Search Results for: European Parliament

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has fined 10 companies Euro 313.7 million for forming a cartel in the carbonless paper industry, the second largest such penalty imposed by Brussels. Arjo Wiggins Appleton PLC received the heaviest charge; Euro 184.27 million, with the rest being shared by Carrs Paper Ltd Euro 1.57 million, Papierfabrik August Koehler AG Euro 33.07 million, Zanders Feinpapiere AG Euro 29.76 million, Bolloré SA Euro 22.68 million, Mitsubishi HiTech Paper Bielefeld GmbH Euro 21.24 million, Torraspapel SA 14.17 million, Papeteries Mougeot SA Euro 3.64 million, Distribuidora Vizcaina de Papeles S.L.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
IT is a curious fact that whilst Britain has a lot more wind than Germany, it has significantly less wind power electricity generation. Also, why has a country blessed with as much sun as Greece, failed to develop solar panels as quickly as its fellow southern Mediterranean EU Member State Spain?…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WITH the rulebook of the Kyoto Protocol all but written, the European Commission has been considering innovative ways in which it can help reduce the EU’s production of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

Much emphasis has been made in the past on reducing industrial pollution or emissions from cars and lorries, but Brussels has now turned its attention to a source of the gases that is very much under the control of local authorities: waste disposal.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
THE EUROPEAN Commission has fined eight companies a total of Euro 855.22 million for participating in secret market-sharing and price-fixing cartels affecting the production of vitamins including those sold to the confectionary industry to make nutrient enriched products.…

Keith Nuthall
POLITICAL difficulties blocking the agreement of common European Union invoicing rules, that would sanction the legitimacy of electronic billing for VAT purposes across the EU, have been cleared.

The EU Council of Ministers, (finance), has unanimously agreed in principle the proposed new invoicing directive.…

Keith Nuthall
THE SWIFT referral of merger cases from the European Commission to national authorities in Member States where the deal will have an overwhelming impact, has been suggested in a green paper has been issued by Brussels. The Commission currently has jurisdiction over some larger merger cases, even where participants are from the same Member State and Brussels wants these quickly transferred to national competition tribunals.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
BRITAIN and the Netherlands have been authorised by the EU council of finance ministers to begin negotiations with associated territories – in the UK’s case the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Caribbean dependent territories – for the elimination of secret savings accounts.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched an investigation into state aid payments made by the French government to compensate shellfish farmers harmed by the oil spill following the sinking of the tanker Erika in the Bay of Biscay and also damages from a particularly violent storm, both in December 1999.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union has bit the bullet and agreed to ban the sales of imported cosmetics tested on animals, not only where finished products have been the subject of these experiments, but also where some ingredients have been assessed through vivisection.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EU has agreed with a number of sugar-producing ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) countries and separately with India on the supply of cane sugar to European refiners over the next five years. A duty-free quota of 10,000 tonnes has been set for India but may be increased if other supplies fall short.…