Search Results for: France

BY KEITH NUTHALL
NON-FERROUS metal producers in the existing 15 European Union (EU) countries could see some lowering of labour costs after enlargement of the EU next year as low-paid Polish and other workers move into the higher wage countries like Germany, according to industry sources.…

Keith Nuthall
FRANCE is giving Euro 40 million to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to help it fund Russia’s cleansing of the radioactive contamination in the Barents Sea caused by its aging decommissioned nuclear fleet. The money will be channelled through the nuclear-related budgets of the EBRD-managed Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) Support Fund, the principal financing arm of European Union policies aimed at cleaning up pollution in its neighbours to the north.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Aviation Safety Agency has appointed Patrick Goudou as its first Executive Director. An armaments engineer, he is currently Director of France’s Aeronautical Maintenance Service of the General Delegation for Armaments, where he has spent most of his career.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
NOBODY likes nuclear waste but nobody has yet thought up a universally-acceptable way of disposing of it. This is as true in Europe as anywhere else. It may be fair to say, however, that some European countries have gone further than the rest of the world in drawing conclusions about the future of nuclear energy as a result of the problems caused by radioactive waste.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament could be heading for a political collision with the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers over the scope of a reformed Seveso II directive, which imposes commitments on industry to avoid serious accidents.

At the heart of the looming struggle is the insistence of MEPs that the updated legislation covers all forms of mining activity, notably the chemical and thermal processing of dangerous substances within mines.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE CREATION of an international joint-venture, manufacturing oxo chemicals – which are a key ingredient of many paints, varnishes and plasticisers – has been agreed by the European Commission. It has approved the 50/50 initiative involving German chemical producers Celanese AG and Degussa AG; it will trade as European Oxo Chemicals (EOC).…

BY ALAN OSBORN
CRUCIAL negotiations to reform the EU’s common agricultural policy will resume next Wednesday after France effectively vetoed a compromise deal on Thursday night following nearly a week of talks. Britain and five other Member States had approved the deal which involved a scaling down of original European Commission plans to “decouple” payments to farmers from production.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
HEADS of government at the recent G8 summit in France have committed their countries to reducing the environmental threat posed by oil tankers. A communiqué committed their governments to accelerate the introduction of a safety code for flag states, establish mandatory pilotage in narrow, restricted or congested waters, improve inspections and other measures.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Heath Organisation announced that 40 countries and the European Union signed the new global Framework Convention on Tobacco Control within a week of it being agreed. Signatories included Britain, Spain, Iran, South Africa, Bangladesh and France.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FRANCE is giving Euro 40 million to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to help it fund Russia’s cleansing of the radioactive contamination in the Barents Sea caused by its aging decommissioned nuclear fleet. The money will be channelled through the nuclear-related budgets of the EBRD-managed Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) Support Fund.…