Search Results for: European Parliament

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed that EU legislation be amended to make the installation of speed limiting devices compulsory for all buses. Thus far, regulations have only ordered that limiters are fitted on buses of 10 tonnes or more in weight, but the Commission has now concluded that this rule should be extended to all buses and minibuses with more than eight passenger seats.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed tougher control of EU airline slots to reduce airport congestion, including sanctions against abusive practices and incentives for airlines to use slot portfolios efficiently through slot exchanges and re-timing. At the same time it announced a fundamental review of the slot allocation system comprising an in-depth study in the coming months, followed by a broad consultation with the 15 EU Member States and the aviation industry.…

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.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union money is to be spent on helping developing countries implement anti-smoking policies, the EU Council of Ministers (health), has concluded. It agreed that the spending should be part of the EU’s commitments under the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which is currently being discussed.…

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.…

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 KEITH NUTHALL
ENVIRONMENTAL statistics are usually harbingers of bad news, so it is refreshing to hear of some positive numbers in the field via the EU’s statistical agency Eurostat’s recent report ‘gaining better knowledge of the pressures on our environment.’…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE European Union’s Council of Ministers has failed to agree the latest proposals from the European Commission to tighten Europe’s cosmetics animal testing regulations, while abiding by free trade commitments at the World Trade Organisation. Ministers have referred the proposal to the Council’s permanent representatives committee of officials, who have been asked to draw up an alternative compromise.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
MINING companies will have to check their guidelines regarding employees’ safety from exposure to mechanical vibrations from heavy pit equipment because of a proposed European Union directive.

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

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ADMINISTRATIVE reforms made by the Belgian government in the wake of the dioxin contamination crisis have been judged so effective by the European Commission, that it has decided to drop a European Court of Justice case against alleging that Belgium had broken EU food safety laws.…