Search Results for: European Court of Justice

KEITH NUTHALL
FRANCE has been ordered by the European Commission to recover 100 million French Francs, (Euro 15.2 million), which it paid to ailing textile and clothing company Manufacture Corre(E IS ACUTE)zienne de Ve(E HAS CIRCUMFLEX)tements Ve(E HAS CIRCUMFLEX)tements (MCV).

Brussels had not been notified about the payments, which it says broke EU state aid rules, because they did not promote effective investment in the company which would have allowed it to become self-sufficient.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is investigating whether Brazil has failed to stick to a promise to scrap a minumum-price regime on certain textile products, which had restricted the amount of EU exports that could enter its market.

World Trade Organisation disputes proceedings had been launched by Brussels because of the problem, which especially affected ‘home textiles,’ such as mattress ticking, carpets and rugs, with Belgian and Spanish producers being the hardest hit.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A COUNCIL of Europe report has recommended that the $US215 million international loan earmarked for completing two new nuclear reactors in Ukraine – in exchange for shutting down Chernobyl – be spent instead on reducing the country’s energy waste and diversifying its energy sources.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EU Council of Ministers has agreed to impose definitive countervailing duties on imports of synthetic polyester fibres from Australia and Indonesia, which will prevent European producers facing unfair competition because of subsidies paid to their rivals in these Asia-Pacific countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
Following a decision today (Wednesday) by the European Commission, the way has been cleared for the sale of the French parcel and equipment delivery company Sernam to the transport company Geodis, also French. The Commission said the French government would be allowed to proceed with restructuring aid of about FF 2.9 billion (pounds 270 million) to Sernam, a subsidiary of the state owned railway company SNCF.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced an in-depth investigation into a planned online travel agency to be formed by the internet service

provider T-Online, and the travel companies TUI and C&N (Neckermann), which could lead to Brussels blocking the deal on competition grounds.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPE’S notorious IT skills shortage was a focus of a Brussels eLearning ‘summit’ between computing and communications companies, EU politicians and officials last week, (May 10-11). Delegates in particular examined how a growth in remote Internet education packages could help satisfy the EU’s demand for trained IT professionals.…

Keith Nuthall
DEVELOPING countries that export textiles and clothing, have rejectred calls by their rich trading partners, that they should open their domestic markets in return for further import concessions being offered by developed countries.

Meeting in Guatemala, the International Textiles and Clothing Bureau’s Council of Representatives “categorically rejected” bids by the European Union and the United States “to demand additional market access concessions from developing countries as a condition to fully comply with their obligations under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing of the World Trade Organization.”…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced that it is to fund a Euro 120,000 research project examining ways of further reducing carbon dioxide emissions from light commercial vehicles, (category N1). Brussels has called on companies and think tanks to bid for the contract to carry out the studies.…

KEITH NUTHALL
NATIONAL governments within the EU will come under political pressure from the European Commission later this year, in a bid to persuade them to harmonise their vehicle excise duty rates.

Brussels is to publish a Communication, (a formal discussion paper), on the subject, which it says will “examine the very different levels of vehicle tax in Member States and the problems which these differences can create for the free movement of goods in the (EU) Internal Market.”…