Search Results for: Belgium

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AS any journalist who has covered regional or local authorities will testify, sub-national public administrations yearn for the big time. They want their efforts considered important, over and above their day-to-day delivery of community services.

But they know their aspirations must deliver added value.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WITH a new European Commission in office, major decisions can now be made on pushing ahead with European Union (EU) energy policy priorities: Brussels has released a Euro 4 billion package of 31 gas infrastructure (and 12 electricity) projects.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CALLS have been made for major additional spending on European Union (EU) energy infrastructure, now a new European Commission team is in office.

The European Parliament’s industry committee has strengthened EU proposals to ensure member states have sufficient interconnected energy links to deal with any unexpected winter shortages.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has pushed for a quick replacement of the provisional ‘SWIFT’ agreement transferring European Union (EU) banking data to the United States’ Department of The Treasury.

It has proposed it should quickly negotiate a new Terrorist Financing Tracking Programme (TFTP) deal with Washington, following the annulment of an existing provisional agreement by the European Parliament.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, EMMA JACKSON, PAUL COCHRANE and JULIAN RYALL

INTRODUCTION

Professionalisation is a key trend in today’s drinks sector, particularly as export markets are growing fast in emerging markets. With brand loyalty up for grabs, it is critical for alcoholic drinks producers especially to maintain and raise quality.…

BY MARK ROWE

TRADITIONALLY, most inks used in packaging have been petroleum based, releasing volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere. But nanotechnology has been a key driver in developing a new generation of efficient, greener inks that are water-soluble, vegetable-based or synthetic, and which are highly versatile; they can be used for a range of applications across the inks industry and recycled into new products at the end of their original working life.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE PRESIDENT of the European Commission has indicated he favours a harmonised standard for European Union (EU) airport security that includes the installation of body scanners. José Manuel Barroso was speaking at the European Parliament on March 9, as Commission officials draft a proposed EU security response to the averted Christmas bombing threat over Detroit.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A PROGRESS report issued by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) has claimed almost 300 tax transparency agreements have been signed by jurisdictions since the April 2009 G20 summit in London. This called on governments and sub-national administrations worldwide to adopt the OECD’s standards on revealing and exchanging tax information.…

BY PHILLIPA JONES

DESPITE ever greater restrictions on smoking, the land of the Gauloises (NOTE – SPELLING IS CORRECT) last year bucked trends with cigarette sales increasing by a small but significant 2% compared to 2008. According to British American Tobacco (BAT), the world’s second largest tobacco company, the industry benefited from a number of factors, most notably a reduction in the purchasing of cigarettes from neighbouring countries, pushing the number of sticks sold in France up 55.6 billion in 2009.…

BY GAVIN BLAIR, FRANCES WANG, RAGHAVENDRA VERMA and KARRYN MILLER

The Asian beer market, having overtaken Europe, is now the largest in the world, according to Japanese brewery Kirin. The region accounts for 31.7% of global consumption, compared to 30.8% for Europe, claims the annual report from the Kirin Institute of Food and Lifestyle.…