Search Results for: European Court of Justice

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FRENCH government has been told to bring its statistical systems for measuring the environmental quality of its bathing water into line with EU standards. The European Court of Justice has supported a bid by the European Commission to declare the French system illegal, ordering Paris to pay costs.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ADMINISTRATIVE reforms made by the Belgian government in the wake of the dioxin contamination crisis have been judged so effective by the European Commission, that it has decided to drop a European Court of Justice case against alleging that Belgium had broken EU food safety laws.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
SWEDEN has been told by the European Commission to end its favourable tax treatment of beer compared to wine or face legal action at the European Court of Justice.

Under the Swedish alcohol tax regime, wine in the 8.5 per cent to 15 per cent abv band bears tax at about four times the rate for beer in the three per cent to five per cent range, even though it has only three times as much alcohol.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SWEDEN has been told by the European Commission to end its favourable tax treatment of beer compared to wine or face legal action at the European Court of Justice.

Under the Swedish alcohol tax regime, wine in the 8.5 per cent to 15 per cent abv band bears tax at about four times the rate for beer in the three per cent to five per cent range, even though it has only three times as much alcohol.…

BY ALAN OSBORN AND KEITH NUTHALL
THE STAGE has been set for a second round of political wrangling over the proposed extension of EU working time rules to road haulage sector, after the European Parliament confirmed substantial amendments to the plan.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has tried to make up for its failure to strike fishing access deal with Morocco by forging an improved agreement with its north African neighbour Mauritania which Brussels claims its “the most important with a third country” that it has made.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed tougher control of EU airline slots to reduce airport congestion, including sanctions against abusive practices and incentives for airlines to use slot portfolios efficiently through slot exchanges and re-timing. At the same time it announced a fundamental review of the slot allocation system comprising an in-depth study in the coming months, followed by a broad consultation with the 15 EU Member States and the aviation industry.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed that EU legislation be amended to make the installation of speed limiters compulsory for all large vans, vehicles that have so far been exempt from such regulations. Thus far, only lorries registered since 1988 of more than 12 tonnes in weight have had to be fitted with this technology, but the Commission has now concluded that this rule should be extended to all commercial vehicles of 3.5 tonnes or more.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed that EU legislation be amended to make the installation of speed limiters compulsory for all large vans, vehicles that have so far been exempt from such regulations. Thus far, only lorries registered since 1988 of more than 12 tonnes in weight have had to be fitted with this technology, but the Commission has now concluded that this rule should be extended to all commercial vehicles of 3.5 tonnes or more.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRUSSELS is always looking for big ideas by which it can justify its existence to a doubting public and one of the latest of these is the concept of a European Research Area. This idea is that Europe – with its patchwork of nations and national research units – should coordinate its academics and researchers, making sure that they do not duplicate their efforts, rather dovetailing them with a single European goal in mind.…