Search Results for: European Union

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CERAMICS designs are to receive uniform legal protection across the European Union in the future because of the agreement by the EU Council of Ministers of a new Regulation on the subject; it accords designers legal protection from the theft of their ideas, short of patent or copyright protection, but significant enough to deter plagiarists.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Union is to suspend Chinese imports of rabbit meat and poultry following the discovery of “serious deficiencies” in China’s medical residue control system and “problems related to the use of banned substances in the veterinary field.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking the French government to the European Court of Justice for failing to implement directive 1999/51/EC, which tightens restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances, namely pentachlorophenol (PCP) and other organostannic compounds which can be used as anti-fouling agents on ships.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has released a report on “Investment in the Community (EU) coal and steel industries” that tracks the sector’s performance in the European Union during 1999. The report concludes that although he first six months of the year was “badly affected” by economic troubles in the far east, “the continuing high level of internal consumption helped to avoid a major slowdown in economic growth during this period.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union internal market ministers have agreed to ban the use of azocolourants in the dyeing of a range of textile and leather goods. Azocolourants are dyes made from nitrogen-based compounds, which could cause cancer. Some EU countries have already banned them and the European Commission says this should be extended to all Member States.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has ruled that Luxembourg’s mandatory no-claims bonus system for third party motor insurance is in breach of the EU’s third non-life insurance directive and has called on the country to withdraw the legislation. Motor insurance premiums in Luxembourg relating to the damage caused by drivers are not calculated freely but have to comply with detailed, mandatory criteria laid down by law.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament’s transport committee has amended the proposed directive on speed limiters for lorries and buses, so that tighter speed restrictions are imposed on vehicles carrying hazardous goods. MEP’s also voted for Member States to have until January 2004 to write the directive into national law, rather than the January 2003 deadline proposed by the European Commission.…

KEITH NUTHALL
AN APPEAL has been made by the European Commission for experts in renewables and energy efficiency to apply for places on specialist panels helping them operate spending programmes in the fields, Save and Altener.

It has called for applications from specialists in:

*Energy efficiency in residential, commercial and public buildings, industry and transport;

*Integrated actions combining energy efficiency and renewable energy sources in buildings, industry and transport;

*Renewable energy sources for heat production and electricity production, as well as the integration of green power supplies with standard electricity markets and renewable energy sources in transport.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SERIES of good practice recommendations on the prevention and detection of e-coli outbreaks has been issued by the European Commission, following a study of how six EU Member States deal with the pathogen.

Officials looked at the monitoring and control systems for red meat and milk in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Portugal and Sweden and concluded that although all were alert to the risks of e-coli contamination, there was a wide range of different public and private control measures.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A CONCILIATION committee has been established to try and bridge the differences between the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament over the proposed directive on the management and assessment of ambient noise. Members have six weeks to find a solution, or the proposal will fail to become a European law.…