Search Results for: European Court of Justice

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EU ministers have been asked to approve new regulations granting the public the right of access to documents held by Euratom, via a historical archive of material that is at least 30 years old. The system is based on a 2001 regulation on the general principles and the limits governing the public’s right of access to EU documents, and should widen public access to information on contracts concluded by the Euratom Supply Agency and documents and records of cases submitted for judgment to the European Court of Justice.…

BY PHILIP FINE

A US court dismissed an attempt by Philip Morris USA to overturn a patent for a curing method that reduces toxins; the cigarette giant is simultaneously being sued by the inventor of the process for infringing on that patent.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has published a list of exported American meat products that could be saddled with protective duties of up to 100 per cent, because of a World Trade Organisation ruling allowing Brussels to retaliate against the US’s use of foreign trade corporations to give its exporters illegal tax breaks.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ANOTHER EU body promoting workplace standards has been proposed. An Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work should be established, said the European Commission. Its formal proposal says that it should advise Brussels on health and safety legislation and programmes, as well as publicising good practice with the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union ministers have approved in principle reforms to EU regulations on financial conglomerates, which have been designed to avoid an Enron-style scandal in Europe. They include rules insisting on the creation of national regulators whose job is to supervise conglomerates and help improve the flow of information about their accounts.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SIMPLIFICATION of European Union life insurance legislation has been approved by the European Parliament and will now come into force, rolling the many EU rules and regulations affecting the industry into one single code.

Part of an ongoing effort to streamline Brussels’ often baffling and Byzantine strands of legislation, MEP’s agreed with ministers to delay final approval of a united life directive, so that recent changes on solvency margins could be incorporated.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
AFTER intensive consultation the European Commission has come up with a proposed new EU take-over directive that it hopes will avoid the fate of its predecessor, which was rejected by the European Parliament last year. The earlier text was strongly opposed by Germany, which feared it could weaken defences against hostile take-overs.…

Keith Nuthall
POLITICAL agreement has been reached at the European Union’s Council of Ministers over a proposed harmonisation of national accounting laws for businesses that do not yet have to apply International Accounting Standards. National governments are keen to see the proposal swiftly become law and have forwarded their common position to the European Parliament with a request that it approves the proposed directive “at the earliest possible opportunity.”…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers has imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties on 10 Norwegian salmon exporters who had previously been exempt from the protective regime imposed in 1997. Ministers agreed that the companies had either broken promises to keep salmon prices at a minimum level or had failed to supply information proving that they had stuck to these pledges.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Environment Agency has released an assessment of the performance of European governments and EU institutions regarding the reduction of air pollution. Its report reacts positively to the way that the EU has reached targets to cut emissions of acidifying substances and also pollutants that create ground-level ozone.…