Search Results for: Greece

The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly today (March 9) for a European Union (EU)-wide ban on golden passports or citizenship by investment (CBI) schemes by 2025. In a 595 for, 12 against and 74 abstentions vote, MEPs approved a report on ‘citizenship and residence by investment schemes’ (1) which said schemes operated by 12 EU countries (2) “pose several serious security risks for Union citizens” notably corruption and money laundering.…

Bulgaria’s new government has promised to fight corruption and challenge the country’s reputation as the European Union’s (EU) worst blackspot for graft. The new Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov defeated former PM Boyko Borissov last November amidst demonstrations against government corruption.…

European Union (EU) law enforcement, perhaps emboldened by the launch of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), has launched a series of cases and inquiries, including against high-ranking politicians accused of corruption. For example, Gabrijela Žalac, Croatia’s regional development and EU funds minister from 2016-9, and three accomplices, have been arrested, on EPPO orders, for alleged fraud regarding the purchase by her ministry of deliberately overpriced software for a public company.…

A recent verdict (judgement 1751/2021) by Greece’s top court, the Council of State, regarding the ritual slaughter of animals has raised significant concerns to the Muslim and the Jewish communities of Greece, potentially impeding growth in Greek halal exports. The ruling effectively withdraws a permit that has allowed the slaughter of animals without stunning them first, as (usually) required to produce halal and kosher meat.…

The Romanian clothing industry has been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, with supplies of raw materials from China and exports to Italy disrupted, with the pandemic also choking off labour supplies, which were already a problem for this near-sourcing hub.…

Global supply chain delivery delays and price tensions continue to disrupt Italy’s otherwise robust food can production sector. With profit margins squeezed, food canners expect prices to rise across the board for these long shelf-life food staples

According to Italian can manufacturing industry association ANFIMA’s most recent data, Italy produced 698,523 tonnes of rigid metal packaging (tinplate and steel) and 24,745 tonnes of aluminium packaging in 2020, up 3.6% and 7% from the same period the previous year, respectively.…

A key political question emerging from the Coronavirus pandemic has been how the disease might readjust relations between this world’s two largest powers – the United States and China. The two countries have had two very different experiences of Covid-19, which reflect their contrasting social and political systems.…

The European Union (EU) is currently considering reforming its excise duty rules for tobacco products, with the tobacco industry and commentators seeing the negotiation on the integration of e-cigarettes being one of the hottest topics. Today, e-cigarettes in the EU are treated just like any other product, falling under EU VAT rules, and are not subject to EU-excise laws that apply for conventional tobacco products or spirits for instance.…

The Greek metal packaging sector is characterised by fragmentation between two multinationals and a larger number of smaller Greek enterprises. This defines a national industry that is primarily inward looking, with few exports. Vasilis Papapanousis, sales director at leading tinplate manufacturer ELSA SILGAN Metal Packaging SA, told CanTech International that exports do not account for more than 5-10% of the total Greek production metal packaging.…

THE RULING council of the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) is preparing to agree major reforms to the International Cocoa Agreement, which should see the agreement increase its commitment to boost sustainability in the chocolate sector.

Council members are considering final changes committing the ICCO to ensuring that cocoa production, processing and manufacture is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.…