Search Results for: European Parliament

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending the Russian subsidiary of IKEA US$100 million to finance Russia’s first combined mega-shopping and entertainment complex. It will be built on the outskirts of Moscow and will be Russia’s largest shopping mall, covering 170,000 square metres.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has reached political agreement over the passing of a new legal aid directive, which would ease access to legal aid for litigants in cross-border civil and commercial disputes.

Once it becomes law, Member States will be bound to provide legal aid to citizens who cannot afford legal advice for such cases held within the EU, unless they deem that actions are “manifestly unfounded.”…

BY ALAN OSBORN
UP to 30 per cent of the carbon dioxide emissions caused by industry in the EU could be absorbed by forests and other “carbon sinks” according to CarboEurope, an EU research project developing ways to reduce greenhouse gases.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE BRITISH government lost out on a possible claim for GBPounds 5 million of European Union (EU) funds this summer because “we overlooked a deadline,” a spokeswoman for the Department of the Environment, Food and the Regions (DEFRA) has admitted.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has welcomed the deal struck between the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to harmonise their systems by 2005, because it strengthens EU legislation requiring the use of IAS.…

BY MARK ROWE
EUROPEAN scientists have been granted pioneering access to Tibet in the hope of discovering industrial catalysts that could lead to a new generation of chemicals for textile production.

The research team from Britain’s Leicester and Seville universities will next year visit pristine soda lakes, salt lakes and hot springs rich in microbial biodiversity.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has closed competition investigations threatening the future of two international aviation cooperation deals: the Star Alliance of Lufthansa, SAS and United Airlines; and the KLM-Northwest Airlines compact. Brussels halted inquiries into Star after its partners offered to surrender slots at Frankfurt airport to allow competing services on the Frankfurt to Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco routes.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is facing a mass attack on its sugar export subsidies at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). They have been formally challenged by both Australia and Brazil, with the Ivory Coast, Congo, Madagascar, Columbia, Canada, Kenya, Barbados, India, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Jamaica, Swaziland, Fiji, Guyana and Mauritius expected to line up behind them in support.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ORNAMENTAL plant buyers will be given a new research tool to expand their range of knowledge about African tropical plants via a new European Commission and the Netherlands government funded research project PROTA, where African and European experts will review and document existing knowledge on around 7,000 species.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
BELGIUM has been told by the European Commission to change its “discriminatory” laws covering inheritance and registration taxes or face legal action. Belgian law says that non-profit associations, mutual societies, trade unions and international scientific associations must be established in Belgium to qualify for tax relief on gifts or legacies.…