Search Results for: Austria

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) consumer protection information network RAPEX has warned of two more safety bans on cosmetics products in Europe. Sweden has banned the sale of South Africa’s Tura England skin lightening cream for containing banned methyldibromo glutaronitrile; and Austria has banned the US-made MAXI-TONE skin lightening lotion with shea butter for containing more than 2% of hydroquinone, both breaking the EU cosmetics directive.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is seeking to secure an important legal precedent at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) effectively banning all 27 European Union (EU) member states from charging VAT on car registration taxes.

It has launched a case against the Austrian government, which does just that, insisting that Austria-based car dealers include car tax amounts (called the ‘Normverbrauchsabgabe-NoVA’) within the overall price of a vehicle, charging VAT on the combined car price and registration fee.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE DIPLOMATIC fallout over Russia’s attack on Georgia has continued to impact on European Union (EU) energy policies, although signs of an early thaw in relations are evident. At an EU-Ukraine summit in Paris, the EU promised to sign an Association Agreement with Ukraine mid-2009, bringing Kiev closer to becoming a member state, although no timetable for membership negotiations was set.…

BY MONIKA HANLEY

GONE are the days of the disgruntled, Soviet style Baltic States truck driver, more interested in taking time off than pushing for more deliveries. Since the fall off communism and the coming of independence to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, a new breed of truckers has come on to the scene, with new trucks and more ambitious attitudes, including the desire to drive west.…

By Keith Nuthall

European academics are preparing to gather at a high level conference to discuss the problems being caused to higher education by a sharp decline in the European population. The debates at the European University Association (EUA) conference comes as the latest figures from European Union (EU) statistical agency Eurostat confirm the number of young people in European countries is already shrinking and will get smaller.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has frozen its partnership and cooperation negotiations with Russia over the Georgia conflict, just three months after the talks were launched following long delays. An emergency meeting of the EU Council of Ministers has ordered no meetings will take place with Moscow on the agreement until its "troops have withdrawn to the positions held prior to 7 August", prior to its short war with Georgia.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

SUPPORTERS of the Indo-US nuclear deal had almost lost hope this March that the agreement would ever come into force when the ruling Congress Party in New Delhi decided that it was not prepared to risk the fall of its coalition government over the issue.…

By Keith Nuthall

It is almost a truism that women have a tougher time in most professions than men, and academia is no different. But it is worth considering the absurdity of this statement: that in the 21st century, it is still quite normal to assume that the success of an academic or student is likely to be affected by their gender.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE POLITICAL map of Europe these days looks very blue. Most of it (discounting Russia) is part of the European Union (EU) and those countries that have yet to join are increasingly the odd men out.

The European Commission and its fellow EU institutions are keen on some of these countries becoming members and less keen on others, but the countries that are almost destined to join the EU (if they want to) are those surrounded by EU territory.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

GERMAN confectionery manufacturer Paul Reber GmbH has lost a European Court of Justice (ECJ) bid to secure European Union trademark rights for the term ‘Mozart’ for selling chocolate-coated marzipan and praline balls. Because these are generally known in Germany and Austria as ‘Mozartkugel’, Swiss confectioner Lindt & Sprüngli successfully argued the proposed trademark was generic and not eligible for legal protection.…