Search Results for: European Parliament

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FRENCH government will have to defend itself at the European Court of Justice against claims by the European Commission that it has broken European Union law over tough personnel regulations, restricting the employment of qualified social care workers from other EU Member States.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is to take Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal to the European Court of Justice for allegedly failing to fully implement the EU Basic Safety Standards Directive on protecting the health of workers and the public against dangers from ionising radiation.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
FRANCE and Luxembourg have been referred to the Europe Court of Justice on the grounds that their compulsory no-claims bonus systems for third-party motor insurance are in breach of the EU’s insurance regulations. In both countries premiums are determined by “detailed, mandatory criteria laid down by law that are incompatible with the freedom to market insurance products,” the European Commission said.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has ordered the repayment of Euro 7.83 million, (Pounds 4.8 million), of aid from the German textile company Neue Erba Lautex GmbH (NEL) and its parent company, the bankrupt Erba Lautex GmbH following a formal inquiry launched last summer.…

Keith Nuthall
The use of cadmium batteries in electric vehicles is to be banned

in the EU from 2005, the European Commission has announced. Cadmium is a

heavy metal that pollutes the environment and can cause kidney damage in

humans. The Commission said alternative power sources for electric vehicles

such as nickel metal hydride batteries were now available and lithium-ion

batteries would be on the market later..…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice has declared illegal on grounds of national discrimination the imposition of tougher penalties by the Italian authorities on erring foreign drivers than on Italians. Local drivers may appeal against a penalty within 60 days, but foreigners must appeal immediately and then post security of twice the minimum fine to avoid the immediate confiscation of their licence or vehicle.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
RADIO navigation is to be improved in the Gulf of Finland, notably in Russian waters, because of a planned European Bank for Reconstruction and Development-funded project. The Maritime Port Authority of St Petersburg has formally applied for a loan from the bank for a US$5.4 million project to set up three radio towers on the islands of Gogland, Sommers and Skar, part of a regional navigational safety project.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A BID by a group of district heating companies to overturn massive fines levied by the European Commission, which found they had been participating in an illegal cartel, has been thrown out by the European Court of Justice’ Court of First Instance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is being urged, by a working party helping it write new welfare rules on laboratory animals, to take account of the effect of better conditions on experiment results. Tests have shown that subjects in comfortable surroundings are healthier than those in poor accommodation, and that these environmental factors should be considered when assessing results.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FORMAL proposals have been released by the European Commission for a programme to help spread medicines fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in developing countries. The plans include budget lines of Euro 26.1 million, covering aid from January 2003 to December 2006.…