Search Results for: European Court of Justice

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has ordered the German government to recover state aid of Euro 5.9 million, (DM 11.6 million), that was paid to a flax and textile spinning mill in Saxony, after an inquiry concluded that it had wrongfully claimed small business grants, while being covertly controlled by a larger group.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
MOST governments are keenly concerned about the quality of food their people eat, and quite rightly so. They pass laws to ensure food purity and safety and that’s all very commendable – but it can be overdone.

Regulations can, sometimes deliberately, be drawn up so tightly that they effectively bar the sale of food produced in other countries, thus constituting an impediment to free trade.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
NEW and potentially significant opportunities for British and other Western architects to practise in China have been opened up by an agreement on the terms for China to join the World Trade Organisation. China’s commitments will allow access for foreign service providers guaranteed by “transparent and automatic licensing procedures” which are set out in detail in its Protocol of Accession.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union ministers have been asked to approve a plan to regularly collate new European statistics on science, technology and innovation, allowing Brussels to supply improved guidance on the status quo and possible reforms.

The European Commission has formally proposed that the EU should acquire a legal duty to run a “statistical information system” on the subjects, “to support and monitor” R&D policies.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
POLITICAL agreement on the creation of a new European Aviation Safety Agency has been forged in Brussels, with the approval by both the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers that such a body should be set up.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FINLAND is the world’s most technologically advanced country, according to a United Nations Development Programme, (UNDP), report, which puts the UK at number seven in its league table, also behind the USA, Sweden, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has put forward a new single regulation to simplify and bring under one heading the 18 fertiliser directives in the EU which it says have become too complex and diverse. Brussels says the new regulation will ensure the free circulation of fertilisers by clarifying their characteristics, including composition, labelling and packaging.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
IMPORTANT reforms in air safety have been approved by the European Parliament in its first reading of legislation to create a new European Aviation Safety Agency. In particular MEP’s want to set up a new independent authority, on the lines of the US National Transportation Safety Board and separate from the EASA, to investigate aircraft accidents and make recommendations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE LARGEST meat processing company in Poland could receive a Euro 12.5 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Its board has been asked to approve plans to lend money to finance the transfer of best practice know-how to Sokolow SA, to expand its poultry business and promote exports.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE PROMITION of renewable energy use in the European Union will be discussed at a conference, in Brussels, on the 25 and 26 of September, hosted by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Research.

More than 400 people from relevant areas in the European power industry will be present to address factors associated with boosting green electricity generation and associated areas such as minimising greenhouse gases and air pollution, increasing the security of energy supply by reducing dependency on oil, gas and coal imports, and improving employment in the energy sector.…