Search Results for: France

BY CHRIS JONES, in Paris

REDUCING the level of fuel taxes and introducing a levy based on distance travelled could be one way for European governments to meet their ambitious targets for cutting transport emissions, according to experts at a round-table meeting, hosted by the International Transport Forum in Paris.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE FRENCH government has withdrawn an application for Gaz de France to become the seventh partner in the Turkey-to-central Europe Nabucco pipeline project following a blocking of GdF’s plans by Turkish ministers. France trade minister Hervé Novelli claimed the Turkish government had acted against GdF because the French National Assembly had voted to outlaw denial of the contested First World War Armenian genocide in Turkey

ENDS…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

The Bologna process was launched in 1999 with great fanfare and hopes for a brave new world within European higher education, but the initiative involved a leap of faith by universities and colleges. For although it makes good sense that the 46 countries now taking part should have higher education systems sufficiently compatible to improve collaboration and course exchanges, such a limited goal was never going to be enough.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament’s agriculture committee has backed a proposal to raise European Union (EU) milk production quotas by 2% on April 1, to allow producers to meet surging demand worldwide.

However, MEPs have suggested this be voluntary for member states – not compulsory as tabled by the Commission – to allow some governments to keep their national dairy prices high if necessary.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut, and HELENA FLUSFELDER, in Jerusalem

THE DRINKS market in the Middle East continues to increase on the back of population growth, economic development, improvements in distribution and retail, and more aggressive advertising campaigns.

But like much of the rest of the world, younger and better educated market segments within the region are shifting away from carbonated soft drinks (CSD) towards fruit juices and bottled water as people become increasingly health conscious according to independent industry analysts and the drinks sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has released expert advice telling food manufacturers to take better care to avoid contamination ready-to-eat meals with the toxin Listeria. It raised concern about a lack of care in preparation practices such as slicing of manufactured meat products, maintaining storage temperatures, ensuring good hygiene practices and properly training food handlers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRITISH emergency planners will be amongst local authority environmental specialists receiving special training and investment funding from the European Commission over the next two years. Brussels has announced Euro 4.07 million of grants, with "helping municipalities prepare for climate change and any resulting floods," being a key issue.…

BY MARK GODFREY, in Beijing

A WALK down the supermarket aisles in a Beijing residential area reveals much about the state of China’s cosmetics scene. Pick up a bottle of shampoo at the Jingkelong (NOTE – SPELLING IS CORRECT) store on Gongti Bei Lu street (NOTE – SPELLING IS CORRECT) and chances are the blue-aproned assistants will shuffle over to recommend another.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

THE NEXT twelve months – say to Easter 2009 – could prove of fundamental significance for the development of European Union (EU) energy policy on several fronts. In January this year, the European Commission published its long-awaited proposals on renewable energies and CO2 saving, and history may well judge this to be the moment when the EU turned decisively green.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has welcomed an order made by French magistrates against two dairy executives to repay more than Euro 23 million in EU subsidies claimed for pure butter, which was actually adulterated. Jean-Pierre Boisgontier and Guy Fléchard, of dairy company Fléchard de la Chapelle d’Andaine, were also respectively sentenced to suspended prison sentences of eight and five months and fined Euro 20,000 and Euro 37,500.…