Search Results for: France

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AFTER the debacle surrounding his government’s young people employment plans, France’s prime minister Dominique de Villepin has turned his attention to the other end of the age spectrum. He has proposed introducing short-term contracts for unemployed workers over 56, while making it illegal for companies to force workers to retire before hitting 65.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

GERMANY and Austria have now followed France in being censured by the European Court of Justice for failing to implement a directive – EC/2001/19 – removing bureaucratic obstacles preventing foreign European Union (EU) nurses working in their countries.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

A projected fall in population for a number of EU countries by 2050 has given rise to widespread concern in the EU institutions about the consequences for higher education. According to the EU statistical agency Eurostat, Germany’s population of 82.6 million will fall to 74.6 million in 2050 and Italy’s from 58.2 to 52.7 million with smaller falls for other countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE FRENCH government has warned that it is prepared to destroy the potential World Trade Organisation (WTO) agricultural liberalisation deal that would boost global trade in foodstuffs, to continue protecting its food and drink sector. In an interview with newspaper Les Echos France agriculture minister Dominique Bussereau said: "We prefer no agreement rather than a one way agreement.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has 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 and Belgium. Because this fuelled a black market in alcohol, damaging legitimate retailers not only had UK customs demanded proof that their cargo was for personal use, but in its absence their alcohol and sometimes their vehicles were confiscated.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRITAIN’S bathing waters are still becoming cleaner, with 2005 tests showing 98.2% coastal beaches complied with European Union (EU) standards, while all inland water bathing spots passed muster. The European Commission noted that the UK had deregistered 2.1% of beaches as officially designated bathing waters, however, although this is nothing compared to some EU countries: for instance, France has deregistered 17.9% of coastal beaches since 1991 and 53.6% of freshwater bathing zones.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is taking another serious step towards developing viable transport systems running on hydrogen, whose only emission is water. Following the success of its CUTE trials of hydrogen buses in large cities such as London, the EU is launching two more projects.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has concluded an overlap in Netherlands fleet leasing and management services is not sufficiently serious to block a planned takeover of international leasing and body repair company Athlon by a subsidiary of Holland’s Rabobank.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE BRITISH government has given ‘booze cruise’ travellers importing cigarettes and alcohol from low duty France a sufficiently easy time for the European Commission to abandon its long-running legal action over the subject. Independent retailers will greet the news warily, worried that border controls are now so light that a black market in excised goods might cause them serious commercial damage.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved a subsidy regime for EU short flax fibre and hemp producers in the old fashioned way – paying money per tonne of fibre. Ministers agreed to extend until the end of the 2007/2008 marketing year processing aid of Euro 90/tonne for short flax fibre and hemp fibre and Euro 160/tonne for long flax fibre until 2007/2008, and Euro 200/tonne for 2008/2009 and thereafter.…