Search Results for: France

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) wine management committee has recommended that the European Commission spends up to Euro 131 million on another round of compulsory distillation for French and Italian wine producers. EU agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel branded the decision "depressing" – the Commission’s oncoming wine reform proposals are expected to suggest phasing out such overproduction subsidies.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE FRENCH government has been censured by the European Court of Justice for failing to implement directive EC/2001/19, which removes bureaucratic obstacles preventing non-French European Union (EU) nurses working in France. Finding France "in breach of its obligations" under EU law, the court has the power to levy huge daily recurring fines of Euro 1,000s should the French government ignore the ruling.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

DRASTIC reform of the European Commission’s troubled wine sector has been proposed by the European Commission, whose officials are "reasonably confident" the plan will not be unduly delayed or watered down by European Union (EU) member governments. The heart of the reform announced June 22 by the EU agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel is grubbing up scheme costing Euro 2.4 billion over five years that would take 400,000 hectares of the present 3.4 million hectares out of wine production.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN UNPRECEDENTED joint paper from the European Commission and European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana calls for the EU to diversify its energy sources beyond Russia. In particular, the paper suggests the EU looks closer to home: at Algeria and Turkey.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

A POLITICAL struggle has broken out at the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers between EU olive oil importing and exporting countries over the current level import tariffs for the product. On one side is a group led by Sweden, supported by Britain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Lithuania, complaining about what they call "high market prices of olive oil in the EU and low levels of stocks".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

LEGAL action launched by the European Commission against the French and Spanish governments could force them to slash motorway toll-reductions available to frequent users of these roads. The Commission has sent both administrations final warning letters saying it may take them to the European Court of Justice, because these reductions are so steep (up to 50% in Spain and 30% in France), they discriminate against occasional motorway users.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRITISH Vita and chemical multinational Dow (Benelux) are planning to secure European research funding via the EUREKA network to commercialise successful bio-polymer research, that has made strides towards manufacturing a foam from such ingredients. The European Commission’s directorate general (DG) for research has reported that a Vita-Dow-led consortium would focus on "the implementation of green polyols into PU foams".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

YOUNG adults in Germany – long seen as Europe’s technological powerhouse – are turning away from science and engineering, with just 16% of tertiary educated professionals in these fields being aged 25-34. The figures are the worst in the European Economic Area (EEA), and show that without change, Germany could face a shortage of engineers and scientists in the medium term.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN research network Eureka has developed a computerised screening process that will help pharmaceutical companies assess thousands of plants for a potentially lucrative source of therapeutic compounds. At present, researchers trawl through plant samples looking for a useful species, but Eureka’s E!…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has today (June 28) dropped long-running legal action against the UK government, after it abandoned a get-tough policy against so-called ‘booze cruise’ travellers importing cheap alcohol from low duty France. In the past, not only had UK customs demanded proof that their cargo was for personal use only, but in its absence their alcohol and sometimes their vehicles were confiscated.…