Search Results for: European Union

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
The European Commission announced today (Thursday) that after three days of intensive negotiations an “historic” agreement has been reached with China on maritime transport. The deal is based “on the principles of freedom to provide services, free access to cargoes, and cross-trades, unrestricted access to an non-discriminatory treatment in the use of ports,” said the Commission.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WITH the insurance business being one of the most internationally sensitive of global economic sectors, it came as no surprise that the tragic events of September 11 had a dramatic effect on its fortunes, impacting seriously on the work of its regulators, especially in the European Union.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Commission paper Working together for the Future of European Tourism has proposed the establishment of research centres serving the industry at national, regional and local levels. It has also proposed the development of statistical benchmarks to evaluate EU tourist services and destinations.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EU Council of Ministers has, as expected, granted political approval to a hastily drawn-up proposed regulation on boosting civil aviation security, based on rules written in Document 30 of the European Civil Aviation Conference, Europe’s aviation policy development body.…

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.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DETAILS of the trade agreements struck earlier this year between the European Union and South Africa have been published by the European Commission, in two legal texts submitted to the EU Council of Ministers for formal approval.

Assuming this is granted, EU import quotas for South African wine will rise to 353,000 in the New Year, increasing gradually every 12 months to 420,200 hectolitres in December 2011.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission’s plan to establish the satellite-based global positioning system Galileo has been dealt a heavy – and potentially fatal – blow by the EU Council of Ministers (transport), which has blocked finance for the crucial development stage of the programme.…

KEITH NUTHALL
SOPHISTICATED controls on the access of the European road haulage industry to ecologically sensitive areas such as the Alps should be introduced, not simple traffic bans, a new European Environment Agency report has claimed.

‘Road Freight Transport and the Environment in Mountainous Areas’ points out that the inevitable concentration of road traffic through mountain barriers, such as the Alps or the Pyrenees, will have “a large impact on human health and the ecosystem, especially in Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FISHING catch quotas in European Union territorial waters are to be slashed again to reduce pressure on stocks, which Brussels says “are in a parlous state.” The European Commission proposed a reduction of the total allowable catch of haddock in the Irish Sea by 52%, sole in the North Sea by 25% and langoustines in the Bay of Biscay by between 45 and 50%.…