Search Results for: Climate change

BY KEITH NUTHALL and DAVID HAWORTH, in Brussels

SIIM Kallas is the first European Commission to have been appointed with the explicit job of fighting fraud in the European Union (EU). Every anti-fraud specialist knows that the complex and sometimes opaque procedures and administration of the EU can present a honeypot to fraudsters, and the EU has long had difficulty in nailing the problem.…

BY JANE MOIR, in Hong Kong

TAIWAN’S paint and coatings industry is holding steady as the economy remains solid and demand for high-quality products increases, although smaller players are finding it tougher to compete in a market dominated by a few big firms.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has claimed consensus has been reached at the EU Council of Ministers over having to boost competitiveness in the EU wine sector. Speaking after the European Commission’s long-awaited reform proposals received their first debate at the council, Mr Fischer Boel said: "There was clear general agreement on the need for fundamental reform".…

BY DEIRDRE MASON

ACCOUNTANTS who feared that a change in UK rules would curb the growing trend in environmental accounting need not worry. Although the Business Review, which replaced the Operating and Finance Review (OFR) earlier this year, only requires quoted and large private companies to report significant environmental issues, the business case for companies and organisations to keep track of their environmental footprint continues to grow.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is to expand its existing partnership agreement with Greenland beyond fish, to include the exploitation of the Danish autonomous territory’s wealthy non-ferrous metal reserves. Greenland has proven deposits of gold, molybdenum, nickel and other resources and furthermore, its deep ice cap is thinning through global warming, posing opportunities and dangers for prospectors.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

THE CONFECTIONARY manufacturing industry in Europe has been banking on a fall in sugar prices from 2008 thanks to the new sugar regime brought in by the European Union (EU) last year, but this now looks a little less certain than it did.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

The European Snacks Association, representing savoury snacks companies, agrees that it "has a role to play in the debate around nutrition and health and is actively engaging in this debate." At this week’s meeting in Brussels ESA said it would offer "more complete on-pack information and a wider product choice through reformulation" in 2006 and "new guidelines on commercial communication."…

BY ALAN OSBORN

EUROPEAN food manufacturers are increasingly concerned that western governments might turn to sugar beet as a source of bio-fuel in the next few years, with possibly serious consequences for the price and availability of sugar in the long-term.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EU winemakers have attacked European Commission proposals to reform the EU wine market with plans to grub up more vineyards.The Commission wants to grub up 400,000 hectares of EU vineyards due to over-production and poor sales. Participants at a European Parliament hearing late last week agreed the EU wine market needed change but claimed the EU should act to increase demand, not slash production.…

BY TIMON MOLLOY and KEITH NUTHALL

SUSPECTED fraud notifications to OLAF, the European Union’s (EU) anti fraud office rose 20% in 2005, according to its activity report for the period July 2004 to December 2005, which was published in July. The agency received 857 new pieces of information, of which 560 were assessed as potential opening leads.…