Search Results for: France

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has given the go-ahead for the acquisition by Gaz de France (GDF) of the German oil and gas activities of Preussag Energie. Brussels has been examining the potential effect on competition in Germany’s upstream energy market and concluded that these were “only small.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FRENCH government has proposed a summit of G8 environment ministers, the creation of a strong World Environment Organisation, which would take over the responsibilities of the United Nations Environment Programme as well as those of environmental departments amongst other multilateral agencies.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AGREEMENT in principle over the proposed reforms to the European Union’s gas liberalisation directives has been secured at the European Parliament’s key industry committee, although it is proposing important changes. MEP’s called for amendments insisting upon close cooperation between the European Commission and national regulators regarding security of supply.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FOOD researchers will be able to use the world’s largest library of genetic information about wheat, created by the combination of data by Britain’s John Innes centre and the National Institute for Agronomical Research, France.…

Keith Nuthall
BRITONS work the longest hours in the European Union (EU), even though working time agreed in collectively agreements is below the EU average, according to a survey by the European Union’s European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is formally threatening France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria and Finland with legal action at the European Court of Justice over claims that they have failed to implement new EU regulations on the release of genetically modified organisms.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITISH architects are among the most lightly regulated in the European Union (EU), with their Danish, Irish, Dutch and Swedish colleagues enjoying a similarly light regulatory burden, according to a European Commission-funded survey, promoting liberalisation in Europe’s professions.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE PREMISES of five major European chemical companies have been raided by the European Commission’s antitrust services in a search for evidence of price-fixing in solvents, and a small list of other products. Brussels said the investigation was at a “preliminary stage” and could lead to no evidence of wrong-doing.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE TROUBLE-STREWN proposals to restructure the publicly-owned French road haulage operator Sernam appear to have hit another snag, with the European Commission opening an inquiry into the latest plans, which it fears may break European Union (EU) state aid rules.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
Mr Willem de Ruiter (51), a Dutchman with a degree in civil engineering, has been appointed the first executive director of the European Maritime Safety Agency, which was created by EU governments last year and is in the process of being set up.…