense debate, leading to what was supposed to be a final compromise, struck between the parliament and the EU Council of Ministers, meeting in a conciliation committee.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PLANS to develop a new kind of European Union patent, which would allow R&D units to gain protection for their inventions across the EU by making one comparatively simple application, are being discussed. A so-called Community Patent would be easier to operate than the existing European Patents, which have to be translated into the official language of each Member State in which it is to apply.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has granted competition clearance to a new joint venture that will design, develop, manufacture and sell devices to route Internet and other electronic communications to homes and offices in Europe and the USA, via existing electrical wires, without laying any additional cables.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A RESEARCH study is being staged by the European Commission this year into developing a noise modelling tool for the road transport sector, looking at the effectiveness of technical adaptations to tyres, engines and road surfaces and examining the scope for making further noise improvements in these fields.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has opened a formal investigation into state aid provided by the Spanish government for the restructuring of copper, gold and silver mining company Minas de Rio Tinto SAL, in Huelva.

In 2000, Madrid guaranteed loans of ESP 1,500 million, (Euro 9 million), which were linked to a restructuring plan to turn the company around.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has announced that it is lending US$40 million to Volkswagen Argentina S.A., a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, to support investment for the production of gearboxes for passenger cars in its plant located in Cordoba, Argentina.…

Keith Nuthall
MEMBER States of the European Union have come under political pressure from Brussels to outlaw the designing and marketing of alcoholic drinks, such as alcopops, to children and adolescents, as part of a move against under-age drinking.

The EU Council of Ministers (health) has adopted a Recommendation, (formal non-binding guidelines), which calls on national governments to “ensure” that the drinks industry does not produce alcoholic beverages specifically “targeted, designed or promoted to appeal” to young people.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched formal state aid investigations into the purchase of overpriced shares by the Walloon regional government, of Belgium, from the Flemish carpet manufacturer Beaulieu.

Officials consider that the payment was in effect a debt write-off, as Beaulieu settled a debt of BEF 113.7 million owed to the regional government by transferring 9,704 shares in the Holding Verlipack II company, also of Belgium.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EU’S development and humanitarian aid Commissioner Poul Nielson (SPELLING CORRECT) and trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy have met European pharmaceutical industry leaders to discuss how to implement the new Brussels action programme on treating major communicable diseases, namely HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which was approved by the Council of Ministers this May.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AGRICULTURE ministers of the 15 EU countries have agreed a seven-point plan to curb beef production. Consumption remains “considerably below normal” and is not expected to recover fully for two years while there is a big backlog of animals to be presented for slaughter later in the year, says the European Commission.…