Search Results for: Germany

BY KEITH NUTHALL
IN a political hair-and-tortoise move, a European Commissioner from a country where the Lada once reigned supreme has told speed-loving German motorists he will press for European Union (EU) speed limits of 90kmh (55.9 mph). Latvia’s Andris Piebalgs, energy Commissioner since last November, told the Die Welt newspaper “I personally support the idea”, which was originally proposed by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA).…

BY MONICA DOBIE
EMPLOYEES’ motivation decreases significantly if they sense distrust from supervisors, according to new research from Germany’s University of Bonn.

Professor Armin Falk, research director at the Institute for the Study of Labour, conducted a controlled experiment of students to research people’s reaction to supervision.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved a long-debated directive on motor insurance, accepting all amendments passed by the European Parliament in January. The directive insists that EU policies should include a minimum amount of cover of Euro 1 million per victim or Euro 5 million per claim, regardless of the number of victims.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved an acquisition involving two German companies manufacturing key coating ingredients phenolic and epoxy resins after they offered to increase competition in these sectors. Brussels was concerned that the merged company would be too dominant, maybe affecting prices, but Bakelite AG and the Apollo Group offered to licence certain phenolic resins technology to their customers, allowing them to sublicense it to an alternative supplier if they wanted.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PEPSI Co has lost an attempt at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to secure pan-European Union-trademark rights to its brand ‘Raffles’ to sell potato crisps. Germany’s Intersnack Knabber-Gebäck GmbH opposed the move, saying it could be confused with its established trademark ‘Riffles’.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A PAN-EUROPEAN research project is investigating how nano-particles can best be incorporated in liquids such as body-lotions, improving their effectiveness. For instance, the three-year PROFORM project thinks nano-particles can make body-lotions less visible on the skin, but only if these tiny elements are consistently distributed within a liquid, a tall order given the gaps in knowledge about their behaviour and properties.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN OPPORTUNITY for British lawyers to work in other European Union (EU) countries under their own standards and professional bodies, appears to have been lost at last week’s (March 22-23) EU summit in Brussels. Heads of government agreed to rewrite a proposed services directive proposed last year by former internal market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, after pressure from Germany, France and others.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has declared illegal national rules denying trainee employees expenses payments for travel in a foreign European Union (EU) member country, which would be payable for journeys in their home state. Judges ruled that this would break Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union, guaranteeing the freedom of movement of workers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has accused nine European Union (EU) governments of dragging their feet over promoting biofuels in their countries. It has sent critical formal notices to Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland and Slovenia accusing them of failing to submit national reports framing 2005 targets for biofuel consumption, as required under the Biofuels Directive.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN OPPORTUNITY for British accountants to work in other European Union (EU) countries under their own standards and professional bodies, appears to have been lost at last week’s (March 22-23) EU summit in Brussels. Heads of government agreed to rewrite a proposed services directive proposed last year by former internal market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, after pressure from Germany, France and others.…