Search Results for: European Parliament

BY KEITH NUTHALL
LOCAL authorities and companies across the European Union will have to review their asbestos protection procedures, following the agreement by the EU Council of Ministers of an updated directive, introducing a single maximum average airborne exposure in excess of 0.1 fibres per cm3 measured over eight hours.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
TWO international organisations have highlighted opportunities for European water companies, which may be called upon in the next few decades to boost supplies to arid parts of the world, notably the Middle East.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) World Water Development Report says this region is the poorest in terms of water availability, with Kuwait being the most parched (10 m³ is available per person annually), followed by Gaza Strip (52 m³), the United Arab Emirates (58 m³), Bahamas (66 m³), Qatar (94 m³), Maldives (103 m³), Libya (113 m³), Saudi Arabia (118 m³), and Malta (129 m³).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ESTABLISHMENT of special anti-fraud coordinators in all eastern and southern European countries applying to join the European Union (EU) has been welcomed by OLAF, the EU’s anti-fraud office.

In a memorandum on the fight against fraud in an enlarged EU, OLAF said: “By putting Anti Fraud Co-ordinating Service offices in place, the candidate countries have demonstrated in concrete terms their commitment to fighting fraud.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A RESEARCH project funded by a European Commission Euro 1.62 million grant is to develop technology to install hydrogen fuel pumps in petrol stations by connecting them to a country’s existing natural gas supply network. The international Hydrofueler project – led by the University of Warwick – thinks that hydrogen can be crated form natural gas and delivered to cars via existing pipelines.…

Keith Nuthall
A France/Luxembourg consortium has developed a rechargeable car battery

which retains its zinc while discharging, giving it a life span around

twice that of normal batteries and delivering a twofold improvement in the

power-to-weight ratio. Consortium plans to target the European car and

hybrid electric vehicle markets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development is lending US$5.4 million to the Maritime Port Authority of St Petersburg to fund the construction of a maritime navigation safety system in the main Russian sector of the Baltic Sea, where a future surge in tanker traffic is anticipated.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has clarified rules for issuing visas to non-EU seamen travelling across the Schengen zone of Europe, where countries share common border controls. In future, transit visas will be issued at EU entry points to groups of seamen travelling together, where they are of the same nationality and their journey period is limited.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice has ordered Spain and Italy to cease banning the marketing of British, Danish and Irish chocolate containing vegetable fat as ‘chocolate,’ ruling that by insisting they are sold as ‘chocolate substitutes’ the two countries are illegally restricting EU trade.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission will stage a conference in May to discuss the consequences of the abolition of quotas under the WTO’s agreement on textile and clothing. This symposium – The Future of Textiles and Clothing Trade after 2005 – will be held in Brussels on May 5-6.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
A NEW international treaty significantly extending the public information required of companies over their output of pollutants has been agreed by 30 member countries of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and is expected to be formally adopted in Kiev in May.…