Search Results for: Germany

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that unusual new food products must be closely screened under the European Union’s (EU) novel food regulation, even if their ingredients have been proved safe. In a case assessing a health food product produced by Germany’s M-K Europa, the court said: "The fact that all the individual ingredients…have a safe history" is not "sufficient" for the novel food regulation to be waived.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN EXTRAORDINARY European Union (EU) Council of Ministers energy meeting has agreed medium and long-term measures to prevent a recurrence of a future gas supply crisis resembling this month’s row between Russia and the Ukraine. Ministers said the EU would fund improved metering, promote administrative transparency in gas supply systems feeding into member states’ networks, improved gas interconnection infrastructure and creating a better early warning system.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has been advised to push for an increase in the maximum size and weight of lorries allowed across the European Union (EU) – maybe to 60 tonnes and 25.25 metres – by a report that will kick off an official review of these rules.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

A LITTLE noticed event took place in Brussels last month when the European Union (EU) Court of Auditors awarded the president of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering its annual Gold Medal, citing "the co-operation between the two institutions in safeguarding the interests of the European taxpayers."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A DETAILED report from the European Environment Agency (EEA), which highlights signals of environmental problems within Europe, says England and Wales can be labelled "water stressed", along with only eight other European countries. They are Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, Macedonia, Malta and Spain.…

BY LARS RUGAARD

CASH shortages, competition from abroad and cost rises threaten to remove one of every three of Denmark’s roughly 35,000 lorry drivers from their trade this year, haulage experts are warning. Speaking to Commercial Motor, a Danish truck driver sitting on the bunk of his Volvo truck sums up his industry’s gloom in one sentence: "Earlier things were better".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE MAXIMUM amount of duty-free or duty-paid tobacco that can be brought into the European Union (EU) from a non-EU country without paying EU excise duty can now be reduced to just 40 cigarettes. That is an option now offered to member states, which can maintain the previous 200 cigarette limit if they choose.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced it wants Euro 3.5 billion of the general European Union (EU) economic recovery plan it announced in November spent on energy investment. It has proposed spending Euro 1.75 billion on gas and electricity interconnection projects; Euro 500 million on offshore wind power; and Euro 1.25 billion on carbon capture and storage.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded that in 2007 Campylobacter infections were the most common disease passed onto humans from meat and dairy livestock and food. Britain has a significant problem, having the second highest number of human infections: 57,815 – more than a quarter of all European Union (EU) cases.…

By Alan Osborn

The failure of business to invest significantly in innovation projects remains the major weakness in the European Union’s (EU) research picture, says the European Commission. While there is "substantial progress" in some aspects of the EU’s innovation performance, investments by business in R&D and IT projects "are still relatively weak, especially if compared to the US and Japan," claims Brussels.…