Search Results for: Germany

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has ordered a reduction in the state aid proposed by the German government to help the company Capro Schwedt to build a new plant for the production of caprolactam, the main input material for the production of synthetic fibres.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice has come down on the side of the European Commission in a dispute with Germany, (which has been supported by Britain in this case), over the payment of VAT when petrol suppliers redeem money-off vouchers they had distributed to retailers through a middle-man.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Union (EU) commissioner has called on EU governments to reconsider the phasing out of nuclear energy, which he says has been approved on the basis of “the moral high ground and….of often unjustified emotions.”

Internal market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein (CORRECT SPELLING) said that technological advances were tackling the environmental difficulties surrounding nuclear energy and although problems still exist, “they do not justify the total phasing out of nuclear energy now carried out by a number of Member States.”…

KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN masters degree in renewable energy has been launched. Coordinated by renewables research group EUREC, the one-year course aims at teaching technically qualified students about a variety of renewable energy methods.

Professor Arthuros Zervos, EUREC vice president said that the course was unique in obliging students to study in at least two different countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AWARDS have been made to 20 companies across Europe by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for groundbreaking schemes that have effectively reduced workplace stress, reducing the risk of psychological problems developing in employees. Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, the agency’s director, said the schemes were examples of good practice that should be followed across the European Union.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have formally approved the creation of an EU Solidarity Fund, helping Member States deal quickly with the effects of natural and man-made disasters; its funds will be mobilised immediately to assist regions affected by the floods of August and September 2002.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA and KEITH NUTHALL
THE GOVERNMENT of Sri Lanka is embarking on a comprehensive survey of the country’s clay resources as demand grows thanks to an official policy of promoting a home-grown ceramics industry, which is already the largest mineral-based sector in this south Asian country.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has publicly backed the growing privatisation of Europe’s water utilities, with its internal market commissioner backing British government moves to inject competition into its national sector.

Indeed, Frits Bolkestein defended the much-maligned record of privatised water services in the UK, blaming the price rises in the 1990’s on a failure to ensure private water companies could compete and previous government neglect.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
Significant economic gains, including a better deal for insurance companies and other long-term institutional investors, will follow from the creation of a single EU market in financial services according to a research study made for the European Commission by London Economics, in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Oxford Economic Forecasting, published today (Tuesday).…

KEITH NUTHALL
INNOVATION is important in the provision of water services, whether that be to prevent the contamination of supplies by a return of this summer’s floods, or to source drinking water for arid areas where ground reserves are running dry.…