Search Results for: European Union

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE EUROPEAN Commission has agreed to allow Canadian ice-wine, the specialised dessert wine made from frozen grapes, to be sold within the EU, after a long battle to have the designation of recognised by Brussels was finally won.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A MEMORANDUM of Understanding has been signed between the European Commission, Greece, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria on speeding up work to create a reliable road and rail corridor, linking Thessalonika with Salzburg, linking the Balkans and the Aegean to western Europe.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved the payment of state aid worth DKK 471 million, (Euro 63.7m), to the state-owned bus company Combus, which has been in financial difficulties. Brussels said that the state aid would help the take-over of the company by Arriva and the resulting restructuring.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has denied claims that it has been funding anti-Semitic textbooks used in the Palestinian Authority’s education service, even though the EU bankrolls 50 per cent of the nascent government’s budget.

MEP’s have been sent examples of Palestinian textbooks that include passages such as “Treachery and disloyalty are character traits of the Jews and therefore one should beware of them.”…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE ACQUISITION by the French steel company Usinor of a controlling 55 per cent stake in Tubisud of Italy has been cleared by the European Commission. The Commission said that while the deal would increase the presence of Usinor in the Italian markets for organically coated steel sheet and the distribution of steel, it would not significantly reduce competition.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Agency for Reconstruction – the EU group responsible for Kosovo development aid – has earmarked Euro 35 million from its budget for improvements to the province’s Bardh and Mirash coal mines. Euro 2.9 million has already been spent on rehabilitating the conveyor belt between Bardh and the Kosovo B power station, which had not been working effectively, especially since the 1999 war.…

KEITH NUTHALL
DIPLOMATS at the World Trade Organisation are about to begin a detailed examination of proposals to liberalise the global tourism market, as part of an ongoing round of negotiations on services.

Launched last year, its aim is a series of deals between member countries, which could remove restrictions on travel companies and tourism professionals working abroad.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has granted clearance in the EU to the proposed takeover of the Quaker Oats Company by Pepsico Inc. Both are American owned.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A DEAL whereby Shell Erneuerbare Energien GmbH will acquire joint control of an existing solar energy joint venture between Siemens AG and E.ONEnergie AG has been cleared by the European Commission, which has concluded that the deal will not harm competition in the sector.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE UK government has been given permission by the European Commission to go-ahead with exempting certain environment-friendly services from its general climate change levy, ruling that because they promote environmental good-practice and public transport, the concessions should not be considered as illegal state aid.…