Search Results for: Germany

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has rejected a final appeal by three European Union (EU) stainless steel flat product makers against the imposition of heavy fines for forming a cartel. Spain’s Acerinox must now pay Euro 3.13 million, Italy’s ThyssenKrupp Acciai speciali Terni SpA Euro 4.03 million and Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Stainless Steel also Euro 4.03 million.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE CHAMPAGNE-swilling freeloaders that Eurosceptics claim populate the European Parliament have never had an image of hair-shirt monasticism, but a German television station has alleged many MEPs snort the odd line of cocaine. Tests on 46 toilets in the parliament’s Brussels building revealed traces of the controlled drug, said Germany TV magazine AKTE 05, which added that the quantities discovered implied regular use.…

BY JONATHAN THOMSON
CARMAKERS have experienced tremendous growth in the Asia Pacific region recently, as China and India in particular generate new sales and manufacturing opportunities. General Motors recently announced that its 2005 first quarter production figures for the region were up by around 14% compared with 2004, with Ford and other leading manufacturers predicting similar growth.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THERE was much optimism earlier this year that the European Union’s (EU) revamped working time directive might be finally agreed this summer but it all fizzled out in June and to all intents and purposes we’re back to deadlock again.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has called for the “reinforcement” of European Union (EU) standards for ramp inspections of non-EU aircraft calling at EU airports. The idea, said EASA, was “that the same procedures are applied throughout the EU in a transparent and harmonised manner”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW group of specialists and academics forged by the European Commission will focus on the cancer risks associated with environmental and nutritional factors, as well as individual susceptibility. This ‘Network of Excellence’ ECNIS (environmental cancer, nutrition and individual susceptibility) is the latest group established to link experts from across the European Union (EU), under the European Research Area policy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SWISS pharmaceuticals giant Novartis’ acquisition of German generic medicine producer Hexal can go ahead, but only after a series of conditions imposed by the European Commission are met. Brussels has been concerned the takeover could cause competition problems regarding prescription calcitonins treating osteoporosis in Poland, over-the-counter topical anti-rheumatics in Germany and prescription anti-gout preparations in Denmark.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission will spend Euro 26.1 million on 26 programmes promoting the sale within the EU of organic food products, olive oil, milk and cheese, ham, fruit and vegetables, plus some drinks products. There will be matching funding from participating countries Britain, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Hungary, Poland and Cyprus.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is spending Euro 1.1 million on creating a sophisticated high-technology monitoring network for the Alps, aimed at helping local emergency services manage, reduce and mitigate the risks posed by avalanches, landslides and floods. Such natural disasters have the potential to be immensely destructive in Alpine regions, foisting heavy bills upon insurers, but the Commission’s ASSIST project is designed to reduce such physical and financial damage.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A HEAVY fine levied by the European Commission on Germany’s SGL Carbon for participating in a cartel on the speciality graphite market has been reduced from Euro 27.75 million to Euro 18.45 million. Following an appeal against the fine, the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) Court of First Instance has confirmed that SGL and three other companies should be fined for market fixing; however, it said Brussels’ “was manifestly incorrect” when calculating the German company’s fines.…