Search Results for: european union

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 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 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 KEITH NUTHALL
A NUMBER of international conferences on delivering education via the Internet are being staged over the next few weeks. They include:

*CONNECT/I*EARN Conference, Capetown, South Africa, hosted by Western Cape Schools’ Network and SchoolNet SA. E mail Anne-Marie Ducker at a.ducker@uel.ac.uk.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MORE details of the European Commission’s plan for a new and Sixth Framework Research Programme have been released from Brussels, with the announcement of a proposed new independent nuclear studies budget of Euro 900 million.

If the plan is approved by the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, this would be used for research into nuclear fission and fusion “centring around the treatment and storage of nuclear waste as well as reactor safety,” a Commission statement said.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A COMPROMISE deal has been struck in Brussels over a transitional regime for the European Union sugar industry, which will last until July 2006, when a comprehensive review is expected to have taken place.

The European Commission had been pressing to deep cuts in market supports, but these have been resisted by some Member States, who are represented on the EU Council of Ministers, which approved the final agreement.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank has announced that it is providing a Euro 125 million loan for improvements at the three largest airports in the Republic of Ireland. The money will be lent to Aer Rianta Finance plc, wholly owned by Aer Rianta cpt, for work on passenger terminals, aircraft aprons and ancillary services at Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
POLITICAL agreement has been forged at the European Union’s Council of Ministers for employment and social policy on a new ‘health and safety: physical agents (noise)’ directive, that should introduce pan-EU workplace exposure limits.

Ministers managed to strike a compromise, ironing out some long standing disagreements on the upper limit value for noise exposure and whether there should be special rules for the maritime and air transport sectors, as requested by Greece, Italy and the UK governments.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union summit in Gothenburg, Sweden, has agreed a communiqué, stating that the EU must “respond to citizens’ concerns about…. issues related to outbreaks of infectious diseases and resistance to antibiotics.” The heads of government noted the intention of the European Commission to present formal proposals on the subject by the end of this year, signalling that they would try and give them a fair political wind within the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
LOCAL authorities in the European Union are unprepared for the introduction of single European currency notes and coins next January, even though they have a crucial role in spreading information among small businesses and community groups, the European Commission has claimed.…