Search Results for: Czech Republic

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IRISH food health officials have been fighting the first ever outbreak of Xenohaliotis Californiensis in the Republic of Ireland, which has been detected in four abalone growing sites in the country’s south-west. Tests confirmed the presence of the pathogen from this summer at Bere Island and Cape Clear – County Cork; Claddaghduff – Galway; and Castlegregory – Kerry.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has told the Czech government it should improve radioactivity-monitoring systems installed around its Temelín nuclear power plant. Although it confirms with Euratom regulations, Brussels’ radiation department of its energy directorate general said Czech regulator SONS (state office for nuclear safety) should ensure there is full traceability for the transport of environmental samples from Temelín to government laboratories.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is moving towards supporting environment-friendly road transport, rather than dedicating resources to promoting public transport, a European Parliament debate organised by the Automobile and Society Forum, has heard. The European Commission is currently reviewing its 2001 transport white paper and its working papers have noted "disappointment" over the results of the EU’s pro-public transport policies.…

BY MARK ROWE

OFFICIALS in the central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan have called for urgent action to tackle the country’s uranium dumps, a legacy of the country’s role in the nuclear industry of the former Soviet Union. Their call has highlighted increasing concerns about how depleted uranium is stored, at a time when the United Kingdom and other governments look set to press ahead with a new generation of nuclear power stations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A FISHING access deal allowing European Union (EU) fishermen to exploit Guinea-Bissau’s Atlantic fish stocks until June next year has been approved by the EU Council of Ministers. The agreement was negotiated to run from this June, and includes fishing rights for:

*Shrimps: Italy boats of up to 1,776 gross registered tonnes (GRT), Spain to 1,421 GRT, Portugal 1,066 GRT, and Greece 137 GRT;

*Finfish and cephalopods: Spain 3,143 GRT, Italy 786 GRT, and Greece 471 GRT;

*Tuna seiners: Spain 20, France 19, and Italy 1; and

*Surface longliners and pole-and-line vessels: Spain 21, France 5, and Portugal 4.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN UNLIKELY alliance linking the European timber industry and environmentalists has called for caution in increasing the role of biomass in Europe’s energy mix. The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) and the Worldwide Find for Nature (WWF) have recommended that the energy sector’s exploitation of biomass grow sustainably.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

The Iranian tobacco market has been partly opened up to international players in the past five years and growth is expected to rise strongly, but development of the sector is beset by extraordinarily high rates of smuggling and governmental regulations.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

IN a long-expected move the European Commission is proposing to raise the minimum rate of excise duty on alcoholic drinks sold in the 25 EU countries by 31% in order to take account of inflation in the period since 1992 when the rates were last agreed.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

LIKE other countries in the Balkans, Montenegro is anxious to shake off a reputation for financial corruption and political instability and, it has to be said, appears to be doing so with rather more success than some of its neighbours.…

BY MARK ROWE

WHEN it came to accession to the European Union (EU) in 2004, the Baltic States were something of a special case. Though unable to compete on the same scale as their neighbours in Poland, or further south, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, the economies of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia quickly gained a reputation for being micro economic powerhouses – and the same has applied to their paint industries.…