Search Results for: European Union

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EURELECTRIC, the EU power industry federation, has embarked on a sophisticated political manoeuvre to save public procurement reforms to the EU’s utilities directive from being rejected at the hands of conservative and Christian Democrat MEP’s.

Oddly, the opposition of the parliament’s European Peoples Party bloc to the changes is based on an objection that Eurelectric shares; to amendments from the parliament’s internal market committee that would force utilities to take account of social and environmental concerns when issuing a tender.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development is to administer the closure of a third nuclear power station in eastern Europe; it will manage the decommissioning of Bohunice, in Slovakia, having signed similar agreements earlier this year for the plants in Kozloduy, Bulgaria and Ignalina, in Lithuania.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has authorised the Spanish government to grant aid up to a maximum of Euro 1.07 billion, (ESP 178 billion), to its coal industry for the past year, (2001). Brussels has accepted the particular problems facing Spain’s coal sector – with some mines that produce coal that is competitive with imports and others that are very costly – by allowing Madrid to finance operational aid as well as structural reforms.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BELGIAN government has been put on legal notice by the European Commission that it could be heavily fined by the European Court of Justice for its failure to abide by rulings made in 1999 opposing Belgium’s cargo sharing shipping deals with five African countries, namely Togo, Mali, Senegal, the Ivory Coast and its former colony, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A FINAL deal has at last been struck over the extension of the European Union’s working time rules to the road transport sector; a conciliation committee representing both the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers have reached agreement over the outstanding issues, notably that of self-employed drivers.…

Keith Nuthall
AN INTERNET legal advice service for companies wishing to learn about European Union legislation affecting e-commerce, has been launched. The site, eLexPortal.com, will provide updated information on EU and national laws and regulations on the subject; it is free of charge, and allows users to e-mail queries to its online experts.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE USE of azocolourants for dyeing leather and textile goods is to be banned throughout the European Union following acceptance by EU ministers of scientific evidence that they present a cancer risk. Some EU countries already ban the nitrogen-based chemicals and the European Commission wants to harmonise the situation in the interests of free trade.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers has formally approved new EU-wide rules limiting the emissions of light vans, (of weight categories 1,305-1,760kg and more than 1,760kg), during cold starts. There are currently no European limits on this kind of pollution from these commercial vehicles.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW report from the European Environment Agency has described the wide gulf between Member States’ performance on renewable energy generation and highlighted a number of reasons for this. The top performer for 1993-9 was Germany, which surged ahead with the development of photovoltaics, solar thermal installations and wind generated energy output.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
OFFICIALS in Brussels are considering how to avoid the creation of a legal void next July when the European Coal and Steel Community expires and the European Commission is supposed to transfer its Euro 1.6 billion assets and liabilities to the main European Union budget.…