Search Results for: European Court of Justice

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 ALAN OSBORN
GERMANY has been served notice by the European Commission that it may be taken to the European Court of Justice unless it brings in national legislation to implement the EU’s gas liberalisation directive. Brussels has given Germany two months to respond to a “reasoned opinion” over its failure to incorporate the directive within its national laws.…

KEITH NUTHALL
FISH farming companies and organisations have until September 30 to submit papers to the European Commission, if they want them to be considered as part of an ongoing review of the Common Fisheries Policy, that could create root-and-branch reforms to the way that Brussels impacts on the industry.…

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.…

Keith Nuthall
A REARGUARD action is being fought by the European Commission to save its ambitious proposals to impose a deadline of 2005 on the complete liberalisation of the EU electricity market. Following pressure from the French government, EU governments have agreed to rule the idea out, preferring a looser deadline, although this has yet to be formally agreed at the Council of Ministers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed that a joint company is set up to manage the development of Galileo, the planned EU global positioning satellite. The company would also be responsible for raising investment from the public and private sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MEMBER governments of the European Union now have a legal duty to hold full-scale environmental impact assessments of proposed hotel and tourism projects, when they have called them in from local authorities to make national decisions on planning applications.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union ministers have reached political agreement on two new proposed directives that are supposed to ensure the safe disposal of discarded electrical equipment, including computers and household appliances.

The Council of Ministers, (environment), has backed the directive on the treatment of waste from electrical and electronic equipment and the directive on the limitation of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.…

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.…

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.…